E&W 5-26-13

Sacred Story

Encouragements & Wisdom: May 26, 2013
Trinity Sunday

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Encouragements and Wisdom: May 26, 2013 (PDF).

E & W reflections are additional helps for your Sacred Story prayer journey. Reflect on them at the beginning of the week or outside of your fifteen-minute prayer windows.

Mercy

In the last two weeks we have examined MERCY as a manifestation of God’s love in response to our sinfulness and weakness. This week we focus on the daily Christian labor of accepting God’s MERCY in light of our own personal sinfulness and failures.

Jesus’ mission was to end death’s reign by the forgiveness of our sins. When we allow ourselves to encounter Jesus as Divine Physician, Redeemer and God’s MERCY for our own sins and failings, we are truly meeting Him. In surrendering our sinfulness to Jesus, who alone can forgive us, we are giving Christ Jesus a gift of great significance. In this act we are truly accepting the reason He lived, died and rose again. There is no greater gift He wants to give to us than to forgive us of our sins. And we should not delay in daily offering our weaknesses and sins to Him for His MERCY. St. Ignatius wanted us to feel the depths of our sinfulness so we would know WHY we need a Savior and why we can’t save ourselves. St. Therese of Lisieux learned to trust God and would scour her life daily to see what new pattern of sin and failing she could offer to God for MERCY and healing.

We spend far too much time justifying our sins and failings and in so doing, we waste the precious gift of MERCY. We must overcome our tendency to justify our sins, and instead learn to throw ourselves on God’s MERCY. Holy Father Francis said in his very first Sunday Angelus message: God never tires of forgiving us. We get tired of asking God for forgiveness. Ask to know your sins and failings. Then ask the Divine Physician to heal you and forgive you. This is why we daily come to the Lord Jesus in our Sacred Story prayer and ask for His MERCY.
 

Lord Jesus, wake us up. Help us to stop justifying our sins and instead, come to you for MERCY so our lives and all our thoughts, words and deeds are shaped by
Your Creation, Presence, Memory, Mercy and Eternity.

When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you set in place —
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?

(Psalm 8: 4-5)

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