Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Today is the start of the Jubilee Year of Mercy as declared by Pope Francis. Today, we are invited to come to the Throne of Divine Mercy with a repentant heart filled with hope.
Mary, our Mother of Mercy will lead us to her Divine Son, the Mercy of God. Mary is our Mother and we are her children in Christ.
Saint John Paul the Great beautifully explains to us on why Mary is the Mother of Mercy:
Let us entrust ourselves to Mary,
Mother of God and Mother of Mercy.
Mary is Mother of Mercy
because her son, Jesus Christ,
was sent by the Father
as the revelation of God’s mercy.
No human sin can erase the mercy of God,
if only we call upon God.
God’s mercy toward us is redemption.
It reaches its fullness in the gift of the Holy Spirit,
who gives new life and asks that it be lived.
Such is the consoling certainty of the Christian faith.
It can seem that Christian morality is too demanding,
but this is untrue, for it consists in the simplicity of the Gospel,
in following Jesus Christ.
By the light of the Holy Spirit
it can be understood by everyone.
Yet it faces reality in all its complexity
and leads to a better understanding of that reality.
Mary is also the Mother of Mercy
because Jesus entrusted to her from the cross
the whole of humanity.
Mary lived her freedom
by giving herself to God
and accepting God’s gift within herself.
She became the model of all those
who hear the word of God and keep it (cf. Luke 11:28 ),
earning the title “Seat of Wisdom.”
[“Veritatis Splendor” in John Paul II: The Encyclicals in Everyday Language, ed. Joseph G. Donders (New York: Orbis Books, 2005), 241.]
This Wisdom is Jesus Christ himself,
the Eternal Word of God,
who perfectly reveals and accomplishes
the will of the Father (cf. Hebrew 10:5-10).
Mary invites everyone to accept this Wisdom.
To us too she addresses the command
she gave to the servants at Cana in Galilee
during the marriage feast:
“Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5).
Mary shares our human condition,
but in complete openness to the grace of God.
Not having known sin,
she is able to have compassion
on every kind of weakness.
She understands sinful man
and loves him with a Mother’s love.
O Mary,
Mother of Mercy,
watch over all people,
that the Cross of Christ
may not be emptied of its power,
that man may not stray
from the path of the good
or become blind to sin,
but may put his hope ever more fully in God
who is “rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4).
May he carry out the good works prepared
by God beforehand (cf. Ephesians 2:10)
and so live completely
“for the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:12).
Today, I recall the prayer that Mother Mary taught me in a dream. Even though, I could not recall the details of the dream, I remember clearly the simple prayer which consoled me during many moments of darkness in my life. I have shared this prayer with my family and close friends. Today, I would like to share it with the world.
Hail Mary, full of Grace.
The Lord is with you.
Blessed are you amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit
of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of Mercy.
Pray for us, your children,
and embrace us
at the hour of our death.
Amen.
[Prayer received in a dream on 18 April 2005.]
