Mercy

“Your misery does not hinder My mercy.” (Diary of Saint Faustina, Diary Entry 1182).

Pope Saint John Paul II

In the Diary of Saint Faustina, the Saint wrote the words spoken to her by God in Diary 1182, “Today the Lord said to me, My daughter, My pleasure and delight, nothing will stop Me from granting you graces. Your misery does not hinder My mercy. My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy; [urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. On the cross, the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls-no one have I excluded!”

When Saint Faustina’s cause to Sainthood was first considered, it was rejected.  Her diary was examined and the translation from the original Polish was so poor that it failed to reveal the true message of the original text, and as such it was deemed unholy.

Pope John Paul I was an Italian Cardinal who was elected as Pope on 28 August 1978.  He remained Pope until his unexpected death some thirty-three days later.

His successor and the next Pope to be elected was the first non-Italian Pope to be elected to the Papacy in four-hundred and fifty-five years.  That was Pope Saint John Paul II.  Now, Pope Saint John Paul II was a Polish Cardinal.  And he could understand the original translation of the original text of the Diary of Saint Faustina.  And as such he could read it, having heard about that Saint.

It was his intervention in the re-opening of the investigation into that Diary and also into Saint Faustina’s cause for Sainthood, that allowed the Divine Mercy to gain such recognition and devotion within the Catholic Church.

And I have often wondered – since hearing the story of the unexplained and unexpected death of Pope John Paul I – how marvellous is a God who can turn all things to the Good.

Pope Saint John Paul II stated that establishing the Feast of the Divine Mercy was his Greatest achievement.  This coming from a man who was influential in bringing down the Berlin Wall and contributing to calls for world peace and an end to the Cold War.

And of all the things that he was proud of, it was the Divine Mercy and the institution of Divine Mercy Sunday…

And I have been thinking about that.  For the Divine Mercy is such an unexplainable gift to us.  It is something that we have from our God that no other religion claims to offer.  Our God offers us mercy – forgiveness – even in our most wretched state.  And He offers this without qualm or compromise.  He offers it with pure love.  And He does this because His entire message to us is that we need to trust in Him.  And in order to convince us to trust in Him He is willing to forgive literally anything as long as we ask for it trusting in His mercy.  How awesome is my God…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.