The more the Lord gives me the grace to meditate upon this Johannine verse: Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13) the more I see how much He lived this verse to the full! Jesus lived this verse not only by his passion, death and resurrection but also now, that He is seated at the right hand of the Father in glory.
In fact, before he ascended into Heaven, Jesus wanted to show His infinite love for us when He told us: Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age (Matt 28:20). The Divine Mercy message is a living testimony of Jesus’ faithful adherence to His words! Since He magnificiently accomplishes His own word Jesus can easily look into our eyes in order to heal us from our insecurity and crazy faulty need to judge and condemn ourselves because we judge and condemn others. Today, the Divine Mercy Sunday, with his eyes penetrating our little and blurred eyes Jesus tells us about His Divine Mercy:
These quotes are the words Jesus Himself spoke to Saint Faustina, which is why they are in bold. The couple quotes in regular type are the words of St. Faustina. The numbers in parentheses refer to the paragraph number in the diary.
First: “Tell souls not to place within their own hearts obstacles to My mercy, which so greatly wants to act within them. My mercy works in all those hearts which open their doors to it. Both the sinner and the righteous person have need of My mercy. Conversion, as well as perseverance, is a grace of My mercy” (Diary, 1577);
Second: “Let Souls who are striving for perfection particularly adore My mercy, because the abundance of graces which I grant them flows from My mercy” (Diary,1578);
Third: “I have opened my Heart as a living fountain of mercy. Let all souls draw life from it. Let them approach this sea of mercy with great trust. Sinners will attain justification, and the just will be confirmed in good. Whoever places his trust in My mercy will be filled with My divine peace at the hour of death” (Diary,1520);
Fourth: “Let the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy. Write: before I come as a just judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice…” (Diary,1146);
Fifth: “The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them!” (Diary,1074 – paragraph 2);
Sixth: “Tell My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls” (Diary, 1074 – paragraph 4);
Seventh: “There is no misery that could be a match for My mercy, neither will misery exhaust it, because as it is being granted-it increases. The soul that trusts in My mercy is most fortunate, because I myself take care of it” (Diary,1273);
Eighth: “Today the Lord said to me, Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns away from them to humble souls” (Diary,1602).
In front of this unfathomable mercy of Our Lord Jesus St Faustina could only say two things. To begin with: The soul condemns itself not God. She said: “I received a deeper understanding of divine mercy. Only that soul who wants it will be damned, for God condemns no one” (Diary,1452). Moreover, mercy is God’s greatest attribute. She admits: “And I understood that the greatest attribute of God is love and mercy. It unites the creature with the Creator. This immense love and abyss of mercy are made known in the Incarnation of the Word and in the Redemption [of humanity], and it is here that I saw this as the greatest of all God’s attributes” (Diary, 181).
Is there a greater love than the Mercy of Jesus in heaven and on earth and under the earth (Phil 2:10)?
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap