St. Faustina and the Image of Divine Mercy

good evening welcome the brothers and sisters thank you fathers for having us for welcoming us here at this very beautiful church I stand here as a sister of st. Faustina and this is the only reason why I why I feel okay I can speak to them I can share some words with them no other reason just because my sister is st. Faustina and I hope she will simply use my presence here too to speak towards me this this is my wish this is my desire so that it will happen but let us say a short prayer at the very beginning so that this meeting really makes sense like not only okay some people met at the church and okay it was fun or it wasn't let's make it more spiritual simply inviting the Holy Spirit to come and touch our hearts okay in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit amen dear lord I ask you to to come may your Holy Spirit come and open our hearts for your words so that I may say only this what you want me to say and that all our hearts may be open to to receive your message that's what you want to share with us which may may this be a meeting of brothers and sisters immersed in you in the ocean of your mercy st. Faustina please be here with us st. john paul ii please I beg you to to intercede for us come Holy Spirit our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name I've seen them come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us rule while sitting here in the band chain the church and waiting for the meeting and seeing the darkness behind the windows the stained glass here I recalled a very special moment from the life of Sister Faustina it was also evening the day when she saw Jesus for the first time like we can see him on the image it was Sunday evening today is Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday evening but still we can hear especially in this church we can feel some special I would say very holy atmosphere that always evening brings you know everything gets peaceful we finished our work there are no more more plans for this day it's just you and him yeah finally there's some time to simply be with God and let him speak Sister Faustina on that very evening came back to her room and wasn't expecting anything unusual she just finished the day and entered her room to go to bed probably and suddenly she saw Jesus you know standing in front of her she saw Jesus you know it's a she had some revelations before gently slowly slowly step by step Jesus was guiding her and preparing her for that very revelation is the first we could say revelation she had was at the church when she was still a child and she simply felt the presence of God like really she was in front of the monstrance in front of the Blessed Sacrament and though being a child she could profoundly understand that this is God in this white piece of bread this is a living person it's not a theory it's not a knowledge about God it's experiencing God and she had that being a little child it was so strong that afterwards receiving her first communion she behaved differently as all the other children all the other children on their way home they were simply rejoicing with their beautiful dresses and probably presents they will get from the family or something the party that will take place after the first communion and she was walking alone so one of the her neighbors saw her and asked Helena because that was her name from the baptism Helena why are you walking alone being concerned something happened probably why are you walking alone and Helena said I'm not walking alone and she continued on alone but not alone so starting from the very first years of her life we can already see the secret of her holiness actually already then she was never alone she never thought about herself like in a singular this is the correct in singular she always thought about herself in plural me and him we look how it changes perspective of life if we stop thinking I have to go and do this I will do that I will say this I will prepare that now we will do this we will prepare that this is our responsibility this is our work Wow so so much brighter yes especially in our times so many people are burdened with what they have to do it's too much simply it's too much too quick too too serious too big I cannot do it by myself why so many suicides I am by myself and I cannot continue on by myself and Helena has this beautiful it's more than intuition she's very much aware of the fact I am NOT alone never ever there's no single moment when I am alone always we so then Helena has this first revelation that's mm that amazes her and impacts impacts her deeply and it's very unusual because it takes place during a party yes a dance she's simply on a party with her other friends it it's not in some religious place it's in the city center she's wearing a pink dress she's there to dance and to have fun with others and in such circumstances when she started to dance with a boy suddenly music stopped for her you know she she stopped hearing the music she stops seeing the people and she sees just him and that's the first revelation she had she has like really seeing Jesus not only feeling his presence or hearing somehow his voice in her heart but she sees him on a party and this is the moment when he expresses very clearly how much he is longing for her and how much he wants her to enter the convent and so she she runs he quickly follows the that Jesus desire and she goes to war so this is the city where she entered the convent and we could say we could you could think okay if if Jesus himself expressed the desire towards her okay I want you to enter the convent easy yes okay I will it the will of God is very clear towards me it's so good I do not have to go through this tiring process of discernment yes we the people who entered the convent we know how much it costs you know to discern the will of God whether it is really my vocation whether this is really the place where God wants me to be and I will be happy it takes sometimes many years of struggles and purifications and Faustina you know Jesus appears says I want you to enter the convent she says okay and she enters and she is a saint now yeah nice story but what does it have to do with us yes normal people it's amazing that she always experienced this I would say you know like on one hand Jesus expressed his desire towards her very clearly but on the other hand he didn't help her at all to fulfill them yeah didn't help her at all I mean like you know it seemed like he abandoned her in that way that it was so difficult so now he says okay enter the convent he even says entered the convent in Warsaw so it seems to be easy just go to war so and find any convent but son leash knocks from door to door and they do not want to accept her that's the first trial you would say then I assume she asked herself questions was it really from God like why now so many difficulties and the congregation where I am and where she entered that was the only congregation that gave her a chance so they didn't actually accept her like welcome yeah but they told her okay come back in a year time so another trial yes and for a year she was preparing herself not being 100% sure whether they will accept her or not but they did praise be to God they did yes and now all the other congregations who didn't accept her you know what they are going through such great Saint and we rejected her so Faustina entered the convent and after a few years of really hard time really really hard time she didn't have like everlasting honeymoon in the convent it was time of many struggles and purifications starting from the very beginning you would say oh that's risky Jesus you know you invite someone to follow you and starting from day one you make it hard who would follow you and Faustina she's going through many trials and what's very difficult in these experiences she is going through is that on the human level she's alone she doesn't have anyone who would really understand her so she feels abandoned spiritually because the God allowed that to happen she doesn't feel God she doesn't feel his presence she even feels rejected by God being like 21 22 this is the time of such experiences and in this situation she has no one who would say oh don't worry this is a classical mystical experience you know afterwards it will be a honeymoon yes and you probably you will be a great saint because this is what great saints go through so no worries so she's going through all this being very young and after many fights and surviving this inner world war she's ready to start the mission so the first years of her religious life were to prepare her for the worldwide mission and when she is 26 I guess 1931 one if she's born 1905 so she's 26 this revelation takes place on the on the evening when she was in her cell alone in her room suddenly she saw Jesus like this in a white garment with the right hand lifted in the gesture of blessing and thus two rays emanating from his heart and he expressed his desire paint an image according to this what you see to the pattern you see I want this image to be venerated all over the world and I will give many graces through it therefore may each soul have an access to that image and again you would say okay so she went through so many purifications and now the mission begins Jesus's paint an image so surely shortly afterwards he will give her money painter and understanding among the sisters in the community who will support her is none of these things no and that's of course we will say that's normal because you shouldn't believe every person who says I saw Jesus yeah that that's very wise that's that's the wisdom of church to keep the distance to check to to test the person to ask many questions to give some time for discernment but she was really abandoned in this mission and when she wanted to give up and when she was telling Jesus please find someone else I'm not good enough for the mission I cannot do it you know I cannot do it I cannot paint I'm weak in health I have no money I and she no she names all the impossibilities and merciful Jesus if he is really merciful he should say okay I understand I will search for someone else but no no that's not real mercy he says in this situation when she's really left with the mission alone in this very situation when she wants to you know how to say go aside let's say to leave the mission and to convince Jesus that he should find someone else that that that the whole globe is full of better people for that mission in that very moment Jesus tells her if you will leave the mission you will be responsible for many souls on the last day on the day of judgment so he doesn't solve the problem he just makes it worse and I cannot imagine what she was going through you know I cannot do what he wants me to do he doesn't help me to do it and he even threatens me the merciful God and that was another trial you know she needed to go through all these experiences not losing hope not losing trust that okay he is guiding me because of actually the key word in the divine mercy message the key not word but attitude in the divine mercy message and the key attitude is written on the image the middle word of the sentence Jesus I trust in you Faustina is the best example of someone who really trusts while not understanding at all Trust is not here yes in mind you can have total darkness there might be just doubts and fear and totally everything is beyond any logic and it makes no sense from the human perspective but it's about your heart whether you trust or not it about it's about your decision whether you decide to trust in that situation which is obviously very difficult oh you say no thanks that's too too much for me I choose some easier ways surely you don't want me to become martyr right so leave me alone and let me go actually many Christians on the path to perfection that means to holiness they move move back outside move move away they simply leave the fight they they leave the battlefield and the kingdom is for those who will run till the very last day not just the first stage and when it's when you become sweating yes and your muscles start hurting and there are no bottles with water on the side you say no sorry it's a possible this marathon is not to be finished in my case sorry I go back to the hotel five stars hotel so finally after a few years of struggling the first image is painted there that appears a priest Faustina's confessor future confessor for the me hopes of pachuco who is already blessed and he as he later admitted he didn't believe Faustina it was not like okay well this girl she really saw Jesus and Jesus really wants her to paint an image so I'm in no he says I was just curious so God used his curiosity this is the word curiosity to start this great mission now worldwide mission yeah so the image was painted they found a professional painter who painted the first image Faustina so they made she cried a little being very disappointed with the result of his work but then Jesus come come her heart sank Faustina do not cry the power of that image is not in the beauty of canvas but in the grace that I will give through it anyway look that's interesting that the miracles images are usually not the most beautiful ones the most beautiful ones are in the museum's and the most powerful ones are in the churches couldn't we say the same about us human beings about women and men of this world the most beautiful ones and the most seemingly powerful ones are on the covers of magazines but those who really change the world so many times they stay hidden totally hidden for the eyes of the world this is even quotation from the there's even a quotation from the diaries of Jesus's words from Faustina's diary when he says about these chosen Souls who really changed the history of the world there are not many but many enough to change the world and to sustain the world that's interesting why the history keeps on moving here's why the world keeps on rolling you could say Lord there's so much evil in the world why do you keep on giving us another day why the final judgment that the day of God's anger haven't come yet why and even Faustina had such questions you know when God gave her special grace of seeing all the sins of the world in one moment that was the day of that was the New Year's Eve wasn't it you know what's New Year's Eve the whole world is on a party and of course you can have fun with your friends and it can be okay it can be totally good but you know I know that also many many painful hurt yes many painful situations and a lot of sin is happening on that very night and she saw it she saw it in some inner vision and after which she fainted because it was too much she couldn't handle it and when she was awake and she was asking Jesus I do not understand you why you still keep on showing us mercy one day Jesus told Faustina that mercy is actually beyond understanding of the Angels perfect spirits they have the perfect knowledge everything is perfect in angels and they have problems with understanding God's mercy there's even a theory theory theological theory why there was this how do you say the fallen angels so there was this the moment when they decided they will go aside yes they will they won't be in the plan of God what was the reason why they decided to to leave God and he had to start their own way and that theory says because that's a mystery for us but we can you know try to find out and so that theory says that this is it happened when Jesus told them about the idea of incarnation and giving his life for people for the sinners and then they said no you won't do it you the king of the world King of Kings Lord of lords creator of heaven and earth one of them and giving his life for them No and it's not only a problem the problem of angels because we also have this problem in some percentage each one of us in some percentage is the older son that's the problem problem of the older son from the parable about the merciful father it's so hard for us to accept that God can forgive sins to all those bastards I don't know which words you use you know there's such word right I know mercy for me of course yes please but for them and can you imagine that one day we may see it in the same badge in heaven with them or let's say at the same table at a big party in heaven that it depends the image of heaven you have in your head it has always been problem of our understanding of mercy justice human mercy human justice God's mercy God's justice it's not the same totally not the same and it's difficult to understand and to accept many times so Faustina has the revelation first image is painted and nowadays we live in the times when Jesus is desire you could say it's almost fulfilled because he said I want this image to be venerated all over the world and I will give many graces through it and so it happens this is now 21st century in Poland of course you can find the image in every church there are other countries where you can find it in every second Church and there there are other countries were in every fifth Church but surely there's no continent or there's not even one country or one city in the world without this image and now in the year of mercy it the speed is our sisters at the shrine of divine mercy who work at the store and they sell the divine mercy images different sizes different you know types you know one printed on canvas one painted on canvas the other one printed on paper thousands of thousands of ways of having the image and so they say it's crazy they simply they cannot know today they the printing house is too slow you know to print the copies because there are so many people wanting the image so many parish priests asking for the image to their churches so praise be to God but it also shows us the importance and finally the openness of the people for the divine mercy message this image or better Jesus through this image actually speaks to us this is not just an image that we can say oh it's connected with the history of st. Faustina know Jesus through this image speaks to us and much of this what he speaks is in the diary so when you read the diary of st. Faustina precisely you will find the exact quotations which help you to uncover the mystery of the image step-by-step that I let us have a short introduction you know I won't tell you everything that would be a challenge for you to do it on your own but when you look at the image first thing you look at is what okay you are far away from the image but if you stand in front of the image of merciful Jesus and it's quite close to you what would be the first thing you would look at his face that's natural right we talk to each other we look into each other's eyes that's the beginning of every meeting so what do these eyes say the gaze from the image jesus said my gaze from the image it's like the case from the cross and I always recall in that very moment when I listen to these words I recall the moment on Golgotha when he was dying and if I put myself on Golgotha I know that I'm I'm they're not as playing the role of Our Lady you know I'm not the one who's without any sin and just feeling sorry for my son that he's dying is that he's in such pain I'm there as one of those who are responsible for his death and to face the gaze of the victim what would that gaze tell you I love you know going to prisoners sometimes we go on mission to to prisons and then we also share with them the message of mercy and sometimes I have a chance to talk to them so I ask them how do you feel under these gays how do you feel when he looks at you how does it make you feel and they are murderers murderers yes there they are sometimes people who go and how would you say it here back and again to the prison so it's like they are addicted to making crimes you know committing crimes they are like really you would say broken inside so there's actually no way for them to start to go back to normal life again and to be to live according the law not only the law of the country but the law that God gave us they are it's impossible for them and when they look on the face of Jesus when they meet with the gaze of Jesus from that image they say I feel loved I feel forgiven and in that very moment a one story comes to my mind and I will share with you a short testimony when you think about Poland Poland is mostly associated with the second world war isn't it yes the great disaster drama of the 20th century second world war so many people died so many Poland was in ruins after the Second World War so you know about the concentration comes I'm sure you do and the biggest one the most famous one is outfits the concentration camp in Auschwitz and there Kommandant that's that's probably the name the commandant of that outfits concentration camp was Rudolf Hess also famous men but not famous because he did something good but because he was so bad so evil and those who survived Auschwitz used to call him an animal they wouldn't say he is he was a bad man he wasn't a bad man he was an animal and one day they took the whole community of Jesuit for Jews with fathers from Cracow they took all of the brothers and fathers to Auschwitz only the superior was not at home at that very moment of that wasn't kidnapping you know they simply I don't know the exact verb to express it but it was quite normal that they used to you know enter and take the people they wanted to Auschwitz for some reason so they took the jesuits and when the superior was back he our he was so shocked and in such pain and he said I need to be with my brothers so he by himself you know without any pressure it was his decision he decided to go to Auschwitz to be with his brothers but you cannot enter outfits on your own because you want to yeah but he did it you know he found a hole I don't know how did he did it but he entered the concentration camp searching for he brother for his brothers and of course guards found him and they took him to yes to the Kommandant not even you know having these questions in their minds or what will he do with him because they were totally convinced that he will simply kill him without any questions and how big was their surprise when he let him go simple like that go back home from the concentration company it's it doesn't happen ever ever never ever so he left and then second world war was ended in some years Rudolf Hess was he received the punishment death punishment yes they said that you are guilty for the crime on humanity I guess this is the name so that the greatest crime any man can do and he will be hanged in Auschwitz in the place where you used to kill people but before this the sentence was carried out he was to wait for the sentence in the prison in vltava by the way this is the city where John Paul was born so he was he knew he's going to the prison in vidoe Vita and he was in such great fear he was afraid of the prison he wasn't afraid of the death in Auschwitz he was afraid of the time in prison because he was totally convinced that polish guards will take revenge on him and he will be tortured for all these days as long as he's in the prison it will be unimaginable pain for him day by day minute by minute this was his idea of the time in prison awaiting for death and how great was his surprise when suddenly the Polish guards men whose wives daughters sons were killed in Auschwitz they treated him well and he couldn't understand and that was the moment of his conversion because they treated him well mercy that's the love that we know we do not deserve he knew he doesn't deserve their forgiveness their goodness their gentleness their help and he received all that so then he asked for a priest he wanted to confess his sins before he dies please understand it happens straight after the Second World War once are very fresh so the guards said okay we will find you a priest but it wasn't easy to find a priest who would like to listen to the confession of Rudolf Hess so they couldn't find one and then Rudolf has remembered the name of the Jesuit priest who he let go few years before and so he gave them the name saying please try to find this man maybe he will come and so they found him in the shrine of divine mercy in Krakow while we are stationed he was our chaplain at that time and so he went he said okay I will go and he listened to his confession it lasted at the lasted and lasted and then he gave him absolution your sins are forgiven Rudolf Hess you animal your sins are forgiven go in peace the next day father lawn came to heat the prison again but not alone he's never alone of course but this time he came like in real real presence of God he brought Jesus he brought Holy Communion to Rudolf Hess and the guard who was present in the very room with Rudolf Hess and the priest said it was one of the most beautiful moments in his life seeing the this animal is kneeling with tears in his eyes looking like a little boy and receiving Holy Communion receiving Jesus to his heart unimaginable mercy Rudolf Hess before he died he wrote a letter an open letter he wanted to be published after his death in Polish newspapers and in that letter he said I know what I did I know how great is my sin and my guilt but God forgave me and now I ask you the Polish nation the Polish people to forgive me as well I hope you can do it Faustino writing her diary that we should never ever judge anyone ever and we cannot say anything about salvation or condemnation of anyone look in our church there are so many Saints Church declared there is holiness of so many people but never ever have I heard that someone is declared or being called condemned and that we do not know we do not know and surely we cannot do it by ourselves there so there is such a mystery between you and God and every human being his soul and God mystery we cannot say anything we do not know so when you look at the divine mercy image in the gaze of the one whom you killed is pure forgiveness and total acceptation total understanding then when you look at his right hand again look this is a pierced hand when you look closely there you will see there is wound on this hand and this wounded hand is in the gesture of blessing how do we react how do we answer when someone hurts us with blessing it would be good but we must be honest to ourselves usually it's not like that Jesus teaches us through the diary of st. Faustina always when someone hurts you think quickly what good can you do to that person that's Christianity nothing less then there is the left hand touching his pierced heart and they are the race the race which are very important on the image and actually I assume you all know that they symbolize blood and water and blood stands for the Eucharist water stands for all the sacraments which bring us purification so first of all baptism and then of course confession Jesus says that happy are those who shelter in the shadow shadow of these rays there are so many people who are miserable maybe outside smiled is but deeply inside miserable totally said bitter disappointed Jesus says happy are those who shelter in the shadow of this race so whenever you find someone who's miserable because who feels unhappy said do not take him to movies or to let's go shopping his or but ok sometimes that's also good but that's not really the solution of the problem the solution of the problem is in the shadow of this race confession Eucharist that's the best medical medicine to all the pains morning's wounds sadness confession and Eucharist so many people though they are in the church they stopped believing in the power of sacraments and Jesus is truly present in the sacraments half of the Diary of Sister Faustina is really about the sacraments what's happening during Eucharist and what's happening during confession confession what Jesus doing in the sacraments we see the priests who do all these things in during the Eucharist during confession we see the priests because we would die on heart attacks seeing Jesus you know being present here and sitting at the confessional box we wouldn't survive any confession you know seeing the holy holy holy one listening to a CD that's too much for our you know human hearts Faustina was prepared after many purification she was ready probably we are not yet ready so he covers in covers no high heights behind the priests but he's there and this is him who's really forgiving our sins and then giving you a new start a new beginning it would be good if we would have the courage to to share this with other people not only use it for ourselves okay I know it that's good I will use it it will be for me I will be purified and I will be alive yes confession and Eucharist it would be good to have the courage to say it aloud even to people who do not think the same as we do who do not believe but it takes courage to do it because we are all afraid that we we'll be laughs it love it that people will laugh at us we will be rejected we won't have friends we won't have likes on Facebook and and that's a disaster so the core of the Divine Mercy message is simply I am love and mercy itself says Jesus come to me I want to heal your wounds I do not want to punish you for your sins but I want to heal your wounded heart let me do it and trust that I know the best way the best time the best situation how to do it and when to do it leave this to me it's so hard for us to let God to really be the god of our lives especially now in the 21st century when we feel we are really so intelligent and we can do so we can invent so many things which help us to leave you know we fly to space we we have all these computers iPads iPhones everything whatever we want it comes true with just we need few years to invent something new even more amazing and suddenly Jesus comes and says let me be your God let me guide you the way I want this is trust usually we think about trust like okay God is good so that means he will make everything good in my life yes I will tell him that a very simple example okay I'm going on exam I will pray and he will make make it happen that I will get an A yes because I trust him so deeply and we treat God last magician like magician yes or like that the Aladeen you know that the one from the bottle this is my wish and you are to fulfill my wish are you not the merciful God the good God you know I do all you will ask me to do I pray I go to the church so now you fulfill your obligations towards me okay who's God in this situation Jesus I trust in you is really about a childlike attitude towards him it's so hard to be children when we are grownups be a child towards me let me be your God let me be your guide let me be a father let me take you wherever I want trusting that this is the best of all the possible ways and you are not to be afraid of it yeah that would be it because my time is up so I won't even start another subject but please feel encouraged to search by yourself the diary of st. Faustina is like a mine mine of gold full of gold and you go deeper and deeper and you discover new and new treasures in it so I think this year the Jubilee of Mercy is the best time to really you know like read the Diary search for new inspirations in the diary and then as you already get this perspective of Mercy that Faustina had you will be able to look at every event of your personal life and of the events that happen around you in the country in your neighborhood in your city through the perspective of Mercy and it makes a life totally different no fear just trust you

Channel: Knights of Columbus Supreme Council

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Keywords: Knights of Columbus, Catholic, KoC, KofC, jubilee year of mercy, Sisters of Our Lady Mercy, St. Gaudia Skass, St. Mary's Church, New Haven, Image of Divine Mercy, Charity, Faith, Divine Mercy, St. Faustina, Saint Faustina, Faustina Kowalska, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy Sunday, JPII, Saint John Paul, St. Faustina and the Image of Divine Mercy, knights

Id: 01FESJ_2fjg

Length: 58min 1sec (3481 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 21 2016