We compare Divine Mercy to an ocean of grace, but God’s Divine Mercy knows no bounds; the depths of the oceans only hint at the magnitude. Truth of the Spirit with Patti Brunner presents Ocean of Divine Mercy Exploration. This episode includes words of the Lord published in Patti Brunner’s “Lenten Logos” and St. Faustina Kowalska’s “DIARY Divine Mercy in My Soul”. For the script, the audio and the video link please continue reading.
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We compare Divine Mercy to an ocean of grace. The Lord shared with me, “My Child, My Mercy knows no bounds. The depths of the oceans only hint at the magnitude.” The Diary of mystic St. Faustina Kowalska reveals Jesus’ own descriptions of the magnitude of Divine Mercy. In Paragraph 699 of her Diary she heard these words from Jesus, “My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy.”
You are listening to Truth of the Spirit. I’m Patti Brunner. With this episode of Oceans of Divine Mercy Exploration we shall probe the depths of the ocean known as God’s mercy.
St. Faustina was only 7 years old when she first heard the voice of the Lord. She was 25 years old in 1931 when Jesus appeared to her and told her to paint an image according to the pattern she saw, now known around the world as the image of Divine Mercy. She died in 1938 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000 on Divine Mercy Sunday. This wasn’t the ‘beginning’ of Divine Mercy but it spread the wonderful message of God’s Mercy throughout the world.
How do we find God’s Divine Mercy? The Lord put it to me simply when He said to me, “Love is the key to my Mercy. Love for others in need opens the flow of Mercy to those in need for whom you pray.” He said, “There is also a Mercy that flows to the sinner who repents out of Love for the Lord God. The depths of darkness are whisked away when repentance, because of love, is given.” The Lord continued to explain it to me, “Fear of consequences also brings repentance and allows the heart to be open to my grace but it is the love that allows the heart to be washed completely clean in My Mercy.”
The Lord then told me to tell people about this way to receive God’s Divine Mercy:
- Ask with a contrite heart
- Ask with belief in the fullness of God’s power and ability
- Ask for those who cannot ask for themselves
- Ask with a heart most pure: reconcile yourself to God before you ask for favor to receive the fullness of God’s mercy.
- Ask for more than is ‘necessary’.
I pondered why to ask for ‘more than was necessary’ and the Lord told me, “Many choose to ‘get by’ with only what must be done. They attend mass on Sunday but do not comprehend the mystery of the Eucharistic celebration.” The Lord told me, “They baptize their children but are in a ‘fog’ about what they ‘profess’ to believe as they recite the Creed. They look at their watches and wonder when it will conclude so that they may move on to worldly activities. –Yet the Children who have stepped forward to hear my word this day have a desire to move beyond the ‘necessary’.”
The Lord tells us, “Ask for deep spiritual awakening. Ask to be aware each moment of the day of the love and Mercy of your God. Ask for fulfillment of the promises—not just the promises connected to devotion to My Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy,” the Lord says, “but the promises of the new Covenant.” The Lord said, “I have placed my covenant before the people and it lays dormant—the people hold back their hearts and wills from Me. They are afraid to step out in faith.”
The Lord continued, “Ask the Holy Spirit to give you boldness. Let there be a “stepping out”. For the people – all the people of the world – to receive healing today, all that is necessary is for my people to step out in faith in the promise of my covenant: heal the sick, lay hands on them and they will recover.” The Lord said, “All that is necessary for the world to turn to Me is for My People to step out in faith to complete my command: Go forth among the nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
The Lord told me to teach this about Divine Mercy. He said, “My Mercy is available to them. They are like a man adrift upon a raft in the ocean of Divine Mercy. Until you dip your cup into it and partake you will not be refreshed. But to get the fullness of Mercy, you must abandon your raft and enter into that which will save you from all distress.”
The Lord told me, “Seek the grace and the joy of the day—for this is the day the Lord has made! The great “I Am” is giving our generation a day like none have received before. It is uniquely designed for us and for this moment in history. Open your heart to His fullness! The most Holy Spirit descends upon you with gifts of untold wealth in power. Seek the face of Jesus in all that you do, say and see. Know that the Lord God I Am is with you to the ends of the earth and beyond. Call upon the name of Jesus and your prayers will be heard. Come forth for blessings; the blessings are yours for the asking. Then go beyond the desire for blessing to the depth of His Mercy. ”
Certainly the great Feast of Divine Mercy that takes place on the octave of Easter is such a day. In Paragraph 1517 of the Diary Jesus tells St. Faustina, “Say, my daughter, that the Feast of My Mercy has issued forth from My very depths for the consolation of the whole world.” In Paragraph 699 of the Diary Jesus tells St. Faustina, “My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity.” Jesus continued, “The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that I be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy”
Divine Mercy continues to act in our lives by calling us to our Lord God. He tells us over and over, “When you seek me you will find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will always let you find me.” [Jeremiah 29]
The Lord reminded me, “Those who seek God’s Mercy must have repentance in their hearts. Sin shall not overcome the one who longs for reconciliation—no matter how deadly the sin can be—it is tamed by the crown and the branch.”
When the Lord first told me that, I wondered, “The crown and the branch—what does that mean?” Since I had never heard the phrase “the crown and the branch” I pondered this. The world mocked Jesus and gave him a crown of thorns and a branch known as the cross, yet with them He overcame the sin of the world. Then God the Father taught me, “The crown symbolizes that My Son is established as King forever over all the earth. The branch is symbolic too—like the olive branch brought to Noah—this world will no longer be devastated by the effect of sin. Each day of your life you are protected by my Mercy.”
As I continued to research the phrase, I found in the Old Testament, in 1st Maccabees, that sending a crown and a branch to a neighboring king was an act of submission that brought peace. Interesting! As we submit to the authority of Jesus, his peace enters us. Our king is not like earthly rulers because our King protects us from ruin not with destructive weapons but with his Mercy. As long as we choose to be “king” of our own lives we are open to turmoil.
We may have a tendency to think of “Divine Mercy” like a “get out of jail free” card. What we may fail to understand is that it is precisely God’s Divine Mercy that has brought us to this point in our lives and even to listen to this podcast. Our sin so separates us from God that only his Divine Mercy could reconnect us to Him. The cross is God’s Divine Mercy. The cross is the branch that is affecting us this very moment!
The Lord told me, “This Mercy is a gift yet it comes with a responsibility—you in turn must be merciful to others—generous in forgiveness, sensitive in compassion, lenient in judgement. For as I do so I call you to do.”
What is the responsibility for gift of Mercy? Jesus calls us to love others, to imitate his forgiveness, to live by the kingdom principles of forgiveness, compassion, and leniency. To accept mercy for ourselves we must turn our hearts towards others. For if we treat others harshly, if we refuse to forgive, we commit treason against the kingdom of God and we are liable for our actions. Each time we pray the Our Father we ask to be forgiven the same way we forgive others. This could be a dangerous prayer for an unforgiving heart!
Jesus told St. Faustina, “When a soul approaches Me with trust I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls.” That is the Diary paragraph1074. How do we “radiate” God’s mercy to others? Our Lord strongly speaks about this to Sister Faustina: “I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out of love for me.” Jesus told her, “You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse yourself from it.” “I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor,” Jesus said, “the first—by deed, the second—by word, the third—by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy” Diary paragraph 742.
One time I was to speak to my parish on the topic of “Asking for Divine Mercy”. As I was preparing before the Lord, I asked, “What shall I say? Do we take your Mercy for granted? Does our free will form a barrier to Your Mercy? Is it in the asking that opens us to it? Teach me, dearest Lord, that I might instruct your people of your great love for us. The Lord responded to my myriad of questions with “My child, rest in Me.” [repeat:] “My child, rest in Me.” I surrendered, I rested in Him and I had this vision: I saw the arms of the child Jesus reaching out to me from the Eucharist in the Tabernacle. I then saw the Father sitting in a large rocking chair beckoning me to come to Him. As I climbed upon His lap, all my concerns were blurted from my mouth and how I was inadequate and too stupid to meet these needs of my family and others. The Father kept comforting me as I kept surrendering these things to Him. He had me remove my shoes—they were weighted with the chores of the world and he gave me pink fuzzy slippers—shoes of peace to put on so that I would be more comfortable in his lap. My jacket or outer garment was removed and I was in pajamas. He stretched out His hand for me to place all my worries and concerns there. How small they were now! The size of a very small marble! And peace came completely.
The Lord told me something 22 years ago that is meaningful for me every day. He said, “Continue to search for the truth. It is in the truth you will find the Lord Jesus. It is in the love that you will know Him. It is in the giving that you will share Him with others. Jesus has not abandoned you, and He never will.”
I have learned God’s mercy provides the Way for us. It is narrow but it is not boring and it is not constrictive. Our God delights in our use of imagination and designed freewill for the fullness of life. God has been speaking to us for at least 5000 years and providing the tools for us to know him, especially the Bible. We also have teaching by the Church: saints, popes and inspired writers called Doctors of the Church, who continue to widen our understanding and path.
If you have ever gone hiking, you know the ease of following a path made firm by those who go before you. Even in times of personal darkness, if you are on the path you can find your way. If you go off on your own, you can easily get lost. The Church hands us the compass and says, “This is the way of Christ”. Through the Church, Jesus says: “Follow me“. When a particular leader goes astray, those who follow him can be confused. Our separated brothers and sisters in Christ have been denied a portion of the truth because individual leaders took their own path 500 years ago. But if we continually check the map—the Bible—and keep our feet on the main path—Sacred Tradition—and keep our eyes on Jesus we will not be led off course.
The heart of our Truth of the Spirit podcasts is to look to find Christ. As you begin to find Christ and begin to live a Christ-centered life you can then reach out and change the world. The power within must be recognized as the power of Christ. As you recognize the power of Christ through the Cross, “through the Crown and the Branch”, you can start to believe Christ’s love. The power of the Resurrection will draw life from your ashes. It’s all within the Ocean of Divine Mercy.
The Lord said to me, “As your mind is renewed and opened to Me, more and more will My Truth be made clear to you. My Spirit is upon you, teaching you in wisdom and in faith so you may go into the world and teach my people. They thirst for knowledge of me but until their minds are renewed and the world is cast out they cannot know Me. This will change in time. My love conquers all. Those that cooperate with My Spirit will come to understand the meaning of life and death and will come to know the Father’s Glory as they join in communion with the ancients in giving praise to the Father.“
The Lord says to you, “Turn your face to the Lord. Seek his presence in your lives. Reach out to him in prayer and supplication. Continue to walk in His ways; if you do not know the Way, learn it; if you cannot find the Way, ask for help; if you cannot follow the Way, repent. Grace is a communication of God’s love upon your life.”
As we close our time together on this episode, pray with me the prayer from the Chaplet of Divine Mercy:
Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of your sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
If you would like to read the blog of this episode you can find it on my website: PatriarchMinistries.com. You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit with Patti Brunner and the Ocean of Divine Mercy Exploration. I invite you to subscribe—and come back for more. With the Holy Spirit there is always more! Amen.
