N
nuntym
Guest
+JMJ+
I have been leaning lately towards a devotion to the Divine Mercy, and I have been thinking about it lately as I try to practice it. Most of us know the ABCs of the Divine Mercy as a guideline for practicing it, which are
Ask for mercy
Be merciful to others
Completely trust in Jesus Christ
However, I am finding that using the acronym MAD helps me more to understand and practice this devotion. Let me explain.
Right from the start, the use of the acronym MAD reminds us that the devotion to the Divine Mercy makes us see things differently from the world’s perspective. In the world’s eyes, we may be seen as mad, raving lunatics, when in fact it is the world that is upside down due to Original Sin.
Mercy alone. This puts into perspective that we are absolutely, completely dependent on the mercy of God. We are all just a blood vessel or accident away from instant death. Everything we have and everything we can do can be taken away from us in an instant. Even our ability to do good things we are dependent on God’s grace. Before God, we are nothing. Mercy alone keeps us here.
Reminding ourselves of “Mercy alone” banishes pride, implants humility into our souls, and gives complete trust to our Lord Jesus Christ who is Mercy personified.
Ask for mercy. If “Mercy alone” reminds us of our total dependence on God, it logically follows that we must have mercy or we will die, spiritually and even physically, and so we must ask for it.
So ask away all that you need, but especially Mercy, for without God’s Mercy you will not even be able to ask for mercy.
Disperse mercy. I used the word “disperse” instead of words like “distribute” or “dispense” because those latter words imply you can pick to whom you give mercy. No, mercy should be dispersed, i.e. given without choosing, without restrictions, everywhere, just like the farmer who disperses seed all over his field. Yet this word also calls into mind that the farmer will sooner or later run out of seeds, and so it is with us with mercy, for what we have only comes from the Lord, especially His Mercy. Without the first two steps above, we will sooner or later run out of God’s Mercy to give to others, so dependent we are on Him.
But to whom should we give mercy to? Of course it is obvious that we should give mercy to others, as the ABCs of the Divine Mercy reminds us. But we should be even giving mercy to more.
One is to ourselves. This season of Lent is a wonderful time to practice this, for the traditional forms of penance of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer are actually works of mercy on ourselves, that we might get to Heaven. We also must be merciful on our bodies and minds, not pampering them, but giving them the right care while at the same time training them to be stronger, for with weak minds and bodies we cannot even be merciful to others.
Another is to God Himself. This may be surprising to some, but we are duty-bound to do acts of reparation to God for the outrages of sin done by others on Him. As Pope Pius XI wrote:
The creature’s love should be given in return for the love of the Creator, another thing follows from this at once, namely that to the same uncreated Love, if so be it has been neglected by forgetfulness or violated by offense, some sort of compensation must be rendered for the injury, and this debt is commonly called by the name of reparation…We are holden to the duty of reparation and expiation by a certain more valid title of justice and of love, of justice indeed, in order that the offense offered to God by our sins may be expiated. — Miserentissimus Redemptor
A prayer of act of reparation may be said during night prayers, but it is also important, in my opinion, to do our usual acts of devotion and mercy with a spirit of reparation, to do them in behalf of all those who neglect doing them.
And of course, we must be merciful to the saints and angels. It may surprise you, but in my opinion it hurts God and all the hosts in Heaven the most when we do not not ask for help from them, so it is actually an act of mercy to them to ask for their help for ourselves and others. Remember what Mary said to St. Catherine Labore, when asked about her rings during her apparitions to her, the stones of some of which emit rays of light, while the others do not:
“These rays symbolize the graces I shed upon those who ask for them. The gems from which rays do not fall are the graces for which souls forget to ask.”
So ask all the angels and saints to pray for you and intercede for you and others. Most of the time they are only held back by the fact that no one asks for their help, which is what they want to do the most for us.
I have been leaning lately towards a devotion to the Divine Mercy, and I have been thinking about it lately as I try to practice it. Most of us know the ABCs of the Divine Mercy as a guideline for practicing it, which are
Ask for mercy
Be merciful to others
Completely trust in Jesus Christ
However, I am finding that using the acronym MAD helps me more to understand and practice this devotion. Let me explain.
Right from the start, the use of the acronym MAD reminds us that the devotion to the Divine Mercy makes us see things differently from the world’s perspective. In the world’s eyes, we may be seen as mad, raving lunatics, when in fact it is the world that is upside down due to Original Sin.
Mercy alone. This puts into perspective that we are absolutely, completely dependent on the mercy of God. We are all just a blood vessel or accident away from instant death. Everything we have and everything we can do can be taken away from us in an instant. Even our ability to do good things we are dependent on God’s grace. Before God, we are nothing. Mercy alone keeps us here.
Reminding ourselves of “Mercy alone” banishes pride, implants humility into our souls, and gives complete trust to our Lord Jesus Christ who is Mercy personified.
Ask for mercy. If “Mercy alone” reminds us of our total dependence on God, it logically follows that we must have mercy or we will die, spiritually and even physically, and so we must ask for it.
So ask away all that you need, but especially Mercy, for without God’s Mercy you will not even be able to ask for mercy.
Disperse mercy. I used the word “disperse” instead of words like “distribute” or “dispense” because those latter words imply you can pick to whom you give mercy. No, mercy should be dispersed, i.e. given without choosing, without restrictions, everywhere, just like the farmer who disperses seed all over his field. Yet this word also calls into mind that the farmer will sooner or later run out of seeds, and so it is with us with mercy, for what we have only comes from the Lord, especially His Mercy. Without the first two steps above, we will sooner or later run out of God’s Mercy to give to others, so dependent we are on Him.
But to whom should we give mercy to? Of course it is obvious that we should give mercy to others, as the ABCs of the Divine Mercy reminds us. But we should be even giving mercy to more.
One is to ourselves. This season of Lent is a wonderful time to practice this, for the traditional forms of penance of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer are actually works of mercy on ourselves, that we might get to Heaven. We also must be merciful on our bodies and minds, not pampering them, but giving them the right care while at the same time training them to be stronger, for with weak minds and bodies we cannot even be merciful to others.
Another is to God Himself. This may be surprising to some, but we are duty-bound to do acts of reparation to God for the outrages of sin done by others on Him. As Pope Pius XI wrote:
The creature’s love should be given in return for the love of the Creator, another thing follows from this at once, namely that to the same uncreated Love, if so be it has been neglected by forgetfulness or violated by offense, some sort of compensation must be rendered for the injury, and this debt is commonly called by the name of reparation…We are holden to the duty of reparation and expiation by a certain more valid title of justice and of love, of justice indeed, in order that the offense offered to God by our sins may be expiated. — Miserentissimus Redemptor
A prayer of act of reparation may be said during night prayers, but it is also important, in my opinion, to do our usual acts of devotion and mercy with a spirit of reparation, to do them in behalf of all those who neglect doing them.
And of course, we must be merciful to the saints and angels. It may surprise you, but in my opinion it hurts God and all the hosts in Heaven the most when we do not not ask for help from them, so it is actually an act of mercy to them to ask for their help for ourselves and others. Remember what Mary said to St. Catherine Labore, when asked about her rings during her apparitions to her, the stones of some of which emit rays of light, while the others do not:
“These rays symbolize the graces I shed upon those who ask for them. The gems from which rays do not fall are the graces for which souls forget to ask.”
So ask all the angels and saints to pray for you and intercede for you and others. Most of the time they are only held back by the fact that no one asks for their help, which is what they want to do the most for us.
