VERBUM SERAPHICUM
PAX ET BONUM JUNE -- 2003 A. D. AVE MARIA
"If thou wilt be perfect, go,
sell what thou hast, and give to the poor,
. . . and come follow Me." Matthew 19:21
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O Mary, Mediatrix of every Grace, pray for us! The Sacred Power of the CrossThe Wonder of the Divine Mercy O the wonder, the splendor, the beauty, the magnificence, the grace, the glory, the life, the renewal, the light, the warmth, the gentleness and the altogether perfect reflection of the Divine, which is the Divine Mercy! In the very depts of man's ignominy the Divine Mercy plunges down and snatches him from the eternal doom to which he is heading. Without any merit, how wondrously the Divine Mercy rescues the sinner from his peril! It is so great and blessed a gift, that only he knows it, who has experienced it! As such the existence of the Divine Mercy is the shinning and brillant hope of a fallen world! There is no sin so scarlet, so black, so vile, that if one does not turn to the Divine Mercy and beg forgiveness, beg salvation, beg redemption, that God will refuse such a soul! It may sound incredible, that God is more desireous of helping sinners, the more they are need of the help; but as St. Thomas declares, it is easier for an Omnipotent God to work great wonders, than to work little ones. There is nothing, nothing that this world needs right now more than the outpouring of the Divine Mercy: both for the Church and individual souls. And there is no greater vocation than a life dedicated to repentance, to penance and to calling souls to the Fount of Mercy, which is Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. |
The very first grace which justifies us is sheer mercy; it cannot be merited by us: it was merited by Jesus Christ and His Immaculate mother. But to the believer who has fallen, there is an abyss of Mercy which Christ and our Blessed Mother, Mary, hold out to us to ask for it. We scarcely realize or recognize spiritual things; we go throughout our lives unaware of how much God cares whether we serve Him faithfully or not. No, God is not indifferent to our sins. But neither is God indifferent to our need for His forgiveness. Did He not send His only-Begotten Son to save the world? Yes, and not to condemn the world; that is not that we might die in our sins, having been purchased by the Precious Blood of Jesus at such a great price. Yes, Yes! The Divine Mercy! How much the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary wish to call all to this laver of regeneration, to walk through this gate of restoration! The world and the Church, and so, so many souls are in a great and terrible state! Humanly speaking, there is no reason to expect anything but a terrible judgement, woeful punishments and a swift end to this wicked age. But the Lord Jesus has decreed an age of Mercy, and this Age began with the consummation of His Sacrifice of the Cross. The whole history of Mankind, the whole History of the Church, with all its wars and famines, plagues, and crimes, deceits and abominations, is nevertheless under the aegis of the Divine Mercy. St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle! |
VERBUM SERAPHICUM
PAX ET BONUM JUNE -- 2003 A. D. AVE MARIA
"If thou wilt be perfect, go,
sell what thou hast, and give to the poor,
. . . and come follow Me." Matthew 19:21
|
St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us! We have only to call out to the Lord and cryout, not for justice for ourselves, or against our enemies, but for mercy, for the Mercy! "For I desire not the death of a sinner, but that he repent and be saved," says the Lord. The authentic vocation of a friar minor consists in this: that in a moment of his life he comes to the realization that the things most desired by carnal men in this world are an abomination before God; and that by persuing them he has made himself hateful to God; and that so great is the danger of falling back into a love of this world, that he determines to forsake all its vanities, all it deceits, and all its false wisdom, to seek God alone. Those who seek religious life for their own pleasure, their own advancement, their own glory, their own priesthood, in short their own gain, are the most deceived and deceitful of men. But those who see that all things are passing and that there is no safer refuge but in the humble service of religious life, tending and minding the things of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Immaculate Mother, these are the wisest of men and the most honest of men. It is necessary then that a soul know of the value of the Sacred Power of the Cross made manifest in the Divine Mercy in his life: to have a true and proportionate conception of the supernatural value of a religious vocation. |
Our Lord teaches this when he rebukes the servant who has been forgiven much, but who nevertheless cannot forgive even a little. Such a man has not pondered the great and wondrous deed God has worked for him. Such a man therefore despairs of helping his fellow man, of trusting his fellow man, of finding good in his fellow man; and hence falls into the presumption of reckoning himself just, regardless of the mercy he shows other. "To him who shows mercy, mercy shall be given," says the Lord. Such is the authentic religious vocation: a quest to devote one's life to the works of mercy, that in one's final hour he might find mercy. Such is the authentic vocation of the Friar Minor: a vocation that is born in penance, bears up a humble spirit, and bears with all things in the hope of everlasting mercy. It may be one has not such a vocation; that one has never lived such a vocation: Do not despair! "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you!" Such is the Mercy of God, such is the wonderful life of a franciscan religious. O great and glorious and stupendously wise Saint Francis: how admirable your way, how prudent your Rule! Grant, blessed Father, the grace of true renewal to your sons: and interced for us before the Throne of the Divine Mercy! Published by The Franciscan Archive |