Can We Even Imagine The Boundless Mercy Of God?
I think that at the end of our lives, we'll all find out just how great God's love and mercy are.
And that is why many of those we think who were lost would be found, repenting of their sins, allowing Jesus Christ to embrace them at that last moment. Just when hell itself is in view, heaven is opened, and all may come if only we could let the Divine Mercy accomplish His work in us.
This is our hope.
For ourselves, and for our departed loved ones. For those who died in terrible grief and darkness. For all who left this life without knowing how it even feels to be loved.
Not that we should step back in proclaiming God's salvation. And it's not as though hell could never be a choice for those who stubbornly refuse God's salvation.
But we should have faith in God's mercy more. We should not be swayed by thoughts of a God who does not care for His children.
Jesus Himself told us about the Father who waits even for the prodigal son who wasted everything and disregarded his true inheritance. The Father who rejoices for His son's return and tells everyone else to celebrate with Him. For His son who had long been lost has finally been found!
“God’s mercy sometimes touches the sinner at the last moment in a wondrous and mysterious way. Outwardly, it seems as if everything were lost, but it is not so. The soul, illumined by a ray of God’s powerful final grace, turns to God in the last moment with such a power of love that, in an instant, it receives from God forgiveness of sin and punishment... Although a person is at the point of death, the merciful God gives the soul that interior vivid moment, so that if the soul is willing, it has the possibility of returning to God.” -St. Faustina (Divine Mercy In My Soul, 1698)
To Look Using God’s Own Eyes
To Look Using God’s Own Eyes
I pray I could learn
to look at people,
the way God sees each one of us –
to be able to forego the little mistakes,
maybe even the big ones…
to be able to see weaknesses
turned into strength,
to know something’s hurting
and yet know that the hurt
would be healed in time…
to look beyond judgment,
to see with an understanding heart,
to see what’s beautiful,
to appreciate what’s good,
to not measure anybody’s destiny
with their present plight…
but to see real hope for everyone
the way God sees us…
To know that orphans
have their Father
To know that those imprisoned
have One who will set them free
To see how the poor
will one day bask in God’s abundance
To see the brokenhearted
in days when God Himself
will cradle them upon His lap
To be able to see with God’s own eyes
is to see with gladness,
with hope,
and with a love so strong
it could never ever fail!
Jocelyn Soriano is the author of 366 Days of Compassion.
“The deepest wounds of the soul are healed only by compassion... People do not merely need to be clothed, they need to be embraced with love. A love that enters into their own fears and frailty, a love that suffers with them and stays with them through their darkest hour.”
