"Do all you possibly can for this work of My mercy. I desire that My mercy be worshiped, and I am giving mankind the last hope of salvation; that is, recourse to My mercy" (The Diary of St. Faustina, 998).
Contemplating the Divine Mercy of Jesus Christ means pondering a sublime mystery. When we consider His proposal of forgiveness and His promise of mercy, we can barely approach an understanding of His perfect goodness and love.
In our sinfulness, even the most pious of us can not fathom such perfect mercy. We're unable to practice it ourselves and have never been recipients of it through human nature. It is more than we can believe that such a treasure, unmerited, would be ours through the merits of God Himself.
What is the Divine Mercy? It is a special devotion to Jesus that calls us to a deeper understanding of God's unlimited love and forgiveness. This mercy is available to everyone who seeks it with a repentant heart, even the greatest sinners.
The message of the Divine Mercy is based on the writing of St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary recording revelations she received about God's mercy. In her meditations, and during mystical experiences with Christ, St. Faustina, though poor and uneducated, became the instrument of communicating the salvific knowledge of the Divine Mercy of Jesus, and spreading its devotion to a world weary in sin.
"I am Love and Mercy itself. There is no misery that could be a match for My mercy, neither will misery exhaust it, because as it is being granted — it increases. The soul that trusts in My mercy is most fortunate, because I Myself take care of it" (1273).
God's mercy, taught in scripture and in tradition, takes on a life-altering power in the Divine Mercy's devotion and spirituality. In this great gift of His limitless forgiveness, Christ brings to us the intimacy of a personal relationship in which love overcomes all sin. He urges us to call upon Him with trust, to receive His mercy and to let it flow to others in forgiveness and joy. In this way He chooses to draw all people to Himself.
As we pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, we commit ourselves to trusting completely in the infinite mercy of God to save His people despite their sins: "Eternal Father, I offer You the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and for those of the whole world. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."
The whole world? That's a lot of sins. Here's where the mystery comes into play. How can we possibly atone for all of the sins that go on each day? For the sins of all humankind, for all ages? The answer is that Jesus already has and He wants us to join Him in this Herculean work that only God could accomplish. Out of His love for us, He wants our participation in our own salvation and that of every other individual.
Wrap your mind around the mystery of the Divine Mercy and you'll have enough food for meditation to last you a lifetime. The Catholic faith is full of such ponderables, beginning with the Incarnation, through the Resurrection and reaching a spiritual summit in the Eucharist. We are continually challenged to believe God's mysterious ways without comprehending them. So much of our faith depends upon the acceptance of mystery.
When we are children we have little difficulty living with mysteries, maybe because so much of life is new to us. Later, we scorn anything we can't pin down, figure out and manipulate to fit our own lives. Much, much later, as we age through adulthood, the art of accepting mysteries comes back to us as we journey through life. How else are we to understand sorrow, unexpected joy and the fragility of our lives?
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious," said Albert Einstein. "It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."
Who ever thought Einstein, who spent his life finding explanations for the unknown, would advocate the acceptance of mystery? But he recognized the value of accepting mystery as something larger than ourselves, a truth we cannot tame to our understanding. "There are two ways to live your life — one is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle," he further stated.
Coming to terms with mystery requires humility. Amid lives of control and planning, responsibility and practicality, God's mysteries require letting go of self-administration and trusting in the unseen. Every day we are given opportunities to accept mystery with humility, and to reap the fruits of this dynamic, including hope and peace of mind and spirit.
The Divine Mercy is a love story between Jesus and His "secretary," St. Faustina. It is also a love story about God pleading for His children to turn to Him in trust, no matter the state of their souls. Divine Mercy is God's final word in the story of salvation.
"Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart. I use punishment when they themselves force Me to do so; My hand is reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice. Before the Day of Justice I am sending the Day of Mercy" (1588). "You will prepare the world for My final coming" (429).
"Jesus, I trust in You," we pray as we consider the Divine Mercy which flows from Christ and seeks to inundate our lives with grace. It is a divine mystery that defies the logic of the world and raises our heads to the supernatural Truth, to the God who loves us.
