Ahead of the one man was a tall, younger white man in a cowboy hat and boots, one foot perched on a large cart loaded with items. I said a small prayer that he would notice the man with only one item behind him. He did! And he motioned to the man to get ahead of him. Then those two carried on a lively, comfortable conversation.
So God, Who is Divine Mercy, weaves a golden thread of love throughout our world, day by day, binding our lives together through small encounter after small encounter, one ordinary act of merciful kindness at a time, and millions of merciful acts happen simultaneously, often between strangers.
Yet there are so many people today who find life meaningless, who despair over the evil and absurdity they see around them. There are many who do not believe in God and lose hope. There are many who are sinners and despair because they think that God is an impossibly distant Being Who only desires vengeance and punishment. These tortured souls believe they are not worthy of forgiveness. What message do they hear from us about the redemptive power of God's mercy?
Yes, we are all sinners. Yes, we must acknowledge our sinfulness, tremble before God and His justice and judgement. Yes, we should love the sinner but hate the sin. But we especially need to ask God in prayer that we and everyone will be embraced by the compassionate, intimate, loving Mercy of God.
"Humanity will never find peace until it turns in trust to the Divine Mercy." So said Jesus in a vision to St. Faustina Kowalska. Sr. Faustina was a poor Polish girl, born August 25, 1905, who, though she had experienced Jesus calling her to religious life from childhood, was rejected by several different convents because of her poverty. Although she could read and write, she had only three years of formal education, so the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, the order that accepted her, usually gave her humble tasks in the kitchen and garden.
She continued to have visions of Jesus. In one powerful vision, she saw Jesus in a simple white garment with pale and red rays emanating from His heart, symbolic of the water and blood that flowed when He was pierced with a lance. He said to her:
"Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature 'Jesus I trust in you.' I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish."
Eventually Sr. Faustina and her Confessor found an artist who painted the image that she described to him. Then Jesus asked for this image to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter, which Jesus named "The Feast of Divine Mercy."
Sr. Faustina's Confessor asked her to write down her conversations with Jesus, as well as a description of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Litany of Divine Mercy. Her Confessor managed to have a brochure printed containing a summary of Jesus' message to Sr. Faustina, the Chaplet, and the Novena, with a picture of the painted image on the cover. Devotion to Jesus, King of Divine Mercy, flowered and spread. Eventually her diary was also published.
The message which Sr. Faustina relayed is simple and profound:
A. Ask for God's mercy. Repent of your sins daily. Pray in trust to God daily.
B. Be merciful. Receive God's mercy and let it flow through you to others.
C. Completely trust in Jesus. The graces of His mercy are dependent on our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.
When we live in such a graced relationship with Jesus, King of Mercy, we will receive His joy.
Sr. Faustina died of tuberculosis at the age of thirty-three on October 5, 1938. Pope John Paul II solemnly declared that the first Sunday after Easter would be Divine Mercy Sunday, showing the world-wide Church that the secret of Easter is the Secret of Divine Mercy. In this the Pope recalled the words of Jesus to Sr. Faustina:
"My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls, and especially for poor sinners....It is for them that the Blood and Water flowed from my Heart as from a fountain, overflowing with mercy. For them I dwell in the tabernacle as the King of Mercy."
Pope John Paul II declared the little, unassuming nun a great mystic and a saint on April 30, 2000, saying that her message was a ray of sunshine, illuminating the world's path in the third millennium. Fr. Benedict Groeschel, author and priest, estimated recently that over 100 million Catholics today follow Faustina's devotion to Jesus, King of Divine Mercy.
Today, more than ever, we need to hear the message that God ardently wants us to show mercy to others as Jesus shows mercy to us. Our nation is polarized; we live in fear; we turn against each other in anger. Our minds seem focused on our country and our personal wants
What if we allowed Jesus' mercy to flow through us to circle the globe? What if we prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for all those throughout the world who are hurting, starving, jobless, and ill? For everyone who leads the harsh life of a soldier, not just those who fight for us? For people of every race, creed, and political affiliation? What if we prayed for mercy for the suffering earth itself? God's mercy flowing like an ocean over the world, God's mercy flowing through us as through a fountain, is the only hope for our world!