{"id":30689,"date":"2017-08-07T16:24:15","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T20:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=30689"},"modified":"2017-08-07T16:34:35","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T20:34:35","slug":"the-ocean-of-mercy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-ocean-of-mercy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ocean of Mercy","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
\n for August 7th, 2017
\n Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
\n Opt. Memorial of St. Sixtus II and Companions<\/p>\n

Liturgical texts here<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0Photo taken on October 30th, 2011 in Casa San Pablo, Sto. Dgo. Dominican Republic<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I JUST <\/b>returned from Arc\u0101theos<\/a>, back to the mortal realm. It was an incredible and powerful week for all of us at this father\/son camp situated at the base of the Canadian Rockies. In the days ahead, I will share with you the thoughts and words which came to me there, as well as an incredible encounter all of us had with \u201cOur Lady\u201d.<\/p>\n

But I can\u2019t pass by this day without commenting on both the Mass readings and a photo that appeared recently on Spirit Daily. <\/i>While I cannot confirm the authenticity of the photo (which was apparently sent from one priest to another), I can confirm the significance of the imagery.<\/p>\n

In the revelations of Jesus to St. Faustina in which He reveals the depths of His Divine Mercy, the Lord often speaks of the \u201cocean\u201d of His love or mercy that He desires to pour out on mankind. One day in 1933, Faustina recounts:<\/p>\n

\n

From the moment I woke up in the morning, my spirit was totally submerged in God, in that ocean of love. I felt that I had been completely immersed in Him. During Holy Mass, my love for Him reached a peak of intensity. After the renewal of vows and Holy Communion, I suddenly saw the Lord Jesus, who said to me with great kindness, My daughter, look at My merciful Heart.<\/i> As I fixed my gaze on the Most Sacred Heart, the same rays of light, as are represented in the image as blood and water, came forth from it, and I understood how great is the Lord’s mercy. And again Jesus said to me with kindness, My daughter, speak to priests about this inconceivable mercy of Mine. The flames of mercy are burning Me\u2014clamoring to be spent; I want to keep pouring them out upon souls; souls just don’t want to believe in My goodness.<\/i><\/b> \u2014Divine Mercy in My Soul, <\/i>Diary, n. 177<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The image she speaks of is the one she had painted according to the vision she saw of Him, where rays of light poured from His Heart.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, as I rode together to speak at a conference with Fr. Seraphim Michelenko, who translated Faustina’s diary, he explained to me that Jesus is looking down, as though He were on the Cross. Faustina later penned this prayer:<\/p>\n

\n

You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.<\/b> \u2014n. 1319<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Faustina clearly linked the Heart of Jesus with the Eucharist. One day after Mass, having felt an “abyss of misery\u201d in her soul, she said, “I want to approach Holy Communion as a fountain of mercy and to drown myself completely in this ocean of love.\u201d [1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. Ibid. n. 1817<\/span><\/span>