Contemplative Haven

O my Jesus, my Master and Director, strengthen and enlighten me in these difficult moments of my life.  I expect no help from people; all my hope is in You.  I feel alone in the face of Your demands, O Lord.  Despite the fears and qualms of my nature, I am fulfilling Your holy will and desire to fulfill it as faithfully as possible throughout my life and in my death.  Jesus, with You I can do all things.  Do with me as You please; only give me Your merciful Heart and that is enough for me.

[The Diary, Notebook II, # 650] 

I would like to share some thoughts regarding several points raised by a reader, Frankie, in the combox of my introductory post about Direction For Our Times and the Lay Apostles of Jesus Christ the Returning King. It will probably take a few posts to do so, and from that point on, I will concentrate solely on sharing the Messages and the work of the Apostolate in my DFOT posts, with any of you who care to read here.  

 I will begin with some of the history of the image of Jesus Christ the Returning King, and a bit about the relationship of the image and the Apostolate’s mission to the Divine Mercy mission of St. Faustina.

In Anne’s book “Climbing the Mountain. Discovering Your Path to Holiness”, there is a section about the image [pgs. 244-245]. In October 2005, a month after Anne had received a series of locutions from St. Faustina, she traveled on pilgrimage, upon the invitation of Sr. Briege McKenna and Fr. Kevin Scallon, to the International Divine Mercy Shrine in Krakow, Poland. The three met with the Mother Superior of St. Faustina’s order, The Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. They spoke with the Mother Superior about Anne’s experiences and her mission to spread the message of Jesus Christ the Returning King, and the Mother Superior responded by telling them of an unusual experience of her own the previous day. An artist friend had just presented her with a painting, which she had understood was supposed to be that of her patron saint, but was in fact an image of Jesus Christ the Returning King. When Mother Superior showed it to Anne, Sr. Briege and Fr. Scallon, “all of us in the room were amazed and recognized that this painting was to be the authentic image for the apostolate…” Mother Superior told them that she was, “certain that it was really meant for Anne.”  In a locution to Anne on October 28, 2005 St. Faustina said, “The image of Jesus Christ the Returning King should be spread throughout the world.  There are many graces attached to this image.  Like the Divine Mercy image, this image will be widely recognized as a source of goodness and healing.  All who venerate this image will be blessed…Such joy flows from heaven.  Bask in the joy, dear apostles, because your King is returning.”  In the DFOT Newsletter of April 2009 (Issue 13), there is a wonderful article about the image, and an interview with the artist, Janusz Antosz.

In his comments, Frankie expresses his fears and concerns that both the image and the Apostolate are “distracting” people from the Divine Mercy image, as well as from St. Faustina’s mission and her suffering. I do not know if anything I can say will help to alleviate his or anyone else’s concerns, but I will certainly try. As I recounted above, the image itself was given to the Apostolate by the Mother Superior of St. Faustina’s order. In the back of all the Volumes, as well as in the two books I have by Anne, “Climbing the Mountain” and “The Mist of Mercy”, there is a section entitled, “How to Recite the Chaplet of Divine Mercy”. The April 09 newsletter, as mentioned, has not only an article about the image but three messages from St. Faustina. As another commentor, Kevin, told us: “Many lay apostles have a strong devotion to Divine Mercy; they are encouraged to. The staff at the Direction For Our Times offices in both the U.S. and Ireland are generally gathered at 3:00 each afternoon to recite the Divine Mercy Chaplet.” In the audio recording of the monthly meeting of the Lay Apostles of Jesus Christ the Returning King (May 2009), we hear a guest speaker, Mother Theresa (may not be the correct spelling), a Cistercian sister from Denmark. She tells us she is giving thanks to the Lord for what is happening because of the Apostolate, that graces are pouring down, that all are being blessed, and that the work of the Apostolate, which is Jesus’ work, should be respected and defended, not by speaking much, but by giving the glory to the Lord. She tells the audience that she and her contemplative sisters in different countries are all praying for the Apostolate, and refers to the Apostolate as an “act of mercy” from the Lord.

From my own perspective, I believe that the majority of us who have been devoted to the Divine Mercy message and St. Faustina’s mission for many, many years now will only find our devotion strengthened through the Messages and work of the Apostolate, and those who may have never heard of the Divine Mercy message will certainly be led to it through the Apostolate. Just as the saints all work together joyfully, we are called to do so as well, because we are all working for Jesus, our Returning King.

“His mercies are new every morning.”

Martha Williamson: The People We Were

A number of months ago I came across an apostolate, the mission of which has impacted my life in so many ways it is difficult to know where to start or how to go about sharing it.  So, I will just begin with some general information in this introductory post, but will continue on an ongoing basis to share more, both here and at my other blog, Consecrated to Mary.

The apostolate had its origin in Messages which were given by interior locutions to “Anne”, who is a wife, mother of six, Secular Franciscan, and an American now living in Ireland.  Anne went through several years during this present decade receiving and writing down Messages from God the Father, Jesus, Mary and certain of the saints.  These Messages were formed into ten Volumes (two of which have not yet been released) and a series of booklets entitled, “Heaven Speaks”.   Anne has written other books concerning her experiences as well.

Out of this grew Direction For Our Times, and the apostolate, The Lay Apostles of Jesus Christ the Returning King.  Anne has been told that this apostolate is a continuation of Saint Faustina’s mission of Divine Mercy, and we will explore that aspect in more detail here in the future.  Among many other things, we are told that the second coming of Christ is a process, that the process has begun, that it begins in each of our hearts, and that we can help Jesus save souls during this time (which is a time of renewal and transformation) as we bring His light to our brothers and sisters on earth.

This apostolate and its mission are in complete obedience and submission to Anne’s local bishop, and to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church.  The Messages are currently being studied by the Vatican.

These Messages are filled with the tender, gentle love of God for each person on earth, with mercy, peace, instruction and guidance.  They are filled with hope for ourselves and our children, and will give you peace concerning your families and your loved ones already departed.  They will inspire you to courage, faithfulness and complete calm during this time of transformation, as we await the return of Christ the King and serve Him, each in our own way, during the process of renewal He has begun.

There were so many segments from the Apostolate’s YouTube channel that I wanted to start with in this introductory post I had a very difficult time choosing.  (Each YouTube is approximately eight to ten minutes long; Dr. Mark Miravalle reads the Message, and then he and Anne discuss it.)  I finally decided to begin with a Message that, once I had absorbed it as fully as I could and began trying to live it, has definitely produced fruit in my own life over the past months.  We find in many of the Messages very caring advice from Jesus as He shows us He is aware of the difficulties we face in our daily lives.  So I will leave you with this for the moment, but greatly look forward to sharing much more with you over the months to come.

Volume Ten: Message dated September 25, 2004

Direction For Our Times YouTube Channel

The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath:

it is twice bless’d;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice.

[From:  The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I.  William Shakespeare]

The Gentle Healer, on YouTube.

From St. Faustina’s Diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul:

532     After Holy Communion, I saw the Lord Jesus, who said these words to me:  Today, penetrate into the spirit of My poverty and arrange everything in such a way that the most destitute will have no reason to envy you.  I find pleasure, not in large buildings and magnificent structures, but in a pure and humble heart.

533     When I was by myself, I began to reflect on the spirit of poverty.  I clearly saw that Jesus, although He is Lord of all things, possessed nothing.  From a borrowed manger He went through life doing good to all, but Himself having no place to lay His head.  And on the Cross, I see the summit of His poverty, for He does not even have a garment on Himself.

Child of the Poor / What Child is This?

Direct to YouTube for this video is here.

What I’m exploring here today is something I don’t fully understand myself, but I think it might help me if I put some thoughts down “on paper”. 

Jesus told Sister Faustina, “I desire that this image be displayed in public on the first Sunday after Easter.  That Sunday is the Feast of Mercy.” [Diary, Notebook I, No. 88]  Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose the first Sunday after Easter and declared that it was the Feast of Mercy?  This particular Sunday has other names as well, one of which is Low Sunday.  Out of curiosity, I looked up Low Sunday in an old missal, one from prior to Vatican II, to see if there were any significant differences.  One important difference that I found was that the Gospel, prior to Vatican II, opened with a Lesson from the Epistle of St. John the Apostle (First Letter of John, Chapter 5).   I will just quote a small portion of it, to show you what we would have heard back then that we do not hear today:

“This is he that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood.  And it is the Spirit which testifieth that Christ is the truth.  And there are three who give testimony in heaven:  the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one.  And there are three that give testimony on earth; the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three are one.”

Even if you were to look up the First Letter of John, Ch. 5 in a current Bible, you would not find it translated (at least in the versions I looked at) as precisely as it is stated in the old missal.

And so we have Jesus choosing to establish Divine Mercy Sunday on a day in which we were traditionally being taught about water and blood, the Holy Spirit, and the Trinity.  As I was pondering all these things, I took a look at what some bloggers had been saying about Divine Mercy Sunday over the last couple of years.  I noticed some disturbing comments, two in particular – one from a priest who said that Divine Mercy Sunday, “changed nothing liturgically”, and another from someone who said that Divine Mercy Sunday had, “absolutely no effect on the liturgical celebration”, that it was only a devotion with an indulgence attached.  Perhaps it is true that the devotion does not really change the liturgy of the day, but it changes our hearts, and immersion in the Divine Mercy message helps us understand the message of today’s gospel on a deeper level.  Inclusion of the former passage from the First Letter of John would do so to an even greater degree. 

In my post last year for Divine Mercy Sunday, if you had asked me why I included a picture of the Holy Trinity and a link to the beautiful Thrice Holy Hymn, I couldn’t have told you.  I only did what the Spirit moved me to do.  Today, I think I understand a little bit better. 

At the risk of turning this post into a tome, I would just also like to share something with you from The Revelations of St. Gertrude the Great, from the entry for Low Sunday, which reinforces my glimpse of an understanding as to why Jesus chose this day.  The entry opens with the words of Jesus, and continues with St. Gertrude’s understanding of His message:

“If you desire to receive the Holy Ghost…you must touch My Side and My Hands, like My disciples.”  By this she understood that he who desires to receive the Holy Spirit must first touch the Side of Our Lord – that is, he must acknowledge how much the Divine Heart has loved us in having predestinated us from eternity to be His children and heirs of His kingdom, and in pouring forth such benefits upon us daily, notwithstanding our ingratitude…” 

Divine Mercy.  Jesus, I Trust in You.  It’s also something to cry about – tears of grief, loss and pain; tears of forgiveness, hope and gratitude.

Divine Mercy.  Jesus, I Trust in You.  It really is something to sing about.  Something to really sing about.

Zaufaj Panu juz dzis - Divine Mercy