Babe Ruth, the famous professional baseball player, drifted away from his faith during his career. One night he was very ill in a New York hospital, and a friend suggested that he make his peace with God. As a result, Babe Ruth asked to see a priest. After celebrating the sacrament of Reconciliation, Babe Ruth wrote:
“As I lay in bed that evening, I thought to myself - what a comfortable feeling to be free from fear and worries. I could simply turn them over to God.”
Wow! What an expression of Trust in God’s Love and Mercy.
The greatest message of Jesus in all of the Gospels is Mercy.
In the Gospel of John (3: 17) -"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” God does not desire the destruction of sinners but their conversion.
The message of God’s Divine Mercy and forgiveness - that flows from God’s abundant love - is the very source of our hope… the hope that does not disappoint.
As written in her Diary - Jesus said to St. Faustina: “Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy" (Diary, 300).
If you were to take all of the sins ever committed on earth, they would not amount to a grain of sand in comparison to the ocean of the Divine Mercy of God.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance or Confession – is one of the greatest gift of God to His Church - through which we experience God’s mercy - through Christ – with Christ – in Christ…
But sad to say - unfortunately – people do not take advantage of such a great blessing – such a great gift. A gift is no good unless you unwrap and open it and use it.
Pope Francis said: “The greatest sin today is that people have lost the sense of sin.
As an example, using the biblical episode in which King David falls in love with Bathsheba and sends her husband, general Uriah, to fight in the front line and thus to certain death. It is in fact a murder.
King David, faced with a great sin, but he does not see it as a sin. He doesn't even think of asking for forgiveness. Instead, all he thinks about is: 'How can I resolve this?'
It can happen to all of us. I think we can all relate to this. We are all tempted and we fall into sin. It's part of life's normal struggle. But the problem - the most serious problem is not so much temptation and us falling into sin against God’s commandments, but the problem is our behavior and attitude towards sin.
With all due respect - we have become masters in justifying ourselves. We always find an alibi that explains our shortcomings. People think everything can now be explained away… or rationalized… People just want to have some psychotherapy - or it is always the other person’s fault… everyone is doing it. And so - people do not think in terms of sin anymore, they no longer feel sorry and repentant and therefore, in their mind, there is no need to change and that is why people do not go to confession anymore.
The truth is: Salvation will not come from our cunning, from our cleverness, from our intelligence. Salvation comes from God's grace and how we train every day of our Christian life cooperating with God’s grace.
In the midst of trials, violence and hatred in the world, in the midst of struggles in life, God wants the world He created and loved to know Him in a relationship of intimate trust.
The message of the Divine Mercy is simple. It is that God loves us — all of us. And, he wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins. “Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus”, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy.
The message of Divine Mercy is one we can call to mind simply by remembering ABC:
A - Ask for His Mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour out His mercy upon us and upon the whole world.
Jesus told St. Faustina: What offends Jesus more than the sins people commit is people’s lack of trust in His mercy. Jesus told St. Faustina: “If you think you are a greater sinner than the others, the more you have a greater claim, greater right to My Mercy.”
Jesus said: “Let them come to me. Everyone who comes to seek my mercy, I will not disappoint them.” “I will grant them the remission of all their sins, even if they be as scarlet; even if they be more than the grains of sand on the seashore and the stars in the heavens.”
A - Ask for God’s mercy.
B - Be merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us. Our being forgiven of our sins depends on our being merciful ourselves also towards others. As in the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”
The first step in being merciful with others is to reflect on and be aware of our own sinfulness and the countless times we have been forgiven instead of judging those who have sinned against us.
Think of the “baddest” person; think of the worst people you can think of. Have you ever thought that you are also capable of doing those bad things people did, and do, maybe even worse? – if you are given the opportunity or if you were put in the same situation. So, do not be too proud now.
A – Ask for God’s mercy.
B – Be merciful
C - Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.
"Jesus, I trust in You!" This prayer clearly expresses the attitude with which we, too would like to abandon ourselves trustfully in the hands of our only Savior – Jesus Christ.
When we go to confession – if you still remember – with all due respect - we tell the priest – in essence – we tell Christ… - who is using the body of the priest – we start with: “Bless me Father for I have sinned.” Doesn’t it sound odd or strange? It seems there is some audacity or boldness or even arrogance in those words: “Bless me Father for I have sinned…” It seems more natural or more correct to say: “Give me punishment…” or “Spare me… for I have sinned.” But – to say “Bless me, for I have sinned? “
There is a profound truth there. Blessing is not deserving. Blessing is not payment for good deeds. Blessing is not earned. Quite the opposite, blessing is the gift one receives by pure grace and mercy. Grace is getting what we do not deserve. Mercy is not getting the punishment we deserve.
And - When one receives a blessing - it says more about the goodness of the one who blesses or the one who gives the blessing than the goodness of the one being blessed.
St Paul in his letter to the Romans (5:8) – “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Let me close with the Divine Mercy message from Pope Francis:
“God is waiting for us. Let us find the courage to return to His house, allowing ourselves to be loved by him, to dwell in his loving wounds, and to encounter his mercy in the sacraments. We will feel his wonderful tenderness, we will feel his embrace, and we too will become more capable of mercy, patience, forgiveness and love.”
God Bless
