Three Ways to Give Mercy to Others

I ask God a lot for “mercy.”   I trust a lot in “God’s Mercy.”   Without it, I know I would perish.  

How often am I willing to give the same mercy I ask God for, to others?

How do I do it?

Jesus told St. Faustina, “I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me./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:/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.”

We see a lot in this conversation between Jesus and St. Faustina, don’t we?

One of the things which hit me was the word “demand.”  Jesus does “demand” mercy from us to others. 

I love that He said, “Our deeds of mercy are to arise out of love for Him.” 

All of our deeds of mercy should not come from any other source, but “our love for Him.”

Jesus also told her, “Not to excuse ourselves or shrink away from giving mercy to others.”

I have really been guilty of this in my life, especially when it comes to the mercy of forgiveness, when someone has hurt me.  

I did not so “excuse myself” from it, but boy did I every “shrink” from it.  If I could just hold on to that anger and resentment for a few more days, who was it going to hurt?   At least I would get my point across, by maybe not speaking to them for a week, or doing something nice for them such as a prayer or deed?

Do not even expect a “word” to come out of my mouth to them, much less a “kind” one! 

I never think about in these moments if I would let lose of that pride, anger, and resentment, long enough to just do one of these act’s of mercy, how I would glorify and give reverence to the mercy of Christ?  How it would show Jesus, how much I love Him?

“Deed, “word,” and “prayer.”  Three simple things Jesus asked me to do.  I do not even have to do all three of them at once!  If I would just do one of them???

Let someone hurt me, and they are the hardest three things for me to accomplish.  It is so much easier to be mad and puffed up like a balloon, until a pin is stuck in me, and I pop!

When hurtful emotions begin to govern our lives, the one emotion which is so hard to accomplish is an act of “mercy.”  Especially, when it comes to giving and sharing it to/for the one who has hurt us.

The devil loves to keep us in these “hurtful emotions,” as long as we are willing to stay there.  I know some who have stayed there for a lifetime.

The most “non-hurtful” emotion we can have is our “love for Christ.” 

If we make that our “priority,” then our souls should desire to give glory and reverence to His Mercy, by giving a good “deed,” “word,” or “prayer,” to/for another.

God Bless, SR

Excerpts taken from:

Divine Mercy in My Soul

Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska