Daily Reflections on Divine Mercy

Reflection 93: The Meeting of Love and Sin Where do love and sin meet?  They meet in the persecution, ridicule and malice inflicted upon our Lord.  He was the Incarnation of perfect love.  The Mercy in His Heart was infinite.  His care and concern for all people was beyond imagination.  And yet the soldiers mocked Him, laughed at Him and tortured Him for entertainment and fun.  He, in turn, loved...

Reflection 92: Creativity in Prayer Oftentimes, our days are filled with activity.  Families are often occupied with one event or another.  Chores and work can pile up and we may find, at the end of the day, that we have had little time to pray to God in solitude.  But solitude and prayer can happen at times throughout our busy day.  Though it’s important to look for moments when we can be alone w...

Reflection 91: Prayer for Another Opens the Door Only God knows what another truly needs.  We cannot read another’s soul unless this special grace were given to us by God.  But each of us is called to pray fervently for others.  At times, if we are open, God will place on our hearts the need to pray fervently for another.  If we feel called to enter into special prayers for another, we may also be...

Reflection 90: Unity With All We are made for unity with one another.  When there is a lack of unity, the effects are felt in families, communities and among nations.  What is it that unites us more than anything?  First and foremost, we are united with other souls through our Baptism (See Diary #391). Think about the most basic fact that you share an unbreakable bond with each and every person wh...

Reflection 89: The Power of a Generous Love There are so many souls who are in need of our prayers and are in need of the Mercy of God.  These are those souls who are stuck firm in their sin.  We may pray for them but it seems to have little effect.  What more can we do?  Sometimes, the greatest intercession we can make is a heart filled with the most generous love.  We must strive diligently to h...

Reflection 88- Interior Suffering Transformed Many people carry very heavy burdens within their souls.  On the surface, they may radiate with joy and peace.  But within their souls, they may also have great pain.  These two experiences of our interior and exterior are not in contradiction when we follow Christ.  Often times Jesus allows us to feel a certain interior suffering while, at the same ti...

Reflection 87: The Will of God in All Things Wouldn’t it be nice if you could do the Will of God always?  If you could simply make the choice to perfectly say “Yes” to God in all things and in every situation?  The truth is that you can.  The only thing hindering you from this absolute choice is your own stubborn will (See Diary #374). It’s hard to admit that we are stubborn and full of self-will....

Reflection 86: Melting the Hardest of Hearts Imagine a large block of ice.  Now imagine that there is a precious coin in the middle of that block.  In order to obtain that coin, the block must melt away.  So it can be with our hearts.  Some hearts have become so hardened over time that there seems little chance of melting them away so as to bring forth the true value and dignity of that person.  B...

Reflection 85: Interior Mortification One of the greatest gifts we can give to our Divine Lord is our willfulness.  We often want what we want, when we want it.  Our will can become stubborn and obstinate and this can easily dominate our whole being.  As a result of this sinful tendency toward willfulness, one thing that delights our Lord greatly, and produces an abundance of grace in our lives, i...

Reflection 84: The Blessed Host It is impossible for us to love and adore Christ deeply enough as He is present in the Most Holy Eucharist.  When we are before Him, present in the Most Holy Eucharist, we should see the Almighty God present in veiled form.  He is: Mercy, Eternal Life, The Eternal God, The Savior of Sinners, The Living Water, The Fire of Pure Love, The Medicine for All Our Ills, All...

Reflection 83: Pray Always Praying “always” may seem like an impossible task.  Is it really possible to do so?  Does God even expect this of us?  It most certainly is and He most certainly does.  No, we will not be called to spend all day, every day, at church in prayer.  Not even those called to the cloistered monastic life do as such.  But praying always is a must.  It simply means that we have...

Reflection 82: Attachments There are many things in life we can become attached to.  Sometimes we can even become attached to things that are good.  Most often, what we become attached to is our own stubborn will.  We want what we want when we want it.  One key to authentic holiness is to strive to be detached from everything but God and His holy Will.  This requires much “letting go” in our lives...

Reflection 81: Power and Mercy Imagine a dictator of a country who has absolute power and is also a very angry, malicious and vengeful man.  This is not someone you would want to upset.  Now imagine the opposite.  Imagine one who has absolute power and is also blessed with a heart of pure Mercy.  This is our God.  And in addition to our God having these qualities, He passes them on to His Mother. ...

Reflection 80: At the Hour of Our Death If you have prayed the “Hail Mary” prayer, then you have prayed for your last hour in this world: “Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.”  Death is frightening to many people, and the hour of our death is not usually something we want to think about.  But the “hour of our death” is a moment we should all look forward to with the utmost joy and antici...

Reflection 79: Our Blessed Mother of Sorrows Mother Mary endured so much in life.  She endured suspicion and ridicule at the miraculous conception of her Savior.  She watched with a perfect motherly love as her Divine Son was rejected and misunderstood.  And she stood by Him in His agony and death.  And through it all, her motherly love was perfect and powerful.  She stands by us, also, in all tha...

Reflection 78: Desire for Happiness The most basic desire we have is for happiness.  Everything we do, in some way, is done so as to help us achieve this goal.  Even sin is committed with an erroneous sense that it will lead us to happiness.  But there is one source of human fulfillment and one source of authentic happiness.  That one source is God.  Seek our Divine Lord as the fulfillment of ever...

Reflection 77: The Lord Knows All Things It is most certain that our Divine Lord knows all things.  He is aware of every thought we have and every need we carry far more than we will ever realize.  At times, as we come to realize His perfect knowledge, we may expect Him to answer all our needs even if we do not acknowledge them.  But our Lord often wants us to ask.  He sees great value in us disce...

Reflection 76: Unjust Accusations Perhaps everyone has experienced an unjust accusation by another.  It may be because another is honestly mistaken about the facts or about our motivation for what we do.  Or, it may be more malicious and cruel.  Being falsely accused can be quite painful and will most likely tempt us to react in anger and defensiveness.  But what is the proper response to such non...

Reflection 75: Encountering Christ in Others The Blessed Sacrament is truly sacred.  It is revered and treated with the greatest respect.  We would never throw our Lord away or discard Him on the floor or in some irreverent place.  And yet we often fail to treat others with the same respect we show Jesus present in the Sacred Host (See Diary #285).  Do you realize that each person is a tabernacle?...

Reflection 74: A Compassionate Heart Is there a difference between “sympathy” and “compassion?”  If so, what is the difference?  And which is more desirable?  Sympathy simply means that we feel bad for another.  It means, in a sense, that we pity them.  But compassion goes much further.  It means that we enter into their sufferings and carry their burden with them.  It means we suffer with them ju...

Reflection 73: Growing in Our Desire for Jesus The more we come to know Jesus, the more we desire Him.  And the more we desire Him, the more we come to know Him.  This is a beautiful cyclical experience of knowing and desiring, desiring and knowing (See Diary #273). Do you desire to know your precious Lord?  Do you long for Him in a burning way?  Reflect upon this desire in your soul and if it is...

Reflection 72: An Incomprehensible Mystery When God enters your soul, He acts in such a way that you will never fully comprehend His workings.  His grace and Mercy are such that they remain a mystery deeper than the oceans and more vast than the upper limits of the Universe.  Understanding the incomprehensible nature of God’s grace is, in fact, the first step to wisdom.  It’s the first step to rea...

Reflection 71: Our Littleness and Nothingness It is a grace from God to see ourselves as we are.  And what will we see if we see ourselves this way?  We will see our misery and nothingness.  At first, this may not be all that desirable.  It may even seem contrary to the dignity we have in Christ.  But that’s the key.  Our dignity is “in Christ.”  Without Him, we are nothing.  We are misery and not...

Reflection 70: Identifying with the Suffering Christ Which image of Christ are you more comfortable with?  Which image do you more easily identify with?  The image of Christ glorified as King of all?  Or the image of the beaten and suffering Christ?  In the end, we will fix our eyes on the Lord in glory and majesty and this will be our delight for eternity.  However, while we are pilgrims in this...

Reflection 69: Struggles Tempt Us to Doubt We all encounter struggles in life.  The question is: “What do you do with them?”  Too often, when struggles come our way we are tempted to doubt the presence of God and to doubt His merciful help.  In fact, the opposite is true.  God is the answer to every struggle.  He alone is the source of all we need in life.  He is the One who can bring peace and se...