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 the conversion of sinners.
The message of God’s Divine Mercy and forgiveness - that flows from God’s abundant love - is the very source of our hope… hope that does not disappoint.
As written in the Diary of St. Faustina, Jesus told her: “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.”
God wants us to recognize that His mercy is infinitely greater than our sins. Romans 8:38-39: “Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus”. So, we are all invited to call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy.
For those who have not been confession in a long time, do you remember the first thing you say? 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. We sinned and yet we come to Christ – in the person of the priest and we dare to say: “Bless me Father for I have sinned…” It seems more natural or more correct to say: “Give me penance…” or “Spare me… for I have sinned.” But we start with: “Bless me, for I have sinned? “
There is a profound truth there. Blessing is not deserving. Blessing is not payment for good works. 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.”
The Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession – is one of the greatest gift of God to His Church for us - through which we experience God’s mercy - through Christ – with Christ – in Christ…
Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis have all repeatedly said: “The greatest sin today is that people have lost their sense of sin.
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 the 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… or cleared through psychotherapy.
“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 – whether you like it or not – whether you believe it or not: - the truth is - Salvation will not come from our cunning, not from our cleverness, not from our intelligence. Salvation comes from God's grace and how we train every day of our Christian life cooperating with God’s grace.
We live in troubled times - 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.
God does not love us because of the good things we do; we are loved because of our need of God’s love. God is love.
The truth is – quite a paradox - we experience the loving presence of God not so much in our giftedness or talents – not when things are going well - but we experience God’s love - more so - in our struggles and brokenness. In our weakness, we experience the love of God more deeply.
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 experience of peace – in trusting God’s mercy - in being reconciled with God.
Thomas Merton, an American Trappist monk, a theologian, a mystic – said: “We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.” – that is the bottom line.
The message of Divine Mercy is one we can call to mind simply by remembering ABC: - back to the basics.
A - Ask for God’s 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 also told St. Faustina: “If you think you are a greater sinner than the others, the more you have a greater claim, the more you have a 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 even if they are as many as the stars in the heavens.”
A - Ask for God’s mercy.
B - Be merciful.
What did Jesus say – the first thing he said the first time he met his disciples after His Resurrection? He did not condemn them or judge or got angry at them. He just said: “Peace be with you.” – so that the disciples would experience His mercy so that in turn they would 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.” If you want to be forgiven, now you know what to do.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 “worst” person you can think of; think of the worst people you can think of. Has it ever occurred to you … that if you were given the opportunity or if you were put in the same situation… that you would have done also those same bad things people did, maybe even worse? Do not be 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 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.
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…
