Divine Mercy

Well I wanted to put a post out there, even if no one in the word is going to read this. I also wanted to post a pic; however, my laptop will not connect to the internet so I do not have access to my pics. Anway, how much do you know about the Divine Mercy?

Well here is some information...


Background of the Divine Mercy Devotion

From the diary of a young Polish nun, a special devotionbegan spreading throughout the world in the 1930s. Themessage is nothing new, but is a reminder of what theChurch has always taught through scripture and tradition:that God is merciful and forgiving and that we, too, mustshow mercy and forgiveness. But in the Divine Mercydevotion, the message takes on a powerful new focus,calling people to a deeper understanding that God’s love isunlimited and available to everyone — especially thegreatest sinners.

The message and devotion to Jesus as The Divine Mercyis based on the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, anuneducated Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritualdirector, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording therevelations she received about God’s mercy. Even beforeher death in 1938, the devotion to The Divine Mercy hadbegun to spread.

The message of mercy is that God loves us — all of us —no matter how great our sins. He wants us to recognize thatHis mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call uponHim with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us toothers. Thus, all will come to share His joy. It is a messagewe can call to mind simply by remembering ABC.

A — Ask for His Mercy. God wants us to approachHim in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins andasking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and uponthe whole world.
B — Be merciful. God wants us to receive His mercyand let it flow through us to others. He wants us toextend love and forgiveness to others just as He doesto us.
C — Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to knowthat the graces of His mercy are dependent upon ourtrust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we willreceive.

The Divine Mercy Devotion

Devotion to The Divine Mercy involves a total commitment toGod as Mercy. It is a decision to trust completely in Him, toaccept His mercy with thanksgiving, and to be merciful asHe is merciful.

The devotional practices proposed in the diary of SaintFaustina and set forth in this website are completely inaccordance with the teachings of the Church and are firmlyrooted in the Gospel message of our Merciful Savior.Properly understood and implemented, they will help usgrow as genuine followers of Christ.

Merciful Heart

There are two scriptural verses that we should keep in mindas we involve ourselves in these devotional practices:
1. "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts arefar from me" (Is 29:13);
2. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Mt5:7).
It's an ironic and somewhat frightening fact that many of themost religious people of Christ's time (people who wereactively practicing their religion and eagerly awaiting thepromised Messiah) were not able to recognize Him whenHe came.

The Pharisees, to whom Christ was speaking in the firstquotation above, were very devoted to the prayers, rules,and rituals of their religion; but over the years, these outerobservances had become so important in themselves thattheir real meaning had been lost. The Pharisees performedall the prescribed sacrifices, said all the right prayers, fastedregularly, and talked a lot of about God, but none of it hadtouched their hearts. As a result, they had no relationshipwith God, they were not living the way He wanted them tolive, and they were not prepared for the coming of Jesus.

When we look at the image of the Merciful Savior, or pausefor prayer at three o'clock, or pray the Chaplet — are thesethings drawing us closer to the real sacramental life of theChurch and allowing Jesus to transform our hearts? Or havethey just become religious habits? In our daily lives are wegrowing more and more as people of mercy? Or are we justgiving "lip service" to God's mercy?

Living the Message of Mercy

The devotional practices revealed through Saint Faustinawere given to us as "vessels of mercy" through which God'slove can be poured out upon the world, but they are notsufficient unto themselves. It's not enough for us to hang TheDivine Mercy image in our homes, pray the Chaplet everyday at three o'clock, and receive Holy Communion on thefirst Sunday after Easter. We also have to show mercy to ourneighbors. Putting mercy into action is not an option of theDivine Mercy Devotion; it's a requirement!

Our Lord strongly speaks about this to SaintFaustina:
I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out oflove for me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors alwaysand everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try toexcuse yourself from it (Diary, 742).

Like the gospel command, "Be merciful, just as your Fatheris merciful," this demand that we show mercy to ourneighbors "always and everywhere" seems impossible tofulfill. But the Lord assures us that it is possible. "When asoul approaches Me with trust," He explains, "I fill it with suchan abundance of graces that it cannot contain them withinitself, but radiates them to other souls" (Diary, 1074).

How do we "radiate" God's mercy to others? By our actions,our words, and our prayers. "In these three degrees," he tellsSister Faustina, "is contained the fullness of mercy" (Diary742). We have all been called to this threefold practice ofmercy, but we are not all called in the same way. We need toask the Lord, who understands our individual personalitiesand situation, to help us recognize the various ways we caneach show His mercy in our daily lives.

By asking for the Lord's mercy, trusting in His mercy, andsincerely trying to live His mercy in our lives, we can assurethat we will never hear Him say of us, "Their hearts are farfrom Me," but rather that wonderful promise, "Blessed arethe merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
It is our hope that you will continue to read and reread theinformation on this website and make the prayers, attitudes,and practices presented a real part of your life, so that youmay come to trust completely in God and live each dayimmersed in His merciful love — thus fulfilling the Lord'scommand to let your life "shine before people, so that theywill see the good things you do and praise your Father inHeaven" (Mt 5:16).

http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/backgr.htm