mercy – Page 83 – hugsnblessings

All about Helen!

Published on October 5, 2015October 5, 2015 by Dawn Marie9 Comments

Today is the Feast Day of my gal-pal, St. Faustina!!!!

(aka: Helen Kowalska before taking her vows as a Sister of Our Lady of Mercy!)

And oh, how I love her!❤️

We have even named our dog after Helen Kowalska! — Our dog’s name is…Helen Kowalska too!

In 2014 as I began reading St. Faustina’s personal Diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, I had no idea the spiritual growth I would experience from the written experience of her life-lived out. But today I lift up prayers of gratitude for all I have gained through her example! God has moved me forward, in many aspects, as He clarified for me during that time spent reading her Diary, what it means to love beyond measure…regardless of the burdens or sorrows that may come. She continues to guide me and remind me that everyone deserves mercy!

I will always be grateful for this gift and the immense peace which has remained in my heart as a result.

Our Parish priest, Fr Larry Richards, has taught us a wonderful way of incorporating scripture into our daily lives. We have learned from him:

“No Bible, no breakfast! No Bible, no bed!”

This morning I decided to do my “breakfast portion” of Scripture in our Chapel prior to Morning Mass. And since it is a day all about her, I invited my gal-pal St. Faustina to be with me as I invoked the Holy Spirit; hoping she’d nudge Him in a direction that was merciful!

“Speak to me Your Word, Oh Lord, that I may know you, love you, and serve You.”

And (as I’d hoped in my heart) St Faustina, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, (I believe) nudged Him in a kind & gentle direction; affirming what has been (being) revealed to me for quite some time. As I randomly broke open the Word this is where He rested my eyes:

Lamentations 3: 55-62 & 24 “I called on your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for help!” You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life. Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me; you will judge my cause! You have seen the depth of their vengeance, all their plots against me. Lord, you have heard their insults, all their devices against me—what my enemies whisper and mutter against me all day long. …”The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.“”

A grateful giggle bubbled up inside me because of course St. Faustina would know the words I would rejoice over in celebration of this day for her! This restful heart He has been strengthening in me, she too found rest in these words as others mocked, judged & spoke poorly of her. And this is why she is so close to my heart! Her courage, to follow the ways of her Lord, despite the suffering she endured, has shone a light on my own humble attempts to love others despite what is returned to me. And to pray always for a conversion of heart; especially for those in need of the grace to love unconditionally in return.

Thank you St. Faustina!

For giving abundantly to me, through your example, with each reminder of what it means to place our trust in Him!

Enough thanksgiving from me…now it’s ALL ABOUT Helen!

When this saint was born in Poland on August 25, 1905, her parents named her Helen. In her short life on earth, she carried out the important mission of teaching the world about the mercy of Jesus. From the time she was seven years old, Helen knew she wanted to live a life consecrated to God as a sister. When she was twenty-five, she entered the convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, taking the name Sister Faustina.
Her work was simple. She cooked, tended the convent garden, and answered the door. Her kindness, serenity, and spirit of recollection were remarkable. But few people knew the real depths of her spirituality. God blessed Sister Faustina with many extraordinary gifts, including visions, prophecy, and invisible stigmata.
In one of the visions Sister Faustina had, Jesus appeared in a white garment. He raised one hand in blessing and touched his heart with the other. Two rays of light, one red, the other pale, spread out from his heart. The red ray represented the saving blood of Christ; the pale ray stood for the cleansing water of Baptism. Jesus said, “Have an image painted just as you see me, with the words ‘Jesus, I trust in You.’” Jesus told Sister Faustina that the Sunday after Easter was to be the Feast of Divine Mercy.
Sister Faustina kept a diary in which she wrote down everything that Jesus wanted the world to know about his mercy. In it, she wrote about prayer as a loving relationship with God. Jesus told her that she was his secretary. It was her special work to encourage people to trust in the limitless mercy of God.
Jesus promised forgiveness and abundant graces to anyone who would honor the Feast of Divine Mercy. Devotion to Divine Mercy consists in trusting in God’s goodness, loving one’s neighbor, remaining in the state of grace with the help of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and receiving Holy Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday.

After only thirteen years of religious life, Sister Faustina died of tuberculosis on October 5, 1938. She was thirty-three years old. Pope John Paul II declared her a saint on April 30, 2000.

Jesus told St. Maria Faustina, “I expect you to show mercy always and everywhere. You cannot excuse yourself from this.”

The best way to show that we trust in the mercy of Jesus is to be merciful and forgiving to the people who hurt us.

Are we willing to do this?

hugs n’ blessings to all those who love enough…to forgive!

Helen reminds us to pray for all those who (for today,) cannot! — Helen reminds us to pray for all those who (for today) cannot!

knot a problem…anymore.

Published on October 4, 2015October 4, 2015 by Dawn Marie1 Comment

I’m still suffering from a Pope-Hangover.

For five days we immersed ourselves in all things “Papa” and “Faith.”

But now life is glossed-over. A clear-film of joy covers over each day.

And I feel this is a very good thing!

I am enjoying this somewhat detached manner of living from the chaos the world often has to offer. The problems in my life are still present, yet somehow they are no longer problems; but rather simply…difficulties. And those are much more manageable, don’t you think?

This transition from problem to difficulty came through my visit to the Mary, Undoer of Knots Grotto established for Pope Francis’ participation in The World Meeting of Families. (Be sure to see the Pope’s visit to this lovely Groto on his final travels through the streets of Philadelphia on their web-site!)

A wonderful tribute, not only to this beautiful devotion to the Blessed Mother, Mary who was the undoer of the sin of Eve;

“Eve, by her disobedience, tied the knot of disgrace for the human race; whereas Mary, by her obedience, undid it.”

but also to bring awareness to hunger & homelessness in America.

But what are these knots? They are the problems and struggles we face for which we do not see any solution. Throughout time and across all cultures, a knot has been used to symbolize tension and struggle. The undoing of a knot symbolizes freedom from these burdens – a release of pressure. In the tradition of Mary, Undoer of Knots, Pope Francis’ favorite artwork, visitors of the grotto were able to add or remove knots, symbolizing their personal struggles and sharing the burdens of others.

And I know from the power of prayer & personal experience, many pilgrims returned home with knot as many problems…anymore.

Leaving prayer intentions to be placed into the hands of Mary.

Pope Francis does have a special devotion to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots. While studying in Germany in the 1980s, he discovered this devotion at the Church of St. Peter am Perlach in Augsburg.

My own Mary, Undoer of Knots which hangs in my sewing-corner.

“Virgin Mary, Mother of fair love, Mother who never refuses to come to the aid of a child in need, Mother whose hands never cease to serve your beloved children because they are moved by the divine love and immense mercy that exists in your heart, cast your compassionate eyes upon me and see the snarl of knots that exist in my life. You know very well how desperate I am, my pain, and how I am bound by these knots. Mary, Mother to whom God entrusted the undoing of the knots in the lives of His children, I entrust into your hands the ribbon of my life. No one, not even the Evil One himself, can take it away from your precious care. In your hands, there is no knot that cannot be undone. Powerful Mother, by your grace and intercessory power with your Son and my liberator, Jesus, take into your hands today this knot. (Mention your petition here.)

I beg you to undo it for the glory of God, once for all. You are my hope. O my Lady, you are the only consolation God gives me, the fortification of my feeble strength, the enrichment of my destitution, and, with Christ, the freedom from my chains. Hear my plea. Keep me, guide me, protect me, O safe refuge.”

hugs n’ blessings to all who trust their knots to be undone.

the Whole Wide World!

Published on September 26, 2015September 26, 2015 by Dawn Marie8 Comments

I’ve known about the World Meeting of Families for months. I’ve prepared to go for the past couple of weeks. But it wasn’t until today that it hit me…the Whole Wide World had been invited!!

Not just our bus of pilgrims, not just our diocese, not just Pennsylvanian’s but they really meant…the Whole Wide World was invited!

AND THEY CAME!

Not just me, not just our bus, not just the faithful in Pennsylvania but literally tens of thousands of others from…the Whole Wide World! (And they are predicting the city of Philadelphia will have approximately 1.5 million people on its streets beginning tomorrow.)

This great epiphany came as I stood amongst a sea of other Catholics during the final Mass this morning for the World Meeting of Families held in the Grand Hall of the Philadelphia Convention Center. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, presided; as well as, being joined on the altar by a plethara of other fellow Bishops and priests. It was magical and breathtaking and you could feel the commitment of faith from those around you!

Then at the moment Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia said,

“At the Savior’s command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say…”

It hit me! That’s when I looked to my left to grab the hand of a Vietnamese woman and then to my right to have my hand held firmly by a Mexican man. Here I was in the middle of two different Countries and the three of us were reciting Our Father’s Prayer, as a part of…the Whole Wide World.

The tears that fell from that holy moment only helped to brighten my view now on all the others who were in the room. A cuban couple in front of me. Koreans behind & to the left. Nigerians to my far right. And fellow Americans directly behind. I believe we all felt this immense connection of being a part of something much bigger than us all. We were family, familia, One Catholic and Apolstolic faith! We were but a small part of a faith that is entrenched in…the Whole Wide World.

How fitting it was that this clarity came under the recitation of Our Father’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer the entire Church says every single day at every Mass and it is part of the Communion Rite. Jesus taught The Lord’s Prayer to his disciples when they asked how to pray (cf. Mt 6:9-13, Lk 11:2-4) and it signifies our communion with God and the fellowship we share with one another. In this prayer, the people join their voices to pray for the coming of God’s kingdom and to ask God to provide for our needs, forgive our sins, and bring us to the joy of heaven.

And peope in the Whole Wide World are invited to profess this!

Won’t you join us too?

these hugs n’ blessings are sent to the far corners of the world today!

ps- Papa Francis arrives tomorrow in Philadelphia and…the Whole Wide World can hardly wait!