 The second Sunday of the Easter season was Divine Mercy Sunday. In 2000 St. John Paul II instituted this celebration for the Church, inspired by Jesus’ appearances to St. Faustina Kowalska in the 1930’s which included Jesus’ request for Divine Mercy to be celebrated in this way. For many, thoughts of Divine Mercy bring to mind the words St. Faustina saw in her vision of Jesus: “Jesus I trust in you.” * Sometimes these words are uttered as a petition prayer for a specific intention, while at other times we are simply declaring to the Lord that we trust Him in whatever matter is at hand, (and hopefully in all things). While ideally the words should be a prayerful declaration of trust, we know that often our prayer is something reminiscent of the desperate man in the Gospel who had some faith, but was honest enough to recognize that his faith needed to grow. Truly, Jesus in His unfathomable mercy does not expect us to have perfect faith, but He does desire our efforts at growth through prayer and intimacy with Him. Thus, in His mercy He provided a prayer to assist us in opening the door to greater trust and which enables our hearts in becoming merciful with the same mercy Jesus gives to us.  The Gospel passage mentioned above begins with the inability of the disciples to cast out a spirit in a possessed boy. The father, desperate to help his son, went straight to Jesus with his plea for help, saying, ““…. if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you can!” Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!”” Jesus responded by commanding the spirit to leave the boy and he was healed. (Mark 9:14-29) In this passage, Mark – (from whom every word has significance) – intended to convey insight into faith. He was aware that throughout life, many will be in the position of this father with our faith ‘pressed to the limit.’ What is most striking, though, is the honesty of the man. He admits to frustration not only with the situation of the long-term affliction to his beloved son, but with the disciple’s failure to help. It is clear he believed Jesus could help or he would not have persisted in bringing his son, but while doing so, he also candidly revealed his hesitation to commit to full trust when he said, “if you can!” That Mark included Jesus’ repetition of the phrase reveals the importance of what is to happen; Jesus did not repeat the words with disdain, but (perhaps) with some admiration for the man’s complete transparency, confirmed in the declaration: “I do believe, help my unbelief!”**  The statement of struggle with the depth of belief the father needed to have, but still did not, is what we all wrestle with. If we are truly honest with ourselves, we will recognize that the continued anxiety or fear that can linger even after praying fervently to the Lord is indicative of how our faith is lacking. It is important that we do not feel guilty about this because we are imperfect, (still in process), and therefore, we are not capable of perfect trust. Jesus understands this, so again, let us look to the passage: filled with Divine Mercy, despite the father’s wobbly trust, Jesus healed the boy. That is, the man’s imperfect trust was enough for Jesus, perhaps because Jesus saw that undaunted, the father’s love enabled him to provide ‘what little faith he had.’ It was his love that provided what his faith lacked. Thus, if we are pushed beyond the limits of our faith, love will enable us to ‘breach the gap.’  Finally, look at how Mark described the healing: “…throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out. He became like a corpse which caused many to say, “He is dead! But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him up, and stood him up.”” (Mark 9: 26-27) Mark could have written, ‘And he was healed,’ but in recording their claim that the boy was dead, he illuminated a truth quite relevant to Easter: enabled by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our cooperation through faith and love is what gives life to what is dead within us. Truly, we would not even have the gift of faith if not for Jesus rising from the dead, conquering sin, and empowering us through grace, particularly through Baptism; without grace we are dead spiritually. In the unfathomable ocean of Mercy offered by Jesus, we go from death to being raised up with Him, thus to stand with Him on the last day.  How wise of the Church, (specifically through the efforts of St. Faustina and St. John Paul II), to emphasize Divine Mercy during the Easter season! We need to continually seek Divine Mercy as the source of the mercy we need for ourselves, but which we must also offer others. And when we say, “Jesus I trust in you!” we must not worry if we waver a bit or if it is more of a plea than a statement: Divine Mercy itself supplies that which we lack in our own faith. Divine Mercy is an incomprehensible, unfathomable mercy because it comes from the very nature of who God is. While it is not a mercy we can understand, it is something to which we can always return; it is inexhaustible because the love of God is without end. Therefore, let us immerse ourselves in Divine Mercy in joy and with gratitude as we continue to celebrate the season of Easter.  May we always turn to Jesus for His mercy! May we be filled with Divine Mercy so that we can offer it to others through word and deed! And may we always say with gratitude and love: Jesus I trust in you! Let us meet in the Mercy of Jesus! Alleluia! Peace!
©Michele L. Catanese * St. Faustina Kowalska had the vision in 1931 in which she saw a red ray of light coming from one side of Jesus’ Heart and a white (pale) ray coming from the other side. Beneath Jesus were the words, “Jesus I Trust in You.” In 1935 Jesus gave her the Divine Mercy Chaplet for people to prayerfully ask His mercy for themselves as well as for the whole world. He also said He wanted the Sunday after Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday. St. John Paul II instituted Divine Mercy Sunday on April 30, 2000 during the canonization of St. Faustina. ** This seems to be one of the most honest statements (by a person other than Jesus) contained in the Gospels, up there with Peter’s confession of faith: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Most High God!” Note 1: I have written on Divine Mercy many times. Here are two suggestions, both from 2023: https://www.catanesesd.com/micheles-blog/oceans-of-mercy https://www.catanesesd.com/micheles-blog/and-mercy-rose Note 2: I am taking a ‘blog holiday’ so I will not be posting a new entry until May 18. You can find more entries to read in my Heart Speaks to Heart Blog Archives (found at the bottom of the page) whenever you like. Images: 1. Icon; St. Faustina Kowalska Apostle of Divine Mercy, by Fr. William Hart McNichols. Notice the icon within the icon. If you are interested in purchasing a copy of this icon you can find it at fineartamerica.com/featured/st-faustina-kowalska-apostle-of-divine-mercy-094-william-hart-mcnichols.html 2. My photo; Hummingbird feeding. I took this in my backyard. 3. My photo; this crossover bridged the gap, (that is, across the river), in a scenic town in the Scottish Highlands. 4. Painting; Jesus Heals a Demoniac, by James Tissot. 5. Photo; Fr. William Hart McNichols offering the gift of an icon to St. John Paul II. It is one of his original icons, Our Lady of the New Advent The Burning Bush. This took place in Denver, Colorado, 1993. I chose this to offer a photo of St. John Paul II and also to show Fr. Bill McNichols, the iconographer whose work I include in every blog post. All icons, images, etc., are posted with his generous permission. You can obtain a copy of this at https://fineartamerica.com/featured/our-lady-of-the-new-advent-the-burning-bush-024-william-hart-mcnichols.html For clarification: I did not take this photo. Also, I do not get any financial remuneration by endorsing or posting the work of Fr. Bill. 6. Painting; the original Divine Mercy image as described by St. Faustina Kowalska. Note: In compliance with GDPR rules, I wish to make it clear that I do not gather any information on any of my readers at any time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Heart Speaks to Heart
|
RSS Feed
