Each day until Divine Mercy Sunday on April 7th, I will email you one thought from that day’s brief reading from Fr. Michael Gaitley’s fine book, 33 Days to Merciful Love. I render full credit for these thoughts, respecting copyright laws, to Fr. Gaitley. Each reading ends with a prayer, which I ask you to pray with me for this intention: the conversion of our parish.
Day Thirteen
St. Therese was a “prophet of mercy” in 1897, and after her came St. Faustina, who said that “this is the time of mercy” in 1938. Both prepared humanity for the 21st Century, when God’s mercy would be most needed. We need God’s mercy in our time more than in the past because never before have so many people not believed in God. A third of Americans describe themselves as atheist or agnostic, but in fact most Americans live as if God did not exist. We don’t make decisions based on God’s laws. We put our trust in other things—the government, Wall Street, Big Tech and Big Pharma, etc. Most people, at least in the “developed” nations, do not go to church—that is, we do not believe in a power higher than ourselves. This has never happened before in human history.
For Therese, life is essentially a matter of trust. If we trust God with everything we have, He can immerse us in His loving providence. But if we don’t trust God, we are essentially alone on this windswept planet. “It’s faith, it’s trust, that unleashes the power of his mercy,” Fr. Gaitley writes. “That’s why St. Therese so emphasized trust. That’s why Jesus asked St. Faustina to paint an image of Divine mercy with the signature Jesus, I trust in you.”
In whom do you trust? If you are reading these words, you are probably religious in some sense. But every morning I have to make an act of trust as if for the first time: “Jesus, I begin this day trusting in your love for me. Show me your mercy today.”
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, fire of mercy. Teach me to pray with my whole heart, “Jesus, I trust in you.”
Novena Prayer to St. Joseph
O God, who in your ineffable providence, have chosen Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of your most holy Mother and father to your Only Begotten Son. We beg that under his patronage our parish and school may flourish, teaching us to pray and leading us to heaven. To the glory of God the Father, through the grace of Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Day Thirteen
St. Therese was a “prophet of mercy” in 1897, and after her came St. Faustina, who said that “this is the time of mercy” in 1938. Both prepared humanity for the 21st Century, when God’s mercy would be most needed. We need God’s mercy in our time more than in the past because never before have so many people not believed in God. A third of Americans describe themselves as atheist or agnostic, but in fact most Americans live as if God did not exist. We don’t make decisions based on God’s laws. We put our trust in other things—the government, Wall Street, Big Tech and Big Pharma, etc. Most people, at least in the “developed” nations, do not go to church—that is, we do not believe in a power higher than ourselves. This has never happened before in human history.
For Therese, life is essentially a matter of trust. If we trust God with everything we have, He can immerse us in His loving providence. But if we don’t trust God, we are essentially alone on this windswept planet. “It’s faith, it’s trust, that unleashes the power of his mercy,” Fr. Gaitley writes. “That’s why St. Therese so emphasized trust. That’s why Jesus asked St. Faustina to paint an image of Divine mercy with the signature Jesus, I trust in you.”
In whom do you trust? If you are reading these words, you are probably religious in some sense. But every morning I have to make an act of trust as if for the first time: “Jesus, I begin this day trusting in your love for me. Show me your mercy today.”
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, fire of mercy. Teach me to pray with my whole heart, “Jesus, I trust in you.”
Novena Prayer to St. Joseph
O God, who in your ineffable providence, have chosen Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of your most holy Mother and father to your Only Begotten Son. We beg that under his patronage our parish and school may flourish, teaching us to pray and leading us to heaven. To the glory of God the Father, through the grace of Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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