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March 19, 2007 Feast of St. Joseph
Come to the Father (a reflection by Willy Effinger)
How many times have you looked at the Image of Divine Mercy and felt His rays bathing you in mercy and love? There is yet another message that is hidden in this most wonderful Image. As we have read in Scripture: “Come to Me, you who are burdened and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.” The Lord, as He appeared to St. Faustina, is drawing back His garment in the area of His Heart and pointing towards It as if to say: “Come into My Heart and I will show you the Father's love.” Remember also what Jesus said to Philip, one of His Apostles: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” In other words, he who enters into the Heart of Jesus is with the Father and he who experiences the love of the Son also experiences the Father's love. In order to experience the message of mercy to the fullest, we must learn to come to our Father in Heaven – and the best way is through His beloved Son. God the Father created us in His image and likeness and He wants us to be true children of His, to radiate His mercy and His peace in our daily lives. Before we are ready to throw ourselves into the loving arms of the Father, we must first learn how to acquire true sonship or daughtership. This is where St. Faustina can be our guide; she can show us the way to the Father. Her secret was “love beyond” human understanding. By reading her Diary, we can easily be inundated and affected by her extreme “love beyond” for her Bridegroom. Therefore, she traced out for us the road that we must choose in order to get to the Father. She became the crowning of love, much like St. Theresa, “The Little Flower” who became a shining example of the “little way” of love. Saint Faustina became a “living icon of mercy” and she points the way not only towards the Mother of Mercy, but also to her beloved Spouse St. Joseph, whom we so often forget. St. Joseph can help us to understand the complexity of sonship. As a true son of the Father, he accepted his role whole-heartedly; with complete trust, he said “yes” to the message from the Angel. The moment he accepted his role in the Divine Plan, he became Foster Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, St. Joseph can become a role model for us – a model of total trust, of complete reliance on the Father's love, of unconditional surrender to the Father's will and of total acceptance of the Father's Kingship. This is not, however, where it stops. When we have come there – to the Father's lap, if you will – we have to then accept our sonship before He can change our hearts. In humility and trust, we need to approach and to accept! Then, we can become living vessels of mercy. Like St. Joseph, we have to become “fathers of mercy”, so to speak, to our surroundings. We have to be willing to say “yes” to the call which we inherit with sonship and to give freely of ourselves in order to make the mercy of our Father a reality within us – and to be able to pass it on to others. If we are not willing to accept His mercy, accept this sonship, then we cannot become “fathers of mercy”. We certainly cannot give what we do not have! Don't think for a moment that this is easy. I don't think that it was easy for St. Joseph or for St. Faustina as they accepted many crosses in their lives, as they practised mercy, proclaimed and pleaded for mercy. Knowing and believing in the truth that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are One should make it easier for us to approach the Father since we have already begun to know the Son through His Divine Mercy.
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Romans 9:15)
So, all it takes is a simple “fiat” - just say “YES”! Let Saint Joseph and Saint Faustina take you by the hand and gently lead you, step by step, to sonship or daughtership and beyond!
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