Sunday’s chat focused on: : How have you experienced the Mercy of God?When did you discover the devotion to Divine Mercy?
Sister: I discovered Divine Mercy in 1987 the year before I entered the Monastery But I don’t remember how now How did He catch you?
C: That long ago? Wow, that must be first when PJPII said it was okay
He lured me in with Bible study
Sister : Guess so. I got St Faustina’s book and Radio City had Helen Hayes there presenting some film on Divine Mercy
Probably helped me get into the Monastery- His Mercy
C: Right after college, I had stopped going to church for reasons that don’t matter anymore. I met a family going through RCIA who invited me where they were
I finally went, but, um, informed God on th way in from the parking lot that I wouldn’t stay if they didn’t have a Bible study. And as I walked into the back of church, what were they announcing? Signups for their first ever Bible Study!
Sister Ma: I discovered Diving Mercy at St. James Church in Lititz, PA, where my mom lives. I said the chaplet with them every Saturday morning when I visited Ma.
But we do DIVE into Our Lord’s heart, after all…
C: I found out about the chaplet when I started going to the Polish Catholic church near me
Sister Ma: Then I loved hearing it sung on EWTN.
Sister : I wish I could remember how I did. I know when and my involvement but not the first moment. Maybe it was a book, the diary, advertised in a catalog that drew me.
Sister Ma: Oh, that’s right: even before St. James my husband read St. Faustina’s diary every day. Oh, that’s right: even before St. James my husband read St. Faustina’s diary every day.
J: yeah mine was through watching on EWTN movie about Sr Faustina called Faustyna and also read her diary…not sure either of exact time
C: such a powerful prayer, I use it all the time, and recommend it, even to non Catholics
Sister : If the diary came out in the mid-80’s then that’s it. I used to gobble up religious catalogs and as I was working could afford to buy books
My dad passed as my cousin and I were reciting the Chaplet at the foot of the bed. I was so consoled by that
Sister Ma: We often recite it when our sisters are on their deathbedsPM
J: My Aunt died two years ago on Ash Wednesday right after 3PM…just few minutes past. I was saying chaplet to myself inside. Nobody else was aware of it. I told my cousin about it after she was moved cause my Aunt her mom was so wonderful and died at a great hour and day of mercy..seemed fitting
C: I know He hears all our prayers for the dying
Jan 20 2013, 8:14 PM
Sister : That is so beautiful and powerful
SisterMa: More than any other prayer, the Divine Mercy puts us into right relationship with Our Lord: deep, deep humility and trust in Christ’s merciful love for each of us.
J: That is how my cousin became aware of the Divine Mercy
Sister: ST Faustina’s understandings from Jesus about death are encouraging;something about those last minutes for the soul and hope
J: yes very much so…she said He comes to everyone at the end right?
J: for maybe one last chance?
Sister Ma: I sure hope I can stay open, trusting, and hopeful to my last breath!
Sister : Yes I think so and in a very hope filled way
Mercy is so needed in our world now
C: Me too, and I think she does say that and how much He will do if we just turn even the most infintisimal bit
Jan 20 2013, 8:17 PM
Sister : Yes that’s it I think
J: I never forgot that
Sister Ma: That’s what I like so much about our Salesian spirituality: It’s hope-filled optimism – not pollyanna but anchored in Christ.
Sister : SFDS: God binds Himself of His own Will, urged and incited to do this by the bonds of His endless and boundless kindness and mercy
C: Me too, and though the commandments are so important, it opens up relationship even more than the commandments do
Jan 20 2013, 8:18 PM
J: what do you think happens at that time if say you haven’t been to confession or had chance to go and you are in state of mortal sin? I would suppose His mercy is beyond that? as long as you full hearted call to Him for forgiveness.maybe He is the final confessor for all
Sister Ma: Don’t you think that’s the one unforgivable sin: not trusting fully in God’s mercy?
J: I didn’t mean that though
Sister : “more profound will be our confidence in the goodness and mercy of God; for between mercy and misery there is so close connection that the one cannot be exercised without the other. If God had not created us He would still have been perfect in goodness, but He would not have been actually merciful, since mercy can only be exercised towards the miserable”: SFDS
J: what if someone had no intention of asking for forgiveness at time…they died an untimely death…will He be there as there confessor you think?
Sister Ma: SFdS: We must not fear that God will fail us, for His love is infinite fo the soul which rests on Him. (from Three Spiritual Laws)
J: before their Judge that is?
Sister Ma: their Judge, Creator, and Loving Friend
C: I don’t know…I hope confessor first…
J: yeah just wondering if that is what Saint Faustina meant
Sister : I think He extends His arms towards all. WE need to trust Him and go into them. That doesn’t mean He won’t let us be purified after that first heavenly embrace. But if we don’t go…well
C: One of my friends told me the other day that her pastor preached on how we should remember God is King, and not treat Him like a cosmic buddy
Sister Ma: Yes, humility – so important in this age of SELF-RESPECT, i.e. PRIDE!
Sister : He is Judge, yes but I think He Loves and Judges
Not Judges and Loves
But that is only me, not the Catechism
C: so, say a person has a mental illness that can’t be cured and it causes them to do awful things, then they are not necessarily evil?
Sister Ma: That’s the whole point of Christ’s coming: to show us His (and our) Merciful Father.
If they’re mentally ill, they’re less responsible for their acts.
J: culpability is way lessened I would think
Jan 20 2013, 8:27 PM
Sister Ma: That’s why even our earthly judges allow a plea of “insanity
I think now of our poor sisters with Alzheimers, who don’t really know where they are or what they’re doing
J: that is a horrible disease. My Aunt that I mentioned above had that..It was so sad.
C: yes, in some ways that is like being a child again, living only in the moment In others, the disease makes people say and do things completely out of character
Sister : My dad too, that’s what he died from
Sister Ma: God’s infinite mercy towards them calls forth our own daily mercy towards them.
Sister : Does mercy include justice? Or does it go beyond justice I wonder
C: I think justice has to be served too, but I think He tempers it with mercy
Sister Ma: Mercy = God’s justice = Real justice, not earthly justice?
C: it seems to me earthly justic is geared toward maintaining the status quo, but God’s justice liberates
Sister : Maybe we don’t grasp God’s justice well
Sister Ma: It’s like a parent’s “tough” love, maybe. ,
C: yes!
Sister Ma: Hard at first but undergirded with deep love
J: yes but I can’t help but fear that ultimate justice of being sent to pits of hell..even though I know I should only concentrate on His mercy and love..I still fear and worry I will be too weak any way
Sister Ma: The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom!
C: is it because it we begin to fear when we realize we can never make it on our own?
J: this scripture always scared me…Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.
Luke 13:24
C: scares me too=as though many, many will not make it
J: and that was after 13:23 Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them,
Sister Ma: SFdS: Now my confidence in Him is so strong that solitude and darkness are welcome to me, since it is in solitude that I most realize the all encompassing presence of God.
Sister : He is the door- the gate
We have to enter thru Him not on our own We are all too weak
Sister Ma: Think of the Good Shepherd image with Our Lord carrying the lost sheep (me!) on His shoulders!
Sister : That;s why keeping in the presence of God is so recommended, He is always there to us and we are more likely to cling to Him
Sister Ma: Or the footprints in the sand, where Our Lord carries us
J: yes but I can’t help but worry cause I know my weakness that I will choose to run away from the flock so far that I will never be found
Sister : Throw your sins into His Heart as quickly as you commit them andlet Him burn them away
J: but maybe just saying that means I am within His reach
Sister : He is in you and so always with you.
Jan 20 2013, 8:40 PM
C: yes, and every night there is the psalm asking Him to cleanse us of our unknown faults
J: maybe the ones that really lose sight of Him don’t care or don’t ever consider it?
Sister Ma: SFdS: The truth of god shall compass thee with a shield; thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night (Ps 91:5). This assurance will be gained little by as the grace of God grows in you; for grace brings forth confidence, and confidence is not confounded. (from a letter to one of his sisters)
Sister : Yes and they need our prayers to help them, even for their last moments
C: or so many people say they want noting to do with a God who permits suffering
Sister Ma: That can be our question for next chat room: WHY SUFFERING?
Sister: The great mystics say suffering is the only way we can really prove we love Him- thru that