WHAT IS MERCY?
A common adage says that Grace gives what we do not deserve, i.e. Eternal life, while Mercy withholds what we do deserve, i.e. Eternal punishment, but mercy goes much deeper, in that it is the loving kindness of God. Mercy is not only the withholding of punishment, but it is also the act of giving help or having compassion on someone who is afflicted.
Mercy and grace are often confused. While the terms have similar meanings, mercy and grace are not the same. To explain the difference: Mercy is God not punishing us as our sins deserve and grace is God blessing us despite the fact that we do not deserve it. Mercy is deliverance from judgment, while grace is the extension of kindness to the unworthy.
We have all sinned and as a result of that sin, we all deserve death and eternal punishment in the lake of fire. With that in mind, every day we live is an act of God’s mercy. If God gave us all what we deserve as a result of our sins, we would all be, right now condemned for eternity. David cried out to God in Psalm 51:1-2 thus:
A plea to God for mercy is asking Him to withhold the punishment we deserve and instead grant to us the forgiveness we in no way have earned. God does not owe us anything. We don’t deserve anything from Him. Anything good that we experience is a result of the grace of God. Ephesians 2:4-5 explains thus:
Grace is simply defined as undeserved favour. God favours or gives us good things that we do not deserve and could never earn. Rescued from punishment by God’s mercy, grace is anything and everything we receive beyond that mercy. See Romans 3:24.
There are two types of grace namely: common grace and saving grace.
Common grace refers to the sovereign grace which God gives to all mankind regardless of their spiritual level before Him.
Saving grace is that special dispensation of grace whereby God sovereignty gives undeserved divine assistance upon His elect for their regeneration and sanctification.
Mercy and grace are best illustrated in the salvation that is available through Jesus Christ. We deserve punishment, but if we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we receive mercy from God and we are delivered from punishment. Instead of punishment, we receive by grace salvation, forgiveness of sins, abundant life and an eternity in heaven. Our response now should be to fall on our knees in worship and thanksgiving offered to God for His Mercy and grace shown to us.
GOD’s MERCY
Shall we say, then, that God is unjust? Not at all. For He said to Moses, “I will have mercy on anyone I wish; I will take pity on anyone I wish.” So then, everything depends, not on what human beings want or do, but only on God’s mercy. (Romans 9:14-16 TEV)
The mercy of God has its spring in the divine goodness. The first issue of God’s goodness is His kindness, by which He gives liberally to His creatures as creatures; thus has He given being and life to all things.
The second issue of God’s goodness is His mercy, which denotes the ready inclination of God to relieve the misery of fallen creatures. Thus, “Mercy” presupposed sin.
For this perfection of the divine character, God is greatly to be praised. Three times over in as many verses does the Psalmist call upon the saints to give thanks unto the Lord for this adorable attribute. And surely this is the least that can be asked for from those who have generously gained by it. When we contemplate the characteristics of this divine Excellency, we cannot do otherwise than worship and thank God for it. God’s mercy is “great” (1Kings 3:6) “abounding” (Psalm 86:5) “tender” (Luke 1:78), “abundant” (1Peter 1:3 KJV); it is “from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him.” (Psalm 103:17 KJV)
In endeavoring to study the mercy of God as it is set forth in the word, a threefold distinction needs to be made, if the word of truth is to be “rightly divided” there on.
1. There is a general mercy of God, which is extended not only to all men, believers and unbelievers alike, but also to the entire creation:
2. There is a special mercy of God, which is exercised towards the children of men, helping and succoring them, notwithstanding their sins. To them also He communicates all the necessities of life:
3. There is a sovereign mercy which is reserved for the heirs of salvation, which is communicated to them in a covenant way, through the Mediator (Jesus Christ)
Then He adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 10:16-17 NIV)
Explaining further the difference between the second and the third distinctions pointed out above, it is necessary to note that the mercies which God gives to the wicked are solely of a temporal nature, that is to say, they are confined strictly to this present life. There will be no mercy given to them beyond the grave. But at this point, a difficulty may suggest itself to some people who may reason thus: does not the scripture affirm that “His mercy endures forever? (Psalm 136:1)” Two things are involved here:
1. God can never cease to be merciful, for it is of His divine essence (Psalm 116:5)
2. The exercise of His mercy is regulated by His sovereign will.
This is absolutely true, for there is nothing outside Himself which obliges Him to act, if there were, that “something” would be supreme, and God would cease to be God.
It is pure sovereign grace which alone determines the exercise of divine mercy. God reaffirmed this fact in Romans 9:15. It is not the wretchedness of the creature which causes Him to show mercy, God is not influenced by things outside of Himself as we are.
It is because of the tender mercy of our God that Christ was sent to the world (Luke 1:78). The merits of Christ made it possible for God to righteously bestow spiritual mercies on His elect, justice having been fully satisfied by the Saviour!
Let us note how vain is the presumptuous hope of the wicked, who notwithstanding their continued defiance of God nevertheless count upon His being merciful to them. How many are they who say, I do not believe that God will ever cast me into hell; He is too merciful. Such a hope is a viper, which if cherished in their bosoms will sting them to death. God is God of justice as well as mercy, and He has expressly declared that He will by no means clear the guilty. See Exodus 34:6-7.
The fact is that those who neglect the laws of health are carried away by disease, not withstanding God’s mercy. Equally true is it that those who neglect the laws of spiritual health shall forever suffer the second death.
Unspeakably solemn it is to see people abusing this divine perfection. They continue to despise God’s authority, trample upon His laws in sin, and yet presume upon His mercy. But God will not be unjust to Himself. God shows mercy to the truly penitent, but not to the impenitent (Luke 13:3). Christ is the Spiritual Mercy-Seat, and it is wise to accept Him lest He be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for His wrath can flare up in a moment. But blessed are all who take refuge in the LORD (Psalm 2:12).
Therefore, let our thoughts be of God’s Spiritual mercies unto His own people.
The riches thereof transcend our inner most thoughts.
No one can measure it. The elect are designated “vessels of mercy” (Romans 9:23 KJV). It is mercy that quickened them when they were dead in sins (Ephesians 2:4-5 KJV); it is the mercy of God that saves them (Titus 3:5). It is His abundant mercy which begat them unto an eternal inheritance (1Peter 1:3 KJV). Unto His own, God is “the Father of mercies” (2Corinthians 1:3 KJV).
Let’s read about the Divine Mercy of God the Father as revealed to Saint Faustina by our Lord Jesus Christ.
I had to include this because the Spirit of God prompted me to do so. It is taken from the leaflet of the Marian Awareness Apostolate.
In Heaven Jesus still carries the scar of that wound in His Sacred Heart, pierced by the spear of Longinus, which speaks eloquently of the greatest love the world will ever know.
Between 1930 and 1938 Christ appeared to saint Faustina, a sister of mercy in Poland, to re-teach us the story of His love even unto death, and His disappointment in us because of distrust in His mercy and goodness. Sister Faustina’s life was a routine of everyday chores – tending the door, cooking, sweeping, and gardening. Even the closest of her nun companions never guessed God’s predilection for her or knew the wonderful secrets He whispered to her at prayer.
One day in the same year, 1935, saint Faustina wrote for her spiritual director:
“The time will come when this work, which God so commends, will be as though in complete ruin, and suddenly the action of God will come upon the scene with great power which will bear witness to the truth. It will be as a new splendor for the church, though it has been dormant in it from long ago.”
This indeed came to pass. On the 6th of March, 1959, the Holy See, acting on information that was inaccurately presented, prohibited “the spreading of images and writings advocating devotion to the Divine Mercy, in the form proposed by sister Faustina,” As a result, there followed almost twenty years of total silence. Then on the 15th of April, 1978, the Holy See after a thorough examination of original documents previously unavailable to it, completely reversed its decision and again permitted the devotion. The one man primarily responsible for the reversal of decision was Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, the Archbishop of saint Faustina’s home diocese of Cracow. On October 16, 1978 he was elevated to the see of Peter as Pope John Paul II. God is indeed mysterious and wondrous in his ways!
On October 5, 1938, a young religious by the name of sister Faustina (Helen Kowalska) died in a convent of the congregation of sister of our Lady of Mercy in Cracow, Poland. She came from a very poor family that had struggled hard on their little farm during the terrible years of World War I; sister had only three
years of very simple education. Hers were the humblest tasks in the convent, usually in the kitchen or the vegetable garden, or as porter.
On February 22, 1931 as saint Faustina relates the experience: “I saw Jesus dressed in a white garment. He held one hand raised in blessing and with the other, He was touching the garment at the breast.
From under the garment came two rays of light, one red, and the other pale.”
As she knelt motionless, immersed in cross current of joy and fear, our Lord spoke: “Paint a picture according to the vision you see and with the inscription: “Jesus, I Trust in Thee.” I desire that this picture be venerated first in your chapel and then throughout the whole world.”
This apparition of Jesus King of mercy repeated itself several times. Her confessor advised her to ask for an explanation of the red and white rays. She did and was instructed.
“The rays on the picture represent the blood and water which gushed forth the depths of my mercy when My agonizing Heart was opened on the cross. The pale rays symbolize the water, which justifies the soul; the red rays represent the blood, which is the life of the soul. These rays shield the soul before the wrath of My Father. Fortunate is he who lives in their shelter, for the just hand of God will never reach him.”
He then gave her a short prayer and told her to recite it often: “O Blood and Water, which has gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in Thee.”
St. Faustina looked deep into Merciful pierced Heart of Christ and wrote in her diary: “The Lord permitted me to see the immensity and greatness of His Mercy. If only souls could realize how much God loves them! All comparison, no matter how strong and touching is only a pale shadow of the reality.”
Jesus confirmed her statement many times, and pleaded for the return of sinners – great sinners. He told sister: “Write, the greater the misery the stronger the right to mercy. Summon all souls to confidence in the incomprehensible abyss of My Mercy for I desire to save all. The well of Mercy was opened wide with a lance on the cross for all souls. I do not exclude anyone.”
Again and again and again our Lord came to saint Faustina and repeated His invitation to sinners, assuring them of His open arms. “Know, My daughter, that My Heart is Mercy itself. From this sea of Mercy graces pour out upon the whole world. No souls that come to Me departs without being comforted. All misery vanishes in My Mercy; and every grace, redemptive and sanctifying, stems from this source.”
On another occasion Christ complained of our own weak, cold love and trust in Him. “Distrust of souls tears at My bosom. The lack of confidence in chosen souls hurts Me most. Despite My inexhaustible love, they do not trust Me!”
It seems our Lord had a word, too, for our times. As peace, hopes fade, floods rampage, strikes threaten and the whole world continues to be unsettled, His words to saint Faustina take on a deeper meaning. “Tell ailing mankind to draw close to My Merciful Heart and I will fill it with peace… Mankind will not find solace until it turns with confidence to My Mercy.”
In order to bring about this all out conversion to the Mercy of God, our Saviour offered some aids to the end. Four were specifically mentioned: the Picture, the Feast of Mercy, the Chaplet and the Novena.
At the first apparition our Lord instructed St. Faustina to paint a picture with the words: “JESUS I TRUST IN THEE.” At first she tried to sketch it herself. She was no artist and failed. After many trials, someone was found who could and did paint it. Saint Faustina was disappointed for it did not show our Lord as He appeared to her – so full of goodness and kindness. But what artist could ever paint such a picture? She complained to Christ, but He said it would do. Bernadette of Lourdes and Lucia of Fatima had the same disappointment when the sculptor tried to portray our Lady. Our Lord desired the picture to be venerated and attached a promise to it: “I promise that the soul that will venerate this picture will not perish. I further promise to that soul victory over its enemies already here on earth and especially in the hour of death. I Myself, shall defend that soul as My own glory… I SHALL PRESERVE THE CITIES AND HOMES IN WHICH THIS PICTURE SHALL BE FOUND”
Concerning these promises of protection, both spiritual and physical, the important thing is not the picture, but the trust of the soul in God’s promise attached to it. The picture only serves as an instrument to remind the soul to place all its confidence in God and His Mercy – not in itself.
A most unusual aspect of the Mercy message is the promise of physical protection, contained in the words: “I shall preserve the cities and homes in which this picture shall be found.” One of the main reason we are able to spread this message today, is because of the indisputable proof God gave to this remarkable promise.
He told saint Faustina there was coming a new and more terrible war for the world (the second world war), and that Poland would suffer much for its sins. But He also told her He would spare those cities where His picture of mercy would be publicly venerated. Only in Cracow and Vilno was official ecclesiastical approval granted to spread the message, and to display a copy of the picture for public veneration – before Poland was invaded by the Nazis in September 1939.
Saint Faustina died October 5, 1938. The following year, the Second World War began. Both Cracow (population 650,000) and Vilno (population 400,000) should have been destroyed or at least badly damaged, like Warsaw and practically every other major Polish city. Yet, many eye-witnesses, who later came to America, testify that although both the Germans and the Russians invaded Poland and caused frightful destruction everywhere, particularly in Warsaw and the larger cities, these two were spared and suffered little or no damage. There was no logical or natural reason for this. But God had promised to spare those cities, where His picture of Mercy was publicly venerated. Since this was done, the message spread in both these cities. God kept His promise and spared Cracow and Vilno.
However, since God wants His mercy to be spread to everyone, it would seem obvious that He did not make the promises of protection for Poland alone. Perhaps He gave this proof as a sign of the protection He will provide for you and me in the days of His wrath, which He says will one day come upon the world. This does not mean that each home with the Mercy picture will necessarily be spared physical destruction. But it does mean that God will provide whatever protection is necessary – spiritual or material, as the case may be – according to His Holy will, for those who trust in His Mercy in their homes.
On September 13, 1935, Saint Faustina saw an angel, depicted to her as the executor of God’s wrath. In his hands were lightning bolts and thunder. She understood the angel was about to visit a certain place on earth and mete out punishment to its inhabitants. Our Divine Saviour had made sister Faustina’s heart after His own merciful one and she was sorrowful and begged the angel for mercy. But somehow she realized that her poor prayers were without power to appease the wrath of God. Then suddenly the Holy Trinity was manifested, and at the same time the sister heard these words:
Wonder of wonders, as she repeated the worlds over and over; the angel was powerless to mete out the punishment. The next day while going into the chapel she heard once again: “As many times as you enter the chapel, immediately recite the prayer I taught you yesterday.” She recited it at once and the voice spoke again: “This prayer is given to appease the wrath of God. You will recite it for nine days on the usual part of the Rosary (five decades) in the following manner.”
The following day an inner voice taught her to say this prayer on ordinary rosary beads: “First say one ‘OUR FATHER’, ‘HAIL MARY’ and ‘I BELIEVE.’
Then on the large beads say the following words:
‘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.’
On the smaller beads you are to say the following words:
‘FOR THE SAKE OF HIS SORROWFUL PASSION HAVE MERCY ON US AND ON THE WHOLE WORLD.’
In conclusion you are to say these words three times:
‘HOLY GOD, HOLY MIGHTY ONE, HOLY IMMORTAL ONE, HAVE MERCY ON US AND ON THE WHOLE WORLD.’”
Jesus said later to saint Faustina: “SAY UNCEASINGLY THIS CHAPLET THAT I HAVE TAUGHT YOU. ANYONE WHO SAYS IT WILL RECEIVE GREAT MERCY AT THE HOUR OF DEATH. PRIESTS WILL RECOMMEND IT TO SINNERS AS THE LAST HOPE. EVEN THE MOST HARDENED SINNER, IF HE RECITES THIS CHAPLET EVEN ONCE, WILL RECEIVE GRACE FROM MY INFINITE MERCY. I WANT THE WHOLE WORD TO KNOW MY INFINITE MERCY. I WANT TO GIVE UNIMAGINABLE GRACES TO THOSE WHO TRUST IN MY MERCY.”
Our blessed Lord also gave saint Faustina a Novena to His mercy. She was to start it on Good Friday, that wonderful day when Christ first revealed how merciful and loving He was by dying for us. Sister Faustina wrote in her diary that she began the novena for “the conversion of the whole world that they may recognize God’s mercy and that all souls may sing of His Goodness.” Jesus said: “I desire the confidence of My creatures… Let not even the weak and sinful fear to approach Me, even though their sins be numerous as the sands of the earth all will vanish in the fathomless pit of My mercy.”
She received definite instruction on how to make this novena. “During these nine days I want you to lead souls to the fount of My mercy, in order that they may draw from it strength, refreshment, and all the graces they need in the trials of their lives, especially in the hour of death. Each day you will lead a different group of souls and immerse them in the sea of My mercy. Each day you will beseech the Father through My bitter passion for graces for these souls.”
Saint Faustina, however, did not know how to make the novena, or what souls to lead first to the Sacred Heart.
He taught her:
“On the first day bring especially sinners; on the second day, the souls of priests and nuns; on the third day, the faithful and the pious; on the forth, the pagans and those who do not know Him; on the fifth, the separated brethren; on the sixth, the humble and weak, as well as the souls of children; on the seventh, those who especially adore and honour His mercy; on the eighth, the souls in Purgatory; on the ninth, the lukewarm and indifferent.”
Our Lord had something to say about these last souls, the lukewarm and indifferent. “The sight of these caused My soul untold grief and anguish in the Garden… the last hope of salvation for them is to seek refuge in My mercy.”
This novena can be made at any time, but our Lord especially wished that it be made beginning Good Friday in a preparation for a Feast He was to tell her about: the feast of His mercy, which should be celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter.
“My daughter, speak to the world of My inexhaustible mercy. I desire that the feast be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, especially for poor sinners. The very depths of My mercy will be opened on that day. I will pour out a sea of graces upon those souls that will approach the fount of My mercy.
THE SOULS THAT WILL GO TO CONFESSION AND COMMUNION (ON THAT DAY) WILL OBTAIN A COMPLETE REMISSION OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. Let no soul fear to come to Me, even if its sins be as scarlet. This feast emerged from the bosom of My mercy and is found in the depths of My mercies. I desire that it be celebrated with great solemnity on the first Sunday after Easter”
According to this great promise, Jesus is offering all souls a chance for a new “baptism” each year, giving everyone an opportunity to “wipe the slate clean.” Such a soul, taking advantage of this great offer in all sincerity and with proper contrition, dying after receiving Holy Communion, and before committing another sin, would go immediately to Heaven, without any stop in Purgatory – regardless of past life.
There seems to be no other meaning to this promise of our Lord. Such is the unbelievable and little understood tender love and mercy of God for poor sinners.
It will probably be some time before the church will publicly institute such a feast, for as an ever wise and cautious mother, the church must study those things from all angles, in order that in the end God’s glory may be even more manifest. However, in the meantime, we may observe this feast privately.
Exhorting them to hasten to Him before it is too late He says: “Write, before I come as the just one, I first open wide the gates of My mercy. He who does not want to pass through the gates of mercy will have to pass through the gates of justice.” Then He permitted her to see the enormity of man’s sins. She was frightened at their hideousness, and asked God how He could suffer such terrible insults.
“I have eternity for the punishment of these. Now I prolong the time of My mercy. But woe to him who does not recognize the time of My visitation. You are obliged not only to write and proclaim My mercy, but also to implore graces for sinners, that they, too may praise My mercy.”
Another time He said: “My daughter, the flames of mercy burn Me. I desire to pour it out on human souls. O what pain they cause Me when they will not accept it!”
Our Blessed Mother and Queen appeared to saint Faustina too. On the Feast of the Annunciation in 1936 Mary said to her: “I gave the world a Saviour. You must proclaim His mercy to it and prepare the world for His second coming. He will then come not as a Merciful Saviour, but as a Just Judge. It will be a day of horror, resolved to be the day of Justice – the day of the wrath of God. Angels tremble before it… Speak to souls of this great Mercy, while there is still time. If you remain silent now, you will have to account for a great number of souls on that final day. Fear nothing. Be faithful to the end.”
From the warnings, and those given at Fatima, it would seem there are two different punishments in store for humanity:
1. War, physical suffering, bloodshed and persecution. How much of this takes place will depend on the prayers, sacrifices and reparation we give our Lady while we are still able to do so in these days ahead. We can prevent this type of catastrophe completely if only we would.
2. An individual punishment from Heaven for the forces of evil. This would seem to precede the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary – for there can be no triumph so long as these forces of evil are free to continue their efforts to destroy God’s church and souls.
Saint Faustina died on October 5, 1938. Her time to work for God’s Mercy on earth came to an end. Now it is up to us to tell sinners about the love and mercy of the Sacred Heart. Our Saviour left us a promise, too, if we would. He said to sister Faustina, “I protect, as a mother does a child, the souls that promote the devotion to My Mer