What is Your Script?
As I started the current new year of teaching religious education I made the usual review of incoming students’ past behavior and other issues. I was warned about one boy in particular who had past behavior issues. When I spoke with the boy in class, he told me that he ” was always getting into trouble” and that ” That’s just how I am”. It became clear to me that this boy had somehow developed the self-identity as a problem and that this label was the only one he knew how to embody. I confronted him and rejected that label, telling him in no uncertain terms that he would be one of my best students by the middle of the year, which he has become. Two other boys are showing similar issues which I hope to resolve in a similar fashion by the end of the year in May.
As I thought about what happened with the first boy in the past 5 months, I realized that Our Lord’s Divine Mercy works in just the same way with us. As weak, defective human beings who have fallen too many times to count in the past, we can consciously or subconsciously embrace the labels of being hopeless sinners not worth the effort. Oh, we may play the game of going to confession and trying to be better, but deep inside we may very well have given up on ourselves. One way or the other, we may see ourselves as some old car that we do not want to get rid of and keep fixing, expecting to eventually throw in the junk heap.
We All Need Repairs and Maintenance
In that context, we may see Our Lord as the ultimate auto mechanic and Divine Mercy as the fundamental service guarantee. As long as we care enough to keep bringing in our jalopy to confession in a sincere effort to keep it running as God wants it to run, Our Lord will keep helping us out. We must bring the car in and we must sincerely want to fix it, however. God will give us roadside assistance at times and by His discretion, but ultimately we have to bring our jalopy in for service.
Reading the Right Script
In a sense, we are all actors as Shakespeare so famously stated. We choose our roles and our scripts in this life. We can be the true follower of Christ and follow the script that goes with that. On the contrary, most of us very often choose what we consider more interesting or juicy roles as villains, troublemakers, pretentiously self-obsessed snobs, manipulators of people etc. Sooner or later, however, those latter roles will only lead us away from God and to the ultimate off-Broadway production of Dante’s Inferno. Sometimes, we play such roles so much that we can typecast ourselves into oblivion.
Divine Mercy is the way to break that destructive pattern. It allows us to break the scripts in our lives which prevent us from reaching out yet again to God when we need to. The devil wants us to give up as Judas did, but we must love and seek God with such sincerity despite our imperfection that we are able to break out of the scripts that bind us. Armed with this beautiful gift of Divine Mercy, then, we will always be given the opportunity to rewrite our life scripts.
2017 Gabriel Garnica
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Gabe you may enjoy reading this as it relates to divine Mercy
Is an act of humility too much to ask?
I have read
“At this moment in time the church has two sails that are blowing in the opposite direction causing great
discord within the Church. On the Right: an extreme conservative wind wanting
to blow our boat back to the becalming out-of-date swamp of pre-1962. On the
Left: an extreme liberal wind wanting to blow our boat into rapids where faith
and morals are thrown overboard”.
But we can go forward in UNITY OF PURPOSE by hoisting a third sail one
of Humility, the true (only) sail that the Holy Spirit blows upon, bringing
arrogance to its knees and folly does not have to be appeased.
Is the true Divine Mercy Image an Image of Broken man?
Pope Francis says we need be a Church of mercy and so we do, but more
importantly we need to be a humble Church, as Gods Mercy received in humility
guarantees spiritual growth, which wells up into eternal life.
I agree with the four cardinals in that this statement from
Veritatis Splendor “conscience can never be authorized to legitimate exceptions
to absolute moral norms that prohibit intrinsically evil acts by virtue of
their object” as God’s Word (Will) is inviolate. Individual we can only stand
before His Divine Mercy in humility as we can never justify sin.
I all so agree with this statement by Pope Francis “the Eucharist
‘is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for
the weak”. It’s the sick and supplicant who need the doctor, not the well and
the righteous”.
How can the two statements be reconciled “With God all things are
possible” as only God can square the circle.
Throughout history God has made His Will know to mankind through
his Saints, Spiritual leaders and Prophets. And at crucial times His Will has
be revealed in a way that that cannot be misunderstood by His people.
God’s Word (Will) given to Sister Faustina
“Paint a picture according to the vision you see and with the
inscription: “Jesus, I Trust in Thee.”
The Divine Mercy Image that the Church displays today is an
affront to God, instigated by nationalistic pride and those who would pacify
the powerful it has nothing to do with humility.
As The true Divine Mercy Image is an Image of Broken Man
“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”
Sr. Faustina acted immediately in singular (pure) intent; no one else
can paint this picture, as no one else can SEE what she saw. The picture she
painted, sketched, (no matter how badly) must be venerated and no other, to do
so knowing it is not the painting commanded by God (His Word is inviolate) is
to commit blasphemy.
The Church acknowledges that Sr Faustina received a direct visual
and verbal request to “paint an Image according to the vision you see” God’s
Word is Inviolate this is our most fundamental belief and sits at the base of
all the Sacraments. His Word is not open for debate it cannot contradict itself
and must not be touched by man, it is impossible for it to be God’s Word (Will)
and not His Word (Will) at the same time.
For clarity the church teaches that divine revelation ended with the
apostles.
The visual and verbal request given by God to Sr. Faustina may not be an
additional revelation but it is a communiqué endorsed by the Church that
incorporates the direct Word (Will) of God and for that reason it is binding on
the Church in that the true image painted by Sr. Faustina (one of Broken Man)
must be venerated and no other.
Sister Faustina was very poorly educated and it is fair to assume
that if her superiors had accepted her painting as they should have done (they
would have known that Gods Word is inviolate) she would have also. Earthly
hands violated Gods Word to fit their own earthly vision of goodness as they
could not accept the reality that they were been asked by God to show human
weakness.
Any revelations after the first revelation now must be considered
suspect, as from that time onwards earthly hands were distorting the Word
(Will) of God.
Sister Faustina was uneducated coming from a very poor family with
only three year’s very basic education. Hers were the humblest tasks in the
convent. She was very innocent and trusting we can deduce this because after
her first vision she immediately attempted to paint Jesus herself and for this
reason I believe her vision was genuine and received in total trust.
Her diaries reflect a particular
culture and type of devotion at a particular time in the Church but are more in
keeping with those who would propagate such devotions. We need to look at her
spiritual advisor Fr Michal Sopocko who appears to have overseen her diaries
and commissioned the first fraudulent image of Divine Mercy, and in doing so
violated her trust in God.
The Church has acknowledged that the Word (Will) of God had been given
to her, its actions confirm this, we have a picture in God’s House, with the
words “Jesus I trust In thee” But the picture is not the one commanded by God,
it is a worldly image of goodness, it pertains to the senses and is made in
man’s own image, it has nothing to do with Trust.
The present Divine Mercy Image is a self-serving
IMAGE of Clericalism, definition of CLERICALISM: a policy of maintaining or
increasing the power of a religious hierarchy. Their actions show that they did
not trust in His mercy and were only concerned with a worldly image of
goodness, the very same problem which has led to the cover up of the on-going
child abuse scandal and refusal to acknowledge its historical culture within
the Church emanating from Rome.
The original picture by Sister Faustina in its brokenness relates to
spiritual beauty (goodness) as it pertains to humility. The pure (humble) in
heart shall see God The True Divine Mercy image calls for the leadership of the
Church to give account for themselves, before God and mankind while at the same
time healing so many past and on-going injustices.
To do this the elite within the Church need to act out these instructions
given by Jesus Christ to His Church
“I desire that this picture be venerated first in your chapel and then throughout the world “
Commencing in Rome by recapturing (Staging) the original ceremony by
displaying the present self-serving blasphemous Divine Mercy Image an image of
Clericalism, then remove (Destroy) it publicly and re-place it with the true
image an Image of Broken Man and in humility venerate it in a symbolic way that
cannot be misunderstood by mankind, then re-enact this action with the help of
the bishops throughout the whole Church (World).
If this were to happen a Transfiguration would
occur within the Church at this moment in time that would resurrect the true
face of Jesus Christ, a face that reflects Truth and humility before all those
she is called to serve in love and compassion. From this base one of humility
before God the Church can proceed to tackle many of her on-going
problems/dilemmas as it would permit the Church to give access to the Sacrament
of Holy Communion (Spiritual Food) to all baptised Catholics who for whatever
reason apart from the sin against the Holy Spirit, who presently cannot receive
the Sacrament of Reconciliation the means to do so.
As an example; To those in second relationships,
permit them to partake in Holy Communion in making a public acknowledgement of
their need of God’s Divine Mercy just prior to receiving the Eucharist by
venerating the true Image of Divine
Mercy an image of Broken Man, saying these words from the heart publicly
“Jesus I Trust in You”
Then as the recipient approaches the priest for communion after his /her
public confession the priest could say (or words to the effect of) “Welcome to
the path/way of salvation/confession/reconciliation receive The body of Christ”
in doing so acknowledging the on-going commencement to receiving the full
sacrament of Reconciliation, by doing so His outward sign of inward grace His
Divine Mercy is manifest at that moment in time as having been given by God
Himself to the recipient before His Church (People/Faithful) full absolution
has not given by the Church as they dwell in His Divine Mercy as he/she returns
to his/her sinful situation (Entanglement with evil) but a journey of HOPE in
that spiritual growth has commenced, this must be clearly understood by the
laity in regards to the indissolubility of marriage.
The need for the teaching on birth control in Humanae Vitae can also be
strengthened by encouraging the laity who practices it, to acknowledge it
openly before the Church in accepting their own human frailty, before partaking
of the bread of life in Venerating The True Image of Divine Mercy an image of
broken man, a reflection of themselves before God in the Eucharist. In
acknowledging their dependence on His Mercy they give glory to our Father in
heaven in bearing witness to the Truth, teaching others by their example to
serve the Truth and walk in humility before our Creator and in doing so
encourage all to confront that which enslaves mankind, our own sinfulness.
“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 world “
This is a missionary call instigated by our Lord to
the whole Church to Evangelizing through the action of Humility, a disarming
action in its honesty, that embrace all in its simplicity, as we encounter our
brothers and sisters who stand and seek
direction at the crossroads (Difficulties) of life.
kevin your brother
In Christ
“Divine Mercy is the way to break that destructive pattern”
Gabe, I have a long Post in the link below that deals with The True Divine Mercy Image
an Image of Broken Man. Perhaps you would consider reading it.
https://acireland.ie/amoris-laetitia-the-joy-of-love-reviewed-by-aidan-hart/#comment-10034
kevin your brother
In Christ