Today, we celebrate. Today, we rejoice. The Christ, who suffered and died, has done what He promised. He has triumphed over sin and death. He has risen from the dead, as He said He would. This one triumphant act, this, the greatest of all of His miracles, shows to the world that His words are true. He IS lord and master of the universe. We CAN believe in Him. If we ever doubted, we have no reason to doubt any more.
But even now, in this jubilant and glorious victory, how does Jesus conduct Himself? He meets two strangers on the road to Emmaus and hides his identity from them. He quietly mingles with His apostles, continuing His teaching of them. If we were in the same position, would we not stand in the face of our enemies, gloating with every fiber of our body shouting out, “I told you so”? Thank God, we are not God!!!
So, today we have cause to celebrate. We know that our faith, our beliefs, do hold water. We are reminded, once again, that all mankind has been bought back, has been brought back to the loving embrace of the Father. (See the blog: Resurrection of the Body and Life Everlasting.)
Our struggles, our trials, our sufferings can be more than just some negative happenings that we experience in this life. We can merge our sufferings with those of Jesus. Together, we can offer them to Our Father in Heaven. At Mass, we say, “Through Him, With Him and In Him, all honor and glory is Yours almighty Father.” Attaching to the sufferings of Jesus, our own sacrifices, we acknowledge and recognize our own unworthiness and need for forgiveness.
So, we have been renewed. We have been exonerated. And, we didn’t even have to lift a finger.!?!? WRONG!!!! We may act like we have nothing further to do, we may live our lives as though nothing further is required from us, but that is terribly, terribly wrong. The actions of Jesus were for our benefit. But they were just that, actions of Jesus. We have a commitment to make and to live. Jesus said, “Unless you take up your cross and follow me…” He has shown us how to live, how to conduct our lives. His words, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”… are not just poetic niceties. He is showing us our commitment. In Matt, Chapter 11, 28 He says, “Come to me, all you that labor, and are burdened, and I will refresh you”, and again in 30, “For my yoke is sweet and my burden light”. He is not asking us to die on the cross. He did that. He is simply asking us to love one another. And, in loving one another, in living in such a manner, we embrace Christ’s life, death and Resurrection. We will rise, as He has.
Tag Archive: Mercy
First I want to apologize for having published only one post over the first two weeks of April. Many other things have occupied my attention and my time. I will try to do better over the remainder of the month.
Last year around this time, thesteppingstones wrote about “Divine Mercy Sunday and Saint Faustina”. Also published was “Divine Mercy Sunday”. (Click on either publication to go directly to it.) It is in that last publication that the following words were quoted:
“ I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened.” (Diary, 699).
The Divine Mercy Novena begins on Good Friday and extends to the Sunday after Easter. By clicking on Chaplet and the Novena you can go directly to these prayers. Both can and probably should be recited every day. But a strong effort should be made by us to recite and pray these special prayers from Good Friday to the Sunday after Easter.
This time of Grace seems to be most special to Our Lord. It is He who urges us to return to the fount of His Goodness, His Love. It is He who wishes us to return to the simplicity of life and the trust of little children. You need not be a harbinger of doom to recognize that our civilization is seeking everything it possibly can that leads it away from the Christ and towards its own destruction.
Jesus said time and time again, that we should be as little children, and to let the children come to Him. What is it that makes a child, a child? At the core of every child is it not TRUST? Jesus asks us to do nothing more than trust Him, lay our lives out before Him. Instead of wealth, or material things, or prestige, or position, let us trust Him and His goodness. If your child trusts you, will you not do everything you can to put your arms around them and protect them? It is the same with Jesus?
I was sitting in the chair the other night. The TV wasn’t on. The computer wasn’t on. My mind was. View full article »
At times, we tend to ignore the thought of Purgatory. View full article »
For the remainder of this week, and all of next, this site will be devoted entirely to Divine Mercy Sunday, and everything leading up to it. View full article »
St. Maria Faustina Kowalska of the Most Blessed Sacrament was born in Glogowiec, Poland, on August 25, 1905. View full article »
