Saturday, December 18, 2010
The First National Pilgrimage of Divine Mercy in England
In June of this year the first National Pilgrimage of Divine Mercy took place in England at the Catholic Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham....below is an article from Independent Catholic news on that wonderful event..
‘Tell the Whole World’ about My Mercy’ was the theme of the first National Pilgrimage of Divine Mercy to the Roman Catholic Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham on Saturday, 5 June. Around 1500 pilgrims took part.
The day began with songs of praise and the Enthronement of the Divine Mercy Image. A special intention was to pray for the Papal visit and a special union of prayer was extended to the Holy Father. Solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament followed during which pilgrims prayed intently in silent.
Mgr Keith Barltrop (National Coordinator for Divine Mercy in UK) then gave a talk on ‘God’s Mercy, Help of the World’ drawing our attention to trust in God’s Mercy and to proclaim it by the witness of our lives. He spoke of the need for a renewed commitment to serious prayer and fasting and exhorted the pilgrims to be part of a National Movement to spread the fire of God’s Mercy throughout the British Isles.
Then the solemn silent Procession of the Blessed Sacrament wended its way from the Abbey Grounds, up the Martyrs’ Way, and along the Pilgrims’ Way through the fields to the Roman Catholic National Shrine. Upon arrival at the Shrine the Chaplet of Divine Mercy was sung.
The Pilgrimage culminated with the celebration of Mass presided by Fr Wojtek Jasinski MIC. A moving homily was preached by Fr. Laurie Locke in which he humbly spoke of how God’s Mercy had enveloped his own priestly life and the transforming impact of the Divine Mercy Devotion in his own Parish Community.
Before the final blessing all the concelebrating priests came before the Divine Mercy Image and led the congregation in a solemn Entrustment of the Church and our Countries to the Divine Mercy.
Reference: http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=16273
‘Tell the Whole World’ about My Mercy’ was the theme of the first National Pilgrimage of Divine Mercy to the Roman Catholic Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham on Saturday, 5 June. Around 1500 pilgrims took part. The day began with songs of praise and the Enthronement of the Divine Mercy Image. A special intention was to pray for the Papal visit and a special union of prayer was extended to the Holy Father. Solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament followed during which pilgrims prayed intently in silent.
Mgr Keith Barltrop (National Coordinator for Divine Mercy in UK) then gave a talk on ‘God’s Mercy, Help of the World’ drawing our attention to trust in God’s Mercy and to proclaim it by the witness of our lives. He spoke of the need for a renewed commitment to serious prayer and fasting and exhorted the pilgrims to be part of a National Movement to spread the fire of God’s Mercy throughout the British Isles.
Then the solemn silent Procession of the Blessed Sacrament wended its way from the Abbey Grounds, up the Martyrs’ Way, and along the Pilgrims’ Way through the fields to the Roman Catholic National Shrine. Upon arrival at the Shrine the Chaplet of Divine Mercy was sung.
The Pilgrimage culminated with the celebration of Mass presided by Fr Wojtek Jasinski MIC. A moving homily was preached by Fr. Laurie Locke in which he humbly spoke of how God’s Mercy had enveloped his own priestly life and the transforming impact of the Divine Mercy Devotion in his own Parish Community.
Before the final blessing all the concelebrating priests came before the Divine Mercy Image and led the congregation in a solemn Entrustment of the Church and our Countries to the Divine Mercy.
Reference: http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=16273
Friday, December 17, 2010
Knights of Divine Mercy (USA) - How they Began
In 2005, a battle was brewing. A battle for souls! A battle for decency! A battle for Morality over Immorality!
In the summer of 2004, Fr. Richard Heilman was assigned as pastor of two parishes, one of which was St. Mary’s of Pine Bluff, a Catholic parish in a small unincorporated town in southern Wisconsin. The little town of Pine Bluff has one church, two bars, and a handful of homes. It is surrounded by fields and idyllic countryside. It’s the kind of town where people dream of raising their kids.
So it was that just months after Fr. Heilman’s arrival in Pine Bluff, one of the bar owners decided to rent out his cozy establishment to a strip club owner. Neighbors were appalled, and the little town was stunned. But there was not, it seemed much that anyone could do.
The folks in Pine Bluff, however, hardly knew their new priest, Fr. Heilman. Little did they know the big plans he was formulating. Discerning God’s will, Father Heilman organized a mile-long Stations of the Cross through the town. He invited everyone—parishioners, townsfolk, people from the wider diocese—to pray along this “miracle mile,” in an effort to reclaim this surrendered ground and to consecrate the soil back to Our Lord.
The inaugural prayer walk was on Palm Sunday 2005. Over two-hundred people spilled into the little town of Pine Bluff to participate in the miracle mile. Pine Bluff residents had prepared for the prayer walk by placing two-foot-high crosses in their lawns stretching all the way down the main road and back, the length of the miracle mile. Participants carried their prayer sheets and a white ribbon (a symbol of purity and anti-pornography). The twelfth station found them at the entrance to the beautiful parish cemetery on a bluff with a life-size crucifix of our Lord and a one-hundred-year-old stone kneeler in front. The participants tied their white ribbons to this kneeler as a prayer form, much like lighting a vigil candle.
After that first prayer walk, a container holding prayer sheets and ribbons was placed at the first station on the walk. All were invited to come, pick up a prayer sheet and white ribbon, and pray at anytime of the day or night, as they wished. Over the next six months, prayer warriors walked the path, prayed the Stations, and sang hymns nearly round the clock. “This is holy ground, we’re standing on holy ground…” they sang. The white crosses on residents’ lawns served as a very tangible reminder to pray the Stations and to pray for God’s mercy. It was estimated that 600-700 ribbons were tied onto the cemetery kneeler over that period of time.
The miracle mile was, indeed, miraculous. Even though many say that the porn industry is more protected (under First Amendment rights) than are the babies in our mothers’ wombs, within six months the strip club was chased out of town. Little Pine Bluff was overjoyed, and a victory was won for Our Lord.
Seeing that the power of prayer moved a very significant mountain, a seed was planted and a lion was awakened. Recall that this year of 2005 was also the year our mercy pope, John Paul the Great, went to be with his merciful Savior, as he passed on the very eve of Divine Mercy Sunday. Pope John Paul II’s love for the Divine Mercy devotion and the inspiration of this faithful remnant in Pine Bluff, who believed and saw their prayers answered, led Fr. Heilman to found the very successful Knights of Divine Mercy, an organization calling Catholic men to heroic virtue, to be strong husbands and fathers, and to be spiritual men of prayer. To this day, after their First Friday evenings of prayer and training, the Knights of Divine Mercy walk across the street for a fish fry social at the now-wholesome, family-friendly sports tavern where the strip club once existed, quite literally “reclaiming surrendered ground.”
Article from: http://www.knightsofdivinemercy.com/
In the summer of 2004, Fr. Richard Heilman was assigned as pastor of two parishes, one of which was St. Mary’s of Pine Bluff, a Catholic parish in a small unincorporated town in southern Wisconsin. The little town of Pine Bluff has one church, two bars, and a handful of homes. It is surrounded by fields and idyllic countryside. It’s the kind of town where people dream of raising their kids.
The folks in Pine Bluff, however, hardly knew their new priest, Fr. Heilman. Little did they know the big plans he was formulating. Discerning God’s will, Father Heilman organized a mile-long Stations of the Cross through the town. He invited everyone—parishioners, townsfolk, people from the wider diocese—to pray along this “miracle mile,” in an effort to reclaim this surrendered ground and to consecrate the soil back to Our Lord.
The inaugural prayer walk was on Palm Sunday 2005. Over two-hundred people spilled into the little town of Pine Bluff to participate in the miracle mile. Pine Bluff residents had prepared for the prayer walk by placing two-foot-high crosses in their lawns stretching all the way down the main road and back, the length of the miracle mile. Participants carried their prayer sheets and a white ribbon (a symbol of purity and anti-pornography). The twelfth station found them at the entrance to the beautiful parish cemetery on a bluff with a life-size crucifix of our Lord and a one-hundred-year-old stone kneeler in front. The participants tied their white ribbons to this kneeler as a prayer form, much like lighting a vigil candle.
After that first prayer walk, a container holding prayer sheets and ribbons was placed at the first station on the walk. All were invited to come, pick up a prayer sheet and white ribbon, and pray at anytime of the day or night, as they wished. Over the next six months, prayer warriors walked the path, prayed the Stations, and sang hymns nearly round the clock. “This is holy ground, we’re standing on holy ground…” they sang. The white crosses on residents’ lawns served as a very tangible reminder to pray the Stations and to pray for God’s mercy. It was estimated that 600-700 ribbons were tied onto the cemetery kneeler over that period of time.
The miracle mile was, indeed, miraculous. Even though many say that the porn industry is more protected (under First Amendment rights) than are the babies in our mothers’ wombs, within six months the strip club was chased out of town. Little Pine Bluff was overjoyed, and a victory was won for Our Lord.
Seeing that the power of prayer moved a very significant mountain, a seed was planted and a lion was awakened. Recall that this year of 2005 was also the year our mercy pope, John Paul the Great, went to be with his merciful Savior, as he passed on the very eve of Divine Mercy Sunday. Pope John Paul II’s love for the Divine Mercy devotion and the inspiration of this faithful remnant in Pine Bluff, who believed and saw their prayers answered, led Fr. Heilman to found the very successful Knights of Divine Mercy, an organization calling Catholic men to heroic virtue, to be strong husbands and fathers, and to be spiritual men of prayer. To this day, after their First Friday evenings of prayer and training, the Knights of Divine Mercy walk across the street for a fish fry social at the now-wholesome, family-friendly sports tavern where the strip club once existed, quite literally “reclaiming surrendered ground.”
Article from: http://www.knightsofdivinemercy.com/
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Homily on the Canonisation of St. Faustina 30th April 2000
Homily of Pope John Paul II at the Mass For the Canonisation of Sr. Mary Faustina Kowalska
in St. Peter's Square, Rome,
on Divine Mercy Sunday 30th April 2000.
1. "Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius"; "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever" (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of Easter, as if receiving from Christ's lips these words of the Psalm; from the lips of the risen Christ, who bears the great message of divine mercy and entrusts its ministry to the Apostles in the Upper Room: "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.... Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (Jn 20: 21-23).
2. Blood and water! We immediately think of the testimony given by the Evangelist John, who, when a solider on Calvary pierced Christ's side with his spear, sees blood and water flowing from it (cf. Jn 19: 34). Moreover, if the blood recalls the sacrifice of the Cross and the gift of the Eucharist, the water, in Johannine symbolism, represents not only Baptism but also the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 3: 5; 4: 14; 7: 37-39).
Divine Mercy reaches human beings through the heart of Christ crucified: "My daughter, say that I am love and mercy personified", Jesus will ask Sr Faustina (Diary, p. 374). Christ pours out this mercy on humanity though the sending of the Spirit who, in the Trinity, is the Person-Love. And is not mercy love's "second name" (cf. Dives in misericordia, n. 7), understood in its deepest and most tender aspect, in its ability to take upon itself the burden of any need and, especially, in its immense capacity for forgiveness?
Today my joy is truly great in presenting the life and witness of Sr Faustina Kowalska to the whole Church as a gift of God for our time. By divine Providence, the life of this humble daughter of Poland was completely linked with the history of the 20th century, the century we have just left behind. In fact, it was between the First and Second World Wars that Christ entrusted his message of mercy to her. Those who remember, who were witnesses and participants in the events of those years and the horrible sufferings they caused for millions of people, know well how necessary was the message of mercy.
Jesus told Sr Faustina: "Humanity will not find peace until it turns trustfully to divine mercy" (Diary, p. 132). Through the work of the Polish religious, this message has become linked for ever to the 20th century, the last of the second millennium and the bridge to the third. It is not a new message but can be considered a gift of special enlightenment that helps us to relive the Gospel of Easter more intensely, to offer it as a ray of light to the men and women of our time.
3. What will the years ahead bring us? What will man's future on earth be like? We are not given to know. However, it is certain that in addition to new progress there will unfortunately be no lack of painful experiences. But the light of divine mercy, which the Lord in a way wished to return to the world through Sr Faustina's charism, will illumine the way for the men and women of the third millennium.
However, as the Apostles once did, today too humanity must welcome into the upper room of history the risen Christ, who shows the wounds of his Crucifixion and repeats: Peace be with you! Humanity must let itself be touched and pervaded by the Spirit given to it by the risen Christ. It is the Spirit who heals the wounds of the heart, pulls down the barriers that separate us from God and divide us from one another, and at the same time, restores the joy of the Father's love and of fraternal unity.
4. It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church will be called "Divine Mercy Sunday". In the various readings, the liturgy seems to indicate the path of mercy which, while re-establishing the relationship of each person with God, also creates new relations of fraternal solidarity among human beings. Christ has taught us that "man not only receives and experiences the mercy of God, but is also called "to practise mercy' towards others: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy' (Mt 5: 7)" (Dives et misericordia, n. 14). He also showed us the many paths of mercy, which not only forgives sins but reaches out to all human needs. Jesus bent over every kind of human poverty, material and spiritual.
His message of mercy continues to reach us through his hands held out to suffering man. This is how Sr Faustina saw him and proclaimed him to people on all the continents when, hidden in her convent at £agiewniki in Kraków, she made her life a hymn to mercy: Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo.
5. Sr Faustina's canonization has a particular eloquence: by this act I intend today to pass this message on to the new millennium. I pass it on to all people, so that they will learn to know ever better the true face of God and the true face of their brethren.
In fact, love of God and love of one's brothers and sisters are inseparable, as the First Letter of John has reminded us: "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments" (5: 2). Here the Apostle reminds us of the truth of love, showing us its measure and criterion in the observance of the commandments.
It is not easy to love with a deep love, which lies in the authentic gift of self. This love can only be learned by penetrating the mystery of God's love. Looking at him, being one with his fatherly heart, we are able to look with new eyes at our brothers and sisters, with an attitude of unselfishness and solidarity, of generosity and forgiveness. All this is mercy!
To the extent that humanity penetrates the mystery of this merciful gaze, it will seem possible to fulfil the ideal we heard in today's first reading: "The community of believers were of one heart and one mind. None of them ever claimed anything as his own; rather everything was held in common" (Acts 4: 32). Here mercy gave form to human relations and community life; it constituted the basis for the sharing of goods. This led to the spiritual and corporal "works of mercy". Here mercy became a concrete way of being "neighbour" to one's neediest brothers and sisters.
6. Sr Faustina Kowalska wrote in her Diary: "I feel tremendous pain when I see the sufferings of my neighbours. All my neighbours' sufferings reverberate in my own heart; I carry their anguish in my heart in such a way that it even physically destroys me. I would like all their sorrows to fall upon me, in order to relieve my neighbour" (Diary, p. 365). This is the degree of compassion to which love leads, when it takes the love of God as its measure!
It is this love which must inspire humanity today, if it is to face the crisis of the meaning of life, the challenges of the most diverse needs and, especially, the duty to defend the dignity of every human person. Thus the message of divine mercy is also implicitly a message about the value of every human being. Each person is precious in God's eyes; Christ gave his life for each one; to everyone the Father gives his Spirit and offers intimacy.
7. This consoling message is addressed above all to those who, afflicted by a particularly harsh trial or crushed by the weight of the sins they committed, have lost all confidence in life and are tempted to give in to despair. To them the gentle face of Christ is offered; those rays from his heart touch them and shine upon them, warm them, show them the way and fill them with hope. How many souls have been consoled by the prayer "Jesus, I trust in you", which Providence intimated through Sr Faustina! This simple act of abandonment to Jesus dispels the thickest clouds and lets a ray of light penetrate every life. Jezu, ufam tobie.
8. Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo (Ps 88 [89]: 2). Let us too, the pilgrim Church, join our voice to the voice of Mary most holy, "Mother of Mercy", to the voice of this new saint who sings of mercy with all God's friends in the heavenly Jerusalem.
And you, Faustina, a gift of God to our time, a gift from the land of Poland to the whole Church, obtain for us an awareness of the depth of divine mercy; help us to have a living experience of it and to bear witness to it among our brothers and sisters. May your message of light and hope spread throughout the world, spurring sinners to conversion, calming rivalries and hatred and opening individuals and nations to the practice of brotherhood. Today, fixing our gaze with you on the face of the risen Christ, let us make our own your prayer of trusting abandonment and say with firm hope: Christ Jesus, I trust in you! Jezu, ufam tobie!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Divine Mercy For Our Priests
During his visit this year to Fatima, Portugal, Pope Benedict XVI expressed in a special prayer the desire for Priests to be 'Apostles of Divine Mercy' guided by Mary. The Holy Father entrusted and consecrated priests to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on May 12 at the Church of the Most Holy Trinity in Fatima. There, he invoked the Blessed Virgin Mary as "Mother of Mercy" and prayed:Also when Pope Benedict XVI opened the Year for Priests in his homily in St. Peter's on June 19, 2009, the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It also marked the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Mary Vianney, the patron of priests. On that occasion, the Holy Father expressed how much priests themselves need to respond to "the call to conversion" and have "recourse to Divine Mercy," so they can avoid "the terrible risk of harming those whom [they] are bound to save":
Even our shortcomings, our limitations, and our weaknesses must lead us back to the Heart of Jesus. Indeed, if it is true that sinners, in contemplating Him, must learn from Him the necessary "sorrow for sins" that leads them back to the Father, it is even more so for holy ministers. How can we forget, in this regard, that nothing makes the Church, the Body of Christ, suffer more than the sins of her pastors, especially the sins of those who are transformed into "a thief and a robber" of the sheep (Jn 10:1 ff.), or who deviate from the Church through their own private doctrines, or who ensnare the Church in sin and death? Dear priests, the call to conversion and recourse to Divine Mercy also applies to us, and we must humbly address a heartfelt and ceaseless invocation to the Heart of Jesus to keep us from the terrible risk of harming those whom we are bound to save.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Healing Power of Divine Mercy
The following is from a speech given by Fr. Benedict Groeschel given at the World Congress of Divine Mercy in Rome in 2008. It speaks about how Pscychotherapy and Divine Mercy meet...
THE BROKENNESS OF THE HUMAN PERSON AND
THE HEALING POWER OF DIVINE MERCY
In the 20th century much attention has been paid to the psychological brokenness, to the mental illness and dysfunction of human beings. Before that time attention was generally focused on physical illness, disease and circumstances that caused blindness, lameness and other severe bodily problems that often lead to death. Mentally ill patients were simply assigned to asylums, and often thought to be possessed. Gradually people with less severe psychological symptoms received therapy and assistance from the newly emerging psycharitic professions with varying results.
More and more people especially in the more affluent nations realized that they suffered from such problems as depression, anxiety, self hate, guilt and even scrupulosity. All of these symptoms lead to the breakdown of human relationships, the weakening of family life, an inability to do ones vocational work and general unhappiness, which seem to have been the root cause of the problems.
The least depressed country of the 16 studied was Nigeria, a land racked by political turmoil and conflict and with a high level of poverty in many areas. While the United States had 10% of its people depressed, Nigeria had less than 1%. Italy was about 4%. This study was only about depression, but there are other forms of brokenness like substance abuse and alcoholism, and self destructive tendencies, such as acute anxiety disorder and many sexual disorders. All of these problems are less acute than what are generally called mental illnesses like schizophrenia. If you look within yourself you will probably recognize at least some of these less serious symptoms in yourself.
That great psychologist of human history, St. Augustine, rightly saw these problems as a direct result of original sin and often rooted in sinful tendencies. We Catholics usually don’t make much of the distinction between neurotic traits and the old list of the seven capital sins. The question now arises, is any one perfectly well balanced and sane?
It is my belief that there were only two perfectly well balanced people who ever lived and they both lived with St. Joseph who was reported to have apparently wisely said nothing.
The world into which St. Faustina was born was a simple and unsophisticated place where few people paid much attention to their neurotic tendencies. The poor in this sense are usually happier than the rich. When she entered religious life, St. Faustina became aware of the emphasis on self-knowledge and self-examination, and also of the challenges of community life where people’s psychological problems become more obvious. Life in a community is generally more of a challenge than simply living with your own family.
No one could foresee in the 1930s that Christians of all denominations , as well as a large number of Jews and Buddhists and non religious people , would be so interested in their mental health and psychological well being. It was only in the second half of this troubled century that human problems and the techniques for ameliorating this brokenness took up so much attention, proving the validity of an observation that psychologists often make that neurosis is the price of civilization. All of these influences were very far from the thinking of the humble Polish lay sister who would experience mystical encounters of Our Savior under the aspect of Divine Mercy. In a remarkable and even astonishing way, this humble visionary spoke of the mercy of Christ in response to human needs, especially psychological needs.
The very things that modern psychiatry has focused on: fear, guilt, anxiety, self-hate, hostility, distrust of others, would be themes that would be taken up by the revelations of Divine Mercy, which have had such an incredible impact on Catholic life in our times. Probably the most psychologically revealing passages in the Diary are in notebook five, beginning with the “conversations of the merciful Savior”. These conversations enlighten us about Christ’s relationship with various categories of people. The sinful, the despairing, the suffering souls are all encountered in these conversations , as are the souls striving for perfection and even those rare people who are in some sense perfect.
Looking at these “conversations” from the view point of psychology, we see that they are a profound response to what even secular psychology has come to see as the most consistent problems of human beings ; neurotic guilt, self-hate, feelings of frustration and hopelessness. These problems are described and directly confronted in the conversations with the Divine Mercy.
It is important to point out that it is only recently that the world of psychology has become aware of the importance of religious values and virtue. The new positive psychology which is sweeping through the United States at the present time, the psychology of virtue, dovetails very surprisingly with the Gospels and the spiritual life, and even with the revelations of St. Faustina. It has been well known in psychology for a long time that pathology may result from feelings of rejection, uselessness or even a conviction on the part of persons that they are bad or evil. A deep hopelessness, often unacknowledegable, is often the root of neurosis and other problems of personality adjustment. Often these destructive tendencies are the result of damaging relationships in early childhood, especially with parents
The whole message of Divine Mercy, including the image of Divine Mercy, communicates an acceptance on the part of God Himself of the individual. Not only an acceptance but a care, a love, and a great compassion are described. In the “conversations” given in the fifth notebook, particularly the conversation with the despairing soul, the message is communicated that God cares more about our salvation and our happiness than we ever could of ourselves. He counteracts the very negative and self-destructive aspects of the despairing person and the sinful person. He encourages and gives meaning to the sufferings of the person in pain.
We who are believers find it hard to adequately assess what such a message means to persons who have only superficial or mediocre faith. If they suddenly come to the realization even by a private revelation like Divine Mercy that God cares about them, it can transform their lives.
It has long been recognized in the world of psychotherapy that the Catholic sacrament of reconciliation with confession of sins provides great help to the individual and often might make psychotherapy unnecessary. It seems to me that this also can be said of the message of Divine Mercy. To rebuild the inner convictions of an individual’s relationship with the loving God and the merciful Savior is one of the strongest, if not the strongest motivation for overcoming serious psychological problems of a neurotic sort and making a better adjustment in life.
As the new positive psychology focuses on the importance of virtue, including the moral, as well as the theological virtues, there is every reason to expect that the significance of the Divine Mercy revelation will be more and more recognized.
By Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR
Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli
At the World Apostolic Congress on Divine Mercy in Rome
THE BROKENNESS OF THE HUMAN PERSON AND
THE HEALING POWER OF DIVINE MERCY
More and more people especially in the more affluent nations realized that they suffered from such problems as depression, anxiety, self hate, guilt and even scrupulosity. All of these symptoms lead to the breakdown of human relationships, the weakening of family life, an inability to do ones vocational work and general unhappiness, which seem to have been the root cause of the problems.
The least depressed country of the 16 studied was Nigeria, a land racked by political turmoil and conflict and with a high level of poverty in many areas. While the United States had 10% of its people depressed, Nigeria had less than 1%. Italy was about 4%. This study was only about depression, but there are other forms of brokenness like substance abuse and alcoholism, and self destructive tendencies, such as acute anxiety disorder and many sexual disorders. All of these problems are less acute than what are generally called mental illnesses like schizophrenia. If you look within yourself you will probably recognize at least some of these less serious symptoms in yourself.
That great psychologist of human history, St. Augustine, rightly saw these problems as a direct result of original sin and often rooted in sinful tendencies. We Catholics usually don’t make much of the distinction between neurotic traits and the old list of the seven capital sins. The question now arises, is any one perfectly well balanced and sane?
It is my belief that there were only two perfectly well balanced people who ever lived and they both lived with St. Joseph who was reported to have apparently wisely said nothing.
The world into which St. Faustina was born was a simple and unsophisticated place where few people paid much attention to their neurotic tendencies. The poor in this sense are usually happier than the rich. When she entered religious life, St. Faustina became aware of the emphasis on self-knowledge and self-examination, and also of the challenges of community life where people’s psychological problems become more obvious. Life in a community is generally more of a challenge than simply living with your own family.
No one could foresee in the 1930s that Christians of all denominations , as well as a large number of Jews and Buddhists and non religious people , would be so interested in their mental health and psychological well being. It was only in the second half of this troubled century that human problems and the techniques for ameliorating this brokenness took up so much attention, proving the validity of an observation that psychologists often make that neurosis is the price of civilization. All of these influences were very far from the thinking of the humble Polish lay sister who would experience mystical encounters of Our Savior under the aspect of Divine Mercy. In a remarkable and even astonishing way, this humble visionary spoke of the mercy of Christ in response to human needs, especially psychological needs.
The very things that modern psychiatry has focused on: fear, guilt, anxiety, self-hate, hostility, distrust of others, would be themes that would be taken up by the revelations of Divine Mercy, which have had such an incredible impact on Catholic life in our times. Probably the most psychologically revealing passages in the Diary are in notebook five, beginning with the “conversations of the merciful Savior”. These conversations enlighten us about Christ’s relationship with various categories of people. The sinful, the despairing, the suffering souls are all encountered in these conversations , as are the souls striving for perfection and even those rare people who are in some sense perfect.
Looking at these “conversations” from the view point of psychology, we see that they are a profound response to what even secular psychology has come to see as the most consistent problems of human beings ; neurotic guilt, self-hate, feelings of frustration and hopelessness. These problems are described and directly confronted in the conversations with the Divine Mercy.
It is important to point out that it is only recently that the world of psychology has become aware of the importance of religious values and virtue. The new positive psychology which is sweeping through the United States at the present time, the psychology of virtue, dovetails very surprisingly with the Gospels and the spiritual life, and even with the revelations of St. Faustina. It has been well known in psychology for a long time that pathology may result from feelings of rejection, uselessness or even a conviction on the part of persons that they are bad or evil. A deep hopelessness, often unacknowledegable, is often the root of neurosis and other problems of personality adjustment. Often these destructive tendencies are the result of damaging relationships in early childhood, especially with parents
The whole message of Divine Mercy, including the image of Divine Mercy, communicates an acceptance on the part of God Himself of the individual. Not only an acceptance but a care, a love, and a great compassion are described. In the “conversations” given in the fifth notebook, particularly the conversation with the despairing soul, the message is communicated that God cares more about our salvation and our happiness than we ever could of ourselves. He counteracts the very negative and self-destructive aspects of the despairing person and the sinful person. He encourages and gives meaning to the sufferings of the person in pain.
We who are believers find it hard to adequately assess what such a message means to persons who have only superficial or mediocre faith. If they suddenly come to the realization even by a private revelation like Divine Mercy that God cares about them, it can transform their lives.
It has long been recognized in the world of psychotherapy that the Catholic sacrament of reconciliation with confession of sins provides great help to the individual and often might make psychotherapy unnecessary. It seems to me that this also can be said of the message of Divine Mercy. To rebuild the inner convictions of an individual’s relationship with the loving God and the merciful Savior is one of the strongest, if not the strongest motivation for overcoming serious psychological problems of a neurotic sort and making a better adjustment in life.
As the new positive psychology focuses on the importance of virtue, including the moral, as well as the theological virtues, there is every reason to expect that the significance of the Divine Mercy revelation will be more and more recognized.
By Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR
Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli
At the World Apostolic Congress on Divine Mercy in Rome
3rd April 2008
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Homily of John Paul II on Divine Mercy Sunday 2001
Divine Mercy: The Easter Gift
"The first," that is, the source of every being and the first-fruits of the new creation; "the last," the definitive end of history; "the living one," the inexhaustible source of life that triumphed over death forever. In the Messiah, crucified and risen, we recognize the features of the Lamb sacrificed on Golgotha, who implores forgiveness for His torturers and opens the gates of heaven to repentant sinners; we glimpse the face of the immortal King who now has "the keys of Death and Hades" (Rev 1:18).
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endures forever! (Ps 117:1). Let us make our own the Psalmist's exclamation which we sang in the Responsorial Psalm: "The Lord's mercy endures forever!" In order to understand thoroughly the truth of these words, let us be led by the liturgy to the heart of the event of salvation, which unites Christ's Death and Resurrection with our lives and with the world's history. This miracle of mercy has radically changed humanity's destiny. It is a miracle in which is unfolded the fullness of the love of the Father who, for our redemption, does not even draw back before the sacrifice of His Only-begotten Son.
In the humiliated and suffering Christ, believers and non-believers can admire a surprising solidarity, which binds Him to our human condition beyond all imaginable measure. The Cross, even after the Resurrection of the Son of God, "speaks and never ceases to speak of God the Father, who is absolutely faithful to His eternal love for man. ... Believing in this love means believing in mercy" (Rich in Mercy, 7).
Let us thank the Lord for His love, which is stronger than death and sin. It is revealed and put into practice as mercy in our daily lives, and prompts every person in turn to have "mercy" towards the Crucified One. Is not loving God and loving one's neighbor and even one's "enemies," after Jesus' example, the program of life of every baptized person and of the whole Church?A great joy
With these sentiments, we are celebrating the Second Sunday of Easter, which since last year, the year of the Great jubilee, is also called "Divine Mercy Sunday." It is a great joy for me to be able to join all of you, dear pilgrims and faithful who have come from various nations to commemorate, after one year, the canonization of Sr. Faustina Kowalska, witness and messenger of the Lord's merciful love.
The Gospel, which has just been proclaimed, helps us to grasp the full sense and value of this gift. The Evangelist John makes us share in the emotion felt by the Apostles in their meeting with Christ after His Resurrection. Our attention focuses on the gesture of the Master, who transmits to the fearful, astounded disciples the mission of being ministers of Divine Mercy. He shows them His hands and His side, which bear the marks of the Passion, and tells them: "As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you" Jn 20:21).
Immediately afterwards, "He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained' " (Jn 20:22-23). Jesus entrusted to them the gift of "forgiving sins," a gift that flows from the wounds in His hands, His feet, and especially from His pierced side. From there a wave of mercy is poured out over all humanity.
Let us relive this moment with great spiritual intensity. Today the Lord also shows us His glorious wounds and His Heart, an inexhaustible source of light and truth, of love and forgiveness.
The Heart of Christ!
His "Sacred Heart" has given men everything: redemption, salvation, sanctification. Saint Faustina Kowalska saw coming from this Heart that was overflowing with generous love, two rays of light which illuminated the world.The two rays, [according to what Jesus Himself told her], denote blood and water (Diary, 299). The blood recalls the sacrifice of Golgotha and the mystery of the Eucharist; the water, according to the rich symbolism of the Evangelist John, makes us think of Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Spirit (See Jn 3:5; 4:14).
Through the mystery of this wounded Heart, the restorative tide of God's merciful love continues to spread over the men and women of our time. Here alone can those who long for true and lasting happiness find its secret.
"Jesus, I trust in You!"
This prayer, dear to so many of the devout, clearly expresses the attitude with which we too would like to abandon ourselves trustfully in Your hands, 0 Lord, our only Savior.
You are burning with the desire to be loved and those in tune with the sentiments of Your Heart learn how to build the new civilization of love. A simple act of abandonment is enough to overcome the barriers of darkness and sorrow, of doubt and desperation. The rays of Your Divine Mercy restore hope, in a special way, to those-who feel overwhelmed by the burden of sin.
Mary, Mother of Mercy, help us always to have this trust in your Son, our Redeemer. Help us too, St. Faustina, whom we remember today with special affection. Fixing our weak gaze on the divine Savior's face, we would like to repeat with you: "Jesus, I trust in You!" Now and for ever. Amen.
Mercy and Forgiveness - Bearing Suffering with Joy and Thankfulness
The Divine Mercy is all about Gods mercy which we will never understand or fathom. I often ask myself how merciful and forgiving I am. It is something I need to improve vastly in my life. I can only do it with Gods help and grace. When we are hurt, it is not easy always to forgive completely, perhaps we can still hold onto that hurt in our hearts. But we have to let them go, and let God heal those wounds and allow Him to help us to forgive. Nurturing wounds only harms us more, causes bitterness and maybe even sickness. One of the ways I find helpful in forgiving and letting things go is to thank God in all circumstances. Because God is in control. Yes even in the midst of the most awful things we must thank God with our willpower even though our emotions may cry out against us which they often can. Many of the Saints testify to this as does St. Faustina herself.
1152 It is no easy thing to bear sufferings joyfully, especially those which are unmerited. Fallen nature rebels, and although the intellect and will are above suffering, because they are able to do good to those who inflict suffering on them, nevertheless the emotions raise a lot of noise and, like restless spirits, attack the intellect and will. But when they see they cannot do anything by themselves, they quiet down and submit to the intellect and will. Like some kind of hideousness, they rush in and stir up a row, bent on making one obey them alone so long as they are not curbed by the intellect and will.
Diary - St. Faustina - Notebook 3
1151 + When pain overwhelms my soul,
And the horizon darkens like night,
And the heart is torn with the torment of suffering,
Jesus Crucified, You are my strength.
When the soul, dimmed with pain,
Exerts itself in battle without respite,
and the heart is in agony and torment,
Jesus Crucified, You are the hope of my salvation.
And so the days pass,
As the soul bathes in a sea of bitterness,
And the heart dissolves in tears,
Jesus Crucified, You shine for me like the dawn.
And when the cup of bitterness brims over,
And all things conspire against her,
And the soul goes down to the Garden of Olives,
Jesus Crucified, in You is my defense.
When the soul, conscious of its innocence,
Accepts these dispensations from God,
The heart can then repay hurts with love.
Jesus Crucified, transform my weakness into omnipotence.
1152 It is no easy thing to bear sufferings joyfully, especially those which are unmerited. Fallen nature rebels, and although the intellect and will are above suffering, because they are able to do good to those who inflict suffering on them, nevertheless the emotions raise a lot of noise and, like restless spirits, attack the intellect and will. But when they see they cannot do anything by themselves, they quiet down and submit to the intellect and will. Like some kind of hideousness, they rush in and stir up a row, bent on making one obey them alone so long as they are not curbed by the intellect and will.
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