Luminous
A Catholic Woman and Her Thoughts on Life, the Universe, and Everything
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Spirituality and Sacraments of Mercy in Pastoral Care
I attended a two-day conference in Worcester at Holy Cross College. I'd like to share my notes with you, each in separate postings.
============================================
4th Annual Heathcare Professionals
for Divine Mercy Conference
Medicine, Bioethics and Spirituality
April 29th & 30th 2008 – Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA
============================================
Fr Kazimirerz Chwalek, MIC, BA, STB, STL (Cand.); Marian, Director of Evangelization and Development; Spirituality and Sacraments of Mercy in Pastoral Care
What does Mercy Mean?
Mercy is rooted in Scripture. It is an attitude, a concept. We see it described in the images, parables and events of Scripture.
In the Old Testament: The Hebrew words most often used to describe the Mercy of God are “Hesed” & “Rahamim”
Hesed = A profound attitude of “goodness” – two individuals do not just wish each other “well” when this word is used, they are utterly faithful and committed to each other by virtue of an interior commitment and faithfulness to themselves. They become deeply caring – it is a covenantal relationship. Hesed is also used to connote grace or love on the basis of fidelity. When hesed is used with the Lord – it is in reference to the covenant of the Lord with Israel – God’s gift to Israel. When Israel broke the Covenant the hesed ceased to be a “legal” obligation – God showed his grace and love by granting the people Mercy that He wasn’t “required” to show them by “obligation” – only by virtue of His love for them. Hope is then based on Love, not Law. Hope is then based on Fidelity, not Justice. God is utterly all of these attributes – but His Mercy is an endless ocean.
Rahamim = Love, as of a mother – a love completely gratuitous – goodness, tenderness, total readiness to forgive at all times. God as ready to forgive – Always – “Even those may forget, yet I will never forget you.” Is 49:15
Love – faithful, invincible – as a mother – salvation from danger.
Mercy – tender – faithful – which in contact with the evil that the loved one often commits = mercy
Predisposition to be generous, gracious, bestow blessings, gentle, forgiving, constant
Culture impacts the person:
Addictions, pain, depression, despair. Divine Mercy offers hope. We think that what we are doing is small – but prayer and offering our every effort to God can be huge.
New Testament:
Prayers – Zachariah praises God’s mercy, Mary’s Magnificat. The Parable of the Prodigal Son – this is the epitome of the meaning of the Divine Mercy. The child has broken the covenant of love in every way – lost every grace – indulged in every sin – and yet, the Father is faithful in love, in mercy. Hesesed – faithful to their loving relationship. Rahamim – charged with deep and abiding affection. This story reaches down to every human misery, moral depravity, and sin. The person who is the object of this kind of mercy feels “found” again, and “restored to value”. He has not received Justice, but unending Mercy. The brother demanded justice – he was angry – he wanted everything to be “fair”. But Mercy knows only Love. Love knows only Mercy.
Other stories – the Lost Sheep; the Woman Caught in Adultery, the Good Thief
Mercy – in the New Testament – restores value, promotes and draws good from all the forms of evil existing in the world, and in man. Mercy constitutes the fundamental content of the Messianic message of Christ and the constitutive power of His mission. Forgiveness and Eternal life are offered to all, and the Eucharist as Living Presence is His gift – the Bread of Heaven.
Imitation of Christ
The heart of Christian spirituality is living out our faith every day, in imitation of Christ. We can be instruments of healing or of hurting. If we show our pain, our suffering, our anger – what happens? Jesus took all that onto Himself – in the Garden, during the Scourging, during His humiliation by the guards, during His carrying of the Cross, He took all they heaped upon Him without a word. And when they nailed Him to the Cross, He forgave them – asked the Father to have Mercy on His abusers. Embrace, absorb, place before our Crucified Lord all the junk people throw our way – fear, anger, stress, depression – all the junk – lay it down at the foot of the Cross.
Be Merciful – as your Heavenly Father is Merciful. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. If we pass our suffering along to the Lord, it cannot poison us, or cause us to “explode”. It calms us, sooths us, grants us grace and peace. Look also to Mary, Mother of Mercy – she who had total trust and obedience.
Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called “mystical” because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the Sacraments – “the Holy Mysteries” and in Him, in the Mystery of the Holy Trinity, God calls us all to this intimate union with him even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all.
We are always forgiven when we ask to be freed. God stands ready and waiting for us. We have only to ask.
Trust is a key element in the Divine Mercy.
“I have opened My heart as a living fountain of Mercy. Let them approach this sea of Mercy with great trust.” Diary 1520
“Let souls who are striving for perfection particularly adore My mercy, because the abundance of graces which I grant them flows from My mercy. I desire that these souls distinguish themselves by boundless trust in My mercy. I myself will attend to the sanctification of such souls. I will provide them with everything they will need to attain sanctity. The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is-trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My desire to give much, very much. On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask for little, when they narrow their hearts." Diary 1578
Today the Lord said to me, “My daughter, My pleasure and delight, nothing will stop Me from granting you graces. Your misery does not hinder My mercy. My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater it’s right to My mercy; [urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. On the cross, the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls-no one have I excluded!” Diary 1182
Openness to the living presence of God leads to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, which leads to Joy.
How do we obtain this – corporal acts of Mercy – “that which we do to the least of our brothers….”
Proclaim and receive God’s Mercy through:
•Liturgy & Prayer
•Sacraments – especially Penance, Eucharist, and Anointing of the Sick (the Sacraments of Mercy)
So many suffer because of coldness and indifference – so much more than physical pain. Bitterness in their lives. Your presence – OUR presence – may be the only light of Mercy they receive. Your chaplet may be the ONLY one ever prayed for them.
Jesus said, “I am Love and Mercy itself”
“My Mercy is greater than the sins of the entire world”
============================================
4th Annual Heathcare Professionals
for Divine Mercy Conference
Medicine, Bioethics and Spirituality
April 29th & 30th 2008 – Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA
============================================
Fr Kazimirerz Chwalek, MIC, BA, STB, STL (Cand.); Marian, Director of Evangelization and Development; Spirituality and Sacraments of Mercy in Pastoral Care
What does Mercy Mean?
Mercy is rooted in Scripture. It is an attitude, a concept. We see it described in the images, parables and events of Scripture.
In the Old Testament: The Hebrew words most often used to describe the Mercy of God are “Hesed” & “Rahamim”
Hesed = A profound attitude of “goodness” – two individuals do not just wish each other “well” when this word is used, they are utterly faithful and committed to each other by virtue of an interior commitment and faithfulness to themselves. They become deeply caring – it is a covenantal relationship. Hesed is also used to connote grace or love on the basis of fidelity. When hesed is used with the Lord – it is in reference to the covenant of the Lord with Israel – God’s gift to Israel. When Israel broke the Covenant the hesed ceased to be a “legal” obligation – God showed his grace and love by granting the people Mercy that He wasn’t “required” to show them by “obligation” – only by virtue of His love for them. Hope is then based on Love, not Law. Hope is then based on Fidelity, not Justice. God is utterly all of these attributes – but His Mercy is an endless ocean.
Rahamim = Love, as of a mother – a love completely gratuitous – goodness, tenderness, total readiness to forgive at all times. God as ready to forgive – Always – “Even those may forget, yet I will never forget you.” Is 49:15
Love – faithful, invincible – as a mother – salvation from danger.
Mercy – tender – faithful – which in contact with the evil that the loved one often commits = mercy
Predisposition to be generous, gracious, bestow blessings, gentle, forgiving, constant
Culture impacts the person:
Addictions, pain, depression, despair. Divine Mercy offers hope. We think that what we are doing is small – but prayer and offering our every effort to God can be huge.
New Testament:
Prayers – Zachariah praises God’s mercy, Mary’s Magnificat. The Parable of the Prodigal Son – this is the epitome of the meaning of the Divine Mercy. The child has broken the covenant of love in every way – lost every grace – indulged in every sin – and yet, the Father is faithful in love, in mercy. Hesesed – faithful to their loving relationship. Rahamim – charged with deep and abiding affection. This story reaches down to every human misery, moral depravity, and sin. The person who is the object of this kind of mercy feels “found” again, and “restored to value”. He has not received Justice, but unending Mercy. The brother demanded justice – he was angry – he wanted everything to be “fair”. But Mercy knows only Love. Love knows only Mercy.
Other stories – the Lost Sheep; the Woman Caught in Adultery, the Good Thief
Mercy – in the New Testament – restores value, promotes and draws good from all the forms of evil existing in the world, and in man. Mercy constitutes the fundamental content of the Messianic message of Christ and the constitutive power of His mission. Forgiveness and Eternal life are offered to all, and the Eucharist as Living Presence is His gift – the Bread of Heaven.
Imitation of Christ
The heart of Christian spirituality is living out our faith every day, in imitation of Christ. We can be instruments of healing or of hurting. If we show our pain, our suffering, our anger – what happens? Jesus took all that onto Himself – in the Garden, during the Scourging, during His humiliation by the guards, during His carrying of the Cross, He took all they heaped upon Him without a word. And when they nailed Him to the Cross, He forgave them – asked the Father to have Mercy on His abusers. Embrace, absorb, place before our Crucified Lord all the junk people throw our way – fear, anger, stress, depression – all the junk – lay it down at the foot of the Cross.
Be Merciful – as your Heavenly Father is Merciful. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. If we pass our suffering along to the Lord, it cannot poison us, or cause us to “explode”. It calms us, sooths us, grants us grace and peace. Look also to Mary, Mother of Mercy – she who had total trust and obedience.
Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called “mystical” because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the Sacraments – “the Holy Mysteries” and in Him, in the Mystery of the Holy Trinity, God calls us all to this intimate union with him even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all.
We are always forgiven when we ask to be freed. God stands ready and waiting for us. We have only to ask.
Trust is a key element in the Divine Mercy.
“I have opened My heart as a living fountain of Mercy. Let them approach this sea of Mercy with great trust.” Diary 1520
“Let souls who are striving for perfection particularly adore My mercy, because the abundance of graces which I grant them flows from My mercy. I desire that these souls distinguish themselves by boundless trust in My mercy. I myself will attend to the sanctification of such souls. I will provide them with everything they will need to attain sanctity. The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is-trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My desire to give much, very much. On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask for little, when they narrow their hearts." Diary 1578
Today the Lord said to me, “My daughter, My pleasure and delight, nothing will stop Me from granting you graces. Your misery does not hinder My mercy. My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater it’s right to My mercy; [urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. On the cross, the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls-no one have I excluded!” Diary 1182
Openness to the living presence of God leads to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, which leads to Joy.
How do we obtain this – corporal acts of Mercy – “that which we do to the least of our brothers….”
Proclaim and receive God’s Mercy through:
•Liturgy & Prayer
•Sacraments – especially Penance, Eucharist, and Anointing of the Sick (the Sacraments of Mercy)
So many suffer because of coldness and indifference – so much more than physical pain. Bitterness in their lives. Your presence – OUR presence – may be the only light of Mercy they receive. Your chaplet may be the ONLY one ever prayed for them.
Jesus said, “I am Love and Mercy itself”
“My Mercy is greater than the sins of the entire world”
Labels: catholic, Divine Mercy, eucharist, healing, prayers, reconcilation, Rosary
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I just love this metaphor or image of "sea of mercy". God is so good.