Happy Mercy Monday, everyone!
I've decided--in an attempt to live out my New Liturgical Year Resolution of immersing myself in God's mystery of mercy (which is cool, because my household is reading St. Faustina's Diary this year, and "inducting" St. Faustina)--to begin Mercy Mondays.
Basically, providing a lovely, short excerpt from the Diary each Monday. Why? Because the Diary is awesome. And God's mercy is way more awesome. And the Diary can appear super daunting to read, since it's huge (I mean, Jacob and I have been working on it since September, and we're only in the first notebook...).
So here we go!
“Jesus was suddenly standing before me, stripped of His clothes, His body completely covered with wounds, His eyes flooded with tears and blood, His face disfigured and covered with spittle. The Lord then said to me, The bride must resemble her Betrothed. I understood these words to their very depth. There is no room for doubt here. My likeness to Jesus must be through suffering and humility.” (taken from the end of Section 268, Notebook 1)
What is characteristic to any nuptial relationship? Two individuals becoming one.
"For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother [and be joined to his wife],
and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh." (Mk 10:7-8)
And what happens when we receive the Eucharist? The Jesus-Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity (in other words, His Flesh + His Soul and Divinity) is united to ours! We are given the tremendous gift of a nuptial relationship with Christ in the Eucharist. So, what Jesus said to St. Faustina about resembling Him is not simply for her alone. We receive our Bridegroom at Mass, and it is only right that we become images of Him! (incidentally, I find it ironic that I've seen married couples who-in my opinion-have a slight resemblance to each other. Maybe it's just my imagination, but who knows...)
As St. Faustina said, "My likeness to Jesus must be through suffering and humility."
