Dear Megan,
In our Church, there are two saints whose mission from God was to proclaim His
infinite mercy to sinners; one of them mentioned above was St. Faustina, and another is St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
Jesus Himself demonstrated His mercy over and again as we read the scriptures, and I recommend to you the story of the penitent woman in Luke Ch. 7:37-50:
And behold, a woman in the town who was a sinner, upon learning that Jesus was at table in the pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment; and standing behind Him at His feet, she began to bathe His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with oiontment.
Jesus chided the pharisee, saying that he had not even properly welcomed Him as his guest, yet this woman had not ceased to kiss His feet and bathe them with tears. “Wherefore I say to thee, her sins, many as they are, shall be forgiven her, because she has loved much!” Turning to her He said, “Thy faith has saved thee, go in peace.”
A humble, contrite heart, O God, thou will not scorn!
Another scripture comes to mind about Zaccheus in Lk. 19. He greatly desired to see Jesus, but because he was so small, he was not able. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree.
Jesus passed by, looked up and said to him, “Make haste and come down, Zaccheus; for I must stay in thy house today.” His sorrow was so great that he wanted to make restitution four-fold, and Jesus promised him salvation had come to his house.
All he wanted was simply to see Him, never believing it was even remotely possible that Jesus would set His eyes upon him, and then Jesus did so with such an unbelievable welcome!
With the sorrow that reaches me through your words above, and the love hidden between their lines, I have no doubt Jesus has already forgiven you and loves you immensely. Rest in that peace of Christ, and open your heart to Him, full of confidence in His great mercy.
http://forum.catholic.com/images/smilies/ani/love.gif Carole
