Daily Reflections on Divine Mercy

Reflection 50: Hearing the Voice of God It’s true that, throughout your day, God is speaking to you. He is constantly communicating His truth and His direction for your life, and He is constantly bestowing His Mercy. The problem is that His voice is ever so gentle and silent. Why? Because He wants all of your attention. He will not attempt to compete with the many distractions of your day. He will...

Reflection 49: Being Misunderstood We are called to be saints. And if we walk down that road, we will be called to live heroic virtue. Heroic virtue will not always be understood by others. In fact, in the opinion of worldly wisdom, heroic and holy virtue is foolishness. But we must not allow the opinions of worldly “wisdom” to confuse us, tempt us or distract us from the road of true virtue (See...

Reflection 48: Silence Our tongue can build others up, or cut them down. Our tongue also has a direct effect upon our own soul. When the tongue speaks words inspired by God, we grow in holiness. When the tongue speaks words not from God, we do great damage to our souls and others. The goal is not so much exterior silence; rather, it’s interior silence. Interior silence means that we think and pray...

Reflection 47: Recognizing the Needs of Others Often times we can be so preoccupied with ourselves and our own problems that we fail to see the struggles and needs of those around us, especially those of our own family. At times, because we are so self-consumed, we run the risk of adding unnecessary burdens to those we are called to love and care for. We need to foster within our hearts true Chris...

Reflection 46: Daily Duties are the Path to Heaven It is true that our goal must be Heaven. We must constantly keep our eyes on this eternal reality. Why? Because in comparison to this passing world, Heaven is all that ultimately matters. So how do we keep our focus on Heaven without becoming complacent with our daily duties? Would it be proper to neglect our daily duties and responsibilities so a...

Reflection 45: Holy Communion Sometimes we do not feel like going to Mass or may be deeply distracted as we approach the Blessed Sacrament. Perhaps one of the best things to do in this case is to live in holy obedience. Jesus wants you to receive Holy Communion every Sunday and every holy day because He knows you need it. He knows that this Food from Heaven is necessary for you to obtain happiness...

Reflection 44: The Lord’s Gaze Casts Out Fear Do you know that our Lord gazes upon you, night and day, with perfect love and affection. Do you know that He knows every detail of your life and walks with you through everything? This may be hard to believe because we cannot hear Him audibly, see Him with our eyes, or touch Him with our hands. But His intimacy is much deeper than the physical world....

Reflection 43: Patience in Hardship What is of greater value to God? To be successful in all that you set out to do, or to endure every hardship of life in patience and peace? Many may struggle with this question and want to choose both. Certainly it is easy to see that if we set out to accomplish the Will of God and all that He wants of us, this will be of great value for the Kingdom of God. But...

Reflection 42: Unjust Treatment Offered as Atonement There are many times in life when we are treated unjustly. As a result, our first instinct is to fight back, defend ourselves and see to it that justice is done. But is that what Jesus did? No, He remained silent and accepted all injustice as a sacrifice for the atonement for our sins. He was the Just One who took upon Himself all injustice. In...

Reflection 41: Feelings Versus Faith At times, the truth can seem to be of little consolation to us. That may seem strange to say. But if we are honest, there are times when we suffer interiorly despite the fact that we know what we are feeling is not true. For example, we may KNOW that God is with us and loves us, but we may not feel that or experience that at one time or another. We may KNOW tha...

Reflection 40: Entering the Heart of Our Lord A speck of dust or a grain of sand are somewhat insignificant in most circumstances. No one notices one speck or one grain in the yard or even on the floor of a home. But if either were to enter the eye, this grain or speck becomes immediately noticeable. Why? Because of the sensitivity of the eye. So it is with the Heart of our Lord. He notices the sm...

Reflection 39: Loss of Spiritual Consolation It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that, because we follow Jesus, we should be continually consoled and comforted in all we do. Is that true? Yes and no. In one sense, our consolation will be continual if we always fulfill the Will of God and know we are fulfilling it. However, there are times when God removes all spiritual consolation from our...

Reflection 38: Our Daily Duty Some may feel as though their lives are dull and monotonous. It’s the same thing day in and day out. Sometimes we seek some new excitement and experience. But if we allow grace to accompany us, every day, throughout the simple, repetitive and monotonous aspects of life, we will discover that life is always new. Every experience is a new moment and a new grace. We will...

Reflection 37: Humility, Simplicity and Sincerity There are three words to ponder today: humility, simplicity and sincerity. Humble souls see and know God because they do not turn to themselves in their need. They recognize that God is everything and, without Him, they are nothing. Simple souls do not get caught up in the complications of life. They are able to cut through the countless distractio...

Reflection 36: The Mercy of Spiritual Friendship At times we experience life as difficult. Our spiritual life may appear to be dry or overwhelming. Our sins may seem to be too much to overcome. And our relationship with God may appear to be too difficult to foster. But these experiences are all graces that invite us to seek God and His Mercy all the more. One grace we receive, as we need it, is th...

Reflection 35: Perceiving the Passion of the Lord Do you understand the Passion of our Lord? Do you perceive His sufferings in your soul? This may, at first, seem undesirable. But perceiving the sufferings and Passion of our Lord is a great grace. As we perceive His suffering we must then encounter it and embrace it as our own. We must live His sufferings. In doing so, we begin to discover that Hi...

Reflection 34: Satisfaction Only in God So often in life we can fall into the trap of believing that we are satisfied by worldly and passing things. We can even be fooled into thinking that our sins satisfy us. And, in a strange way, they do offer a temporary satisfaction of sorts. But this “satisfaction” is shallow and deceptive. When we come to the profound realization that nothing but God satis...

Reflection 33: The Mercy of Purification Imagine if you could see your soul as God sees it. What would you see? How might God see your soul? Certainly He sees His precious child and looks at you with the greatest of love. But He also sees your sin, even the slightest sin. These sins, even the smallest imperfection, must be purged from within by His burning love. The Mercy of God becomes deeply “pa...

Reflection 32: The Mercy of Forgiveness Throughout life you will be hurt by the sins of others. This is inevitable. The real question to ponder is what you do with this hurt. Will you hold onto it and brew over it? Or will you forgive? But forgiveness is not enough. You must let the Divine Mercy so enter your soul that you not only forgive, but also allow this Mercy to fill your heart with compass...

Reflection 31: The Unfathomable Nature of God We cannot come to know God in His essence. He is beyond us and is unfathomable. But we can get to know God by seeing His actions in our lives and in the world. Look at His attributes. Look at His works. Look at what He has done in your life and in the lives of others. He is Omnipotent, All-Knowing, All-Loving and bestows all that is good in superabunda...

Reflection 30: Obedience to God One key to holiness is obedience. Adam and Eve fell from grace by disobedience and we are restored to grace by obedience. Obedience can be hard and requires a deep interior decision. Look for opportunities to be obedient to Jesus, especially when you do not feel like doing so. Those are moments of great grace and conversion (See Diary #28). Work at being humble toda...

Reflection 29: Moments of Consolation Just at the right time, if we are wholeheartedly seeking God every day, we will find that we receive a moment of consolation. It may be an unexpected peace or joy, we may feel enlightened and encouraged, or we may just sense the presence of God in our lives. Whatever the case may be, remember the moments of consolation you receive. They will not accompany us e...

Reflection 28: Temptations to Complain At times we are tempted to complain. When tempted to question God and His perfect love and perfect plan, know that this temptation is nothing more than that…a temptation. In the midst of that temptation to doubt and question God’s love, renew your trust and abandon your self-pity. In this act you will find strength (See Diary #25). What is it you have complai...

Reflection 27: Trials Transformed Into Virtue At times God imposes trials upon us. This is done out of love to strengthen us and to deepen our love of Him. Look at what it is that you experience as a trial. Ask God if this is from Him and what good He wants to bring from that trial. Trials always have the potential of making us stronger. If you are experiencing a certain interior trial in life, kn...

Reflection 26: Uniting Your Interior Cross With Christ As you grow closer to God you will, at times, feel many things. Some will encounter feelings of rejection by God. God never rejects us but the interior feelings of rejection can be real. This leads some to despair. If you find yourself, now or in the future, struggling with despair, do not be afraid and do not give in. Let God come to you in t...