Yesterday several of us drove to Holy Disciples Parish in Puyallup where they held a retreat on Divine Mercy, "Come to the Fount of My Mercy!". Two sisters from the same order as Saint Faustina were the speakers. This is the age in which sin is denied and it is also the time when we need to come to Jesus as He is the Fount of Mercy. Jesus appeared to Sister (now Saint) Faustina and asked her to tell everyone of His Divine Mercy.
Sister Confida, OLM, told of a conversation she had with a man on the airplane. His eyes lit up when he saw that she was going to be his seat mate and he asked her (wearing the full habit of her religious order), "Are you for real?" She assured him she was and told him to ask her any question - and in deed he did. He said he was an atheist and they talked for two hours, she telling him many things from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
He said that he might be able to believe if he ever experienced the supernatural - if he ever had a supernatural experience. She asked him, "Have you ever forgiven anyone?" He said, "Yes, I have." And she said, "I mean really forgiven someone who has hurt you deeply, from the bottom of your heart." And he said, "Yes, I have." She said, "Then you have experienced the supernatural, for it is natural for mankind to hold on to grudges, to seek revenge. That is natural. It is supernatural to forgive totally."
Have you experienced the supernatural? Many of you have. Many of you have experienced feeling God's love. A parent holding their new born child for the first time - a feeling of awe, a feeling indescribable - a feeling of love coming from deep within you - this is God's love. Entering a beautiful mountian glen - you stop and stare at the beauty around you and the trees and leaves and flowers just glimmer in their beauty - this is God's love. And the example that Sister Confida gave - being able to forgive.
I know I was deeply hurt by friends in my former parish. I was not going to forgive them, I had a catty remark ready if they came near - but I asked God to help me forgive them. When I went to Church the next day, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit fill me, and when I feel this, it fills me with love. The longer I feel it, the more I feel love for others. At the sign of peace, the person who had hurt me came to me and said, "I'm sorry if I ever hurt you. Will you please forgive me." This love that was within me, just lept out of me, and I hugged this person, and she said later that she was startled by seeing such love come out of my eyes. We became very close friends after that. We both experienced the supernatural that day.
"We have come to know and to believe in the love that God has for us."
1 John 4:16
Sister Confida, OLM, told of a conversation she had with a man on the airplane. His eyes lit up when he saw that she was going to be his seat mate and he asked her (wearing the full habit of her religious order), "Are you for real?" She assured him she was and told him to ask her any question - and in deed he did. He said he was an atheist and they talked for two hours, she telling him many things from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
He said that he might be able to believe if he ever experienced the supernatural - if he ever had a supernatural experience. She asked him, "Have you ever forgiven anyone?" He said, "Yes, I have." And she said, "I mean really forgiven someone who has hurt you deeply, from the bottom of your heart." And he said, "Yes, I have." She said, "Then you have experienced the supernatural, for it is natural for mankind to hold on to grudges, to seek revenge. That is natural. It is supernatural to forgive totally."
Have you experienced the supernatural? Many of you have. Many of you have experienced feeling God's love. A parent holding their new born child for the first time - a feeling of awe, a feeling indescribable - a feeling of love coming from deep within you - this is God's love. Entering a beautiful mountian glen - you stop and stare at the beauty around you and the trees and leaves and flowers just glimmer in their beauty - this is God's love. And the example that Sister Confida gave - being able to forgive.
I know I was deeply hurt by friends in my former parish. I was not going to forgive them, I had a catty remark ready if they came near - but I asked God to help me forgive them. When I went to Church the next day, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit fill me, and when I feel this, it fills me with love. The longer I feel it, the more I feel love for others. At the sign of peace, the person who had hurt me came to me and said, "I'm sorry if I ever hurt you. Will you please forgive me." This love that was within me, just lept out of me, and I hugged this person, and she said later that she was startled by seeing such love come out of my eyes. We became very close friends after that. We both experienced the supernatural that day.
"We have come to know and to believe in the love that God has for us."
1 John 4:16
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