March 9, 2020 Reflection – Be Merciful as your Father is Merciful
The Tribunal of Mercy – Confession (c)Mary TV/ Anthony Zubac 2020 March 9, 2020 St. Frances of Rome, Religious Dear Family of Mary! “…Apostles of my love, it is a time of vigilance, and of you I am asking for love, that you not judge-anyone. Because the Heavenly Father will judge everyone….”(March 2, 2020) In our Gospel for today Jesus speaks of mercy and forgiveness to His disciples: Jesus said to his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” (Luke 6: 36-38) I think that we do not yet understand completely the unlimited Mercy of God. Our Lady calls us not to judge, not to limit our love, even for those who have harmed us. She wants us to mirror her Son in all things. And the greatest of these things is His Mercy. St. Faustina understood and glorified Jesus’ Mercy as best she could. Here is a prayer she prayed to Jesus, to make her like Him in Mercy: O Most Holy Trinity! As many times as I breathe, as many times as my heart beats, as many times as my blood pulsates through my body, so many thousand times do I want to glorify Your mercy. I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor. Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors’ souls and come to their rescue. Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors’ needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moanings. Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all. Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks. Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbor. Help me, O Lord, that my hart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me. You Yourself command me to exercise the three degrees of mercy. The first: the act of mercy, of whatever kind. The second: the word of mercy – if I cannot carry out a work of mercy, I will assist by my words. The third: prayer – if I cannot show mercy by deeds or words, I can always do so by prayer. My prayer reaches out even there where I cannot reach out physically. O my Jesus, transform me into Yourself, for you can do all things. (Diary, 163) May we receive the grace to imitate Jesus in His great Mercy and Love for sinners, knowing that we ourselves are sinners who would perish without His Mercy. May the measure we give be the gift of our entire selves, that the measure that we receive will be the unlimited love of Jesus! In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!Cathy Nolan©Mary TV 2020 PS. On March 8, 2020 Daylight Savings time begins in many countries. But it does not begin in Medjugorje until March 29, 2020. So we who change on Sunday, March 8, will have to adjust our schedules in order to view the live programing from Medjugorje. We have a digital clock at the top – right hand side- of our home page at marytv.tv – You can always check to find the time in Medjugorje there. Then you will know what time it is for you locally to tune in for our live programing from Medjugorje.