Yesterday I promised a second insight from St. John Henry Newman's The Mystical Rose - well, this isn't it - I will post that, but I have to do this today, because today is the anniversary of the Divine Mercy Vision, given to St. Faustina, in which Jesus instructed her to commission a new icon, the Divine Mercy image. You may have seen this before, and if you're like me, I went a long time before I looked into exactly what this is. As some of you know, I eventually started reading the diary of St. Faustina, and I highly recommend it, but for now suffice it to say that she is a 20th century saint and visionary, and one of the things she is known for is this icon. She also created the Divine Mercy chaplet, which is a prayer you say on rosary beads. I recommend checking that out, too, especially if you find it difficult to say the rosary, because this one takes less time, for what it's worth. Also, if anyone has not gotten into the rosary because you feel like you want something more directed to God than to Mary, you may like the Divine Mercy chaplet for that reason, too.
Anyway, there is also a Divine Mercy Sunday, which is the Sunday after Easter, (and many people practice the devotion of praying the Divine Mercy chaplet from Good Friday to Divine Mercy Sunday) but anyway, today is the anniversary of the important vision (in 1931).
One of the things I like most about the Divine Mercy devotion is that St. Faustina said that of all of God's attributes (omnipotence, omnipresence, etc.) the most important is mercy. And that when St. John says God IS love, that's equivalent to saying God IS mercy.
Dear friends - Please take 10 minutes to watch this personal update from me:
I'm back, up and running, and ready to go - I should have a new JOURNEY episode within the next week or so - and because you are my loyal peeps, here is an exclusive, just-for-you, behind the scenes SNEAK PEEK into my new office:
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
The problem with us men is that often we don't have the wisdom to be a father until we're a grandfather.
This may sounds like some ironic statement that makes you nod your head in agreement but shrug your shoulders in resignation, thinking, well there's nothing we can do about that. But the practical application of that is that it demonstrates how important it is for kids to grow up around their grandparents. But as in our culture the family becomes ever more fractured and spread out, that is harder and harder to do.
Lately I've been thinking that part of the problem is the whole concept of college. It used to be that everyone thought a person had to go to college to make a good living. Not only is that not the case (truck drivers make more money than I do) but now college has gone from useless to actually ruining our kids. But when I went to college, what you were supposed to do is figure out what career you wanted (as if anyone knows that at age 18) and then go away to the college ...
And don't forget, if you would like to read my latest novel:
The Sword and the Clover - just let me know by email.
I'm happy to send you the PDF version, even if you haven't been a monetary supporter of the community - all I ask is that you don't share it with anyone else.
My email address:
Keep in touch!
JIm
If you haven't already signed up - this comes to your inbox no more than once a month, and will keep you updated when new books come out, or when we're leading pilgrimages, etc:
https://jimpapandrea.us16.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=a7c3793af6d238b47f3463784&id=2abdd7219d
