“Today bring to Me all mankind, especially all sinners, and immerse  them in the ocean of My mercy. In this way you will console Me in the  bitter grief into which the loss of souls plunges Me.”

Most Merciful Jesus, whose very nature it is to have compassion on us and to forgive us, do not look upon our sins but upon our trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart, and never let us escape from It. We beg this of You by Your love which unites You to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon all mankind and especially upon poor sinners, all enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion show us Your mercy, that we may praise the omnipotence of Your mercy for ever and ever. Amen.

For Reflection:             

Who is the one sinner I most wish to plunge into the ocean of Jesus’ mercy? What do I wish to say about this person to the Lord?  

“Who can measure the extent of My goodness? For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed Myself to be nailed to the Cross; for you I let My Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain.”

                                                            -Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska

For Reflection:             

What is Jesus saying directly to you through these words? What do you say back to Him? For the next nine days, pray the Divine Mercy Novena with receptivity and trust that you will draw from the fountain of the Sacred Heart the very grace you most need.

Ever-patient in her yearning
Though her tear-filled eyes were burning,
Mary gazed upon her Son.

For Reflection:             

In his writing, The Spirituality of Waiting, Henri Nouwen gives five characteristics of waiting. He tells us waiting is a movement. “People who wait have received a promise that allows them to wait. … They have received something that is a work in them, like a seed that has started to grow… So waiting is never a movement from nothing to something. It is always a movement from something to something more.”           

How is this truth depicted in the stanza above? Consider Mary’s gaze. What might have been transpiring in her heart as Mary looked upon her Son and as He gazed upon her? What promise(s) had she received and what might be the “something more” still yet to come?