Faith, Hope and Love
"Proclaim that mercy is the greatest attribute of God," Christ tells St. Faustina (Diary of St. Faustina, 300).
But, actually, mercy is more than God's greatest attribute. It's His entire nature.
"All the works of My hands are crowned with mercy," Christ says (Diary, 300).
But, actually, mercy is more than God's greatest attribute. It's His entire nature.
"All the works of My hands are crowned with mercy," Christ says (Diary, 300).
Jesus: "My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world. Who can measure the extent of My goodness? For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed Myself to be nailed to the cross; for you I let My Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain. I never reject a contrite heart. Your misery has disappeared in the depths of My mercy. Do not argue with Me about your wretchedness. You will give Me pleasure if you hand over to Me all your troubles and griefs. I shall heap upon you the treasures of My grace" (Diary, 1485).
Prayers for the Protection of the Unborn
"Father of Life and Love, we thank you today that you have called us to share in the life of the one human family. We thank you for all our brothers and sisters, and ask You to deepen the bonds of love among us. We thank you especially for our youngest and smallest brothers and sisters, those in the womb. Today, Oh Lord, we remember them, while so many choose to ignore and forget them. We remember those who are living, and commend them to Your protection. We remember those who have died and we commend them to Your mercy. We pray, Father, that we who are the living stones of the Church, may be witnesses to the dignity of life. Give us the grace to confront the evil of abortion and eliminate it. May we see the day when all people will remember abortion only as a thing of the past, and may praise You forever for the victory of life. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen." (Author Unknown) "O Mary, Mother of Jesus and Mother of us all, we turn to you today as the one who said 'Yes' to Life. 'You will conceive and bear a Son,' the angel told you. Despite the surprise and the uncertainty about how this could be, you said yes. 'Be it done unto me according to your word.' Mary, we pray today for all mothers who are afraid to be mothers. We pray for those who feel threatened and overwhelmed by their pregnancy. Intercede for them, that God may give them the grace to say yes and the courage to go on. May they have the grace to reject the false solution of abortion. May they say with you, 'Be it done unto me according to your word.' May they experience the help of Christian people, and know the peace that comes from doing God's will. Amen." (Author Unknown) |
Praying for Grandma's Soul
By June-Klins - reprinted with permission http://spiritofmedjugorje.org/ Fr. Chris Alar, M.I.C., gave an excellent talk in August at a conference in Buffalo, New York, about Divine Mercy, and at one point, his talk brought me to tears. Father talked about a discussion he had as a young man (we will call him "Chris" because he was not a priest at that time) in 2003 with a priest regarding his grandmother's suicide in 1993. Chris told this priest that he was worried about his grandmother's soul, especially because in her last year of life she had stopped receiving the Sacraments and had turned her back on God and the Church. The priest told him to go home and pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the salvation of his grandmother's soul. Chris, whose profession at that time was engineering, questioned the priest, "Father, I don't understand. My grandmother has been judged. There is nothing I can do to change that." The priest repeated his instructions to pray the Chaplet for her soul. Chris told the priest he did not want to be difficult, but he just did not understand. The priest said, "God knew back in 1993 that you would be here in 2003, and you would pray this Chaplet for your grandmother, and those graces will be allowed through the mercy of God to be taken back and showered upon the soul of your grandmother at the moment of her judgment to help her. This is why we need to pray for our loved ones and our families and our friends." Chris lamented that his grandmother had fallen away from the Church before she died, so Father pointed out that paragraph 1486 of St. Faustina's Diary says that Jesus comes to every soul three times at the moment of death. If the soul rejects Him after the first time, He goes away. But He comes back a second time. If the soul rejects Him again, He'll go, but He'll come back a third time. If the soul rejects Him a third time, the soul is lost forever. Chris was elated to hear this, since he felt his grandmother would never have rejected Jesus, because she was a good person. But then Father seemed to throw a monkey wrench at him, asserting, "We die in the state that we live." He explained that if we turn our backs on God, we will not recognize Him when He comes. Chris was crestfallen at that thought, since his grandmother had, in fact, turned her back on God. But the priest continued, "Without your prayers, She may not recognize Him, but with your prayers upon her soul at the moment of her judgment – because God is outside of time (there is no past or future for God, just one eternal now), He can take those graces from your prayers and shower them down on your grandmother, so maybe, just maybe, it's enough grace for her to turn around and say, 'Yes' to God." Father said that this is why St. John Paul II and others call us "mini co-redeemers." We are the Body of Christ and it is very important for us to pray for one another. Prayers can make a difference. A demon once told St. John Vianney that 80,000 souls avoided hell due to his prayers and sufferings. This is why we should offer up our prayers and suffering. Father continued, referencing paragraph 1698 of the Diary – which says that God's mercy sometimes touches souls at the last moment. Chris began to cry at the thought of such a merciful God. He decided right then and there to spend the rest of his life spreading this message of hope. And that he does. Chris joined the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, was ordained a few years ago, and is now the director of the Association of Marian Helpers. Editor's note: If you would like to hear Father's entire talk, you can order the CD called "Divine Mercy 101" by calling 1-800-462-7426, or visit the website marian.org. |