by Katie Patrick
At the Heart of the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy is the simple message of Divine Mercy: “God loves us – all of us. And, He wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy.”
At Catholic Social Services, we embrace our clients in their most vulnerable moments.
A mother who came into our St. Gianna Home had been coping with physical and verbal abuse by using drugs and alcohol. Her daughter inflicted self-harm at the sound of her father abusing the mother, and at her younger brother, who in his tantrums mimicked the violent behavior of his father. The mother’s neglect of her children wasn’t fully realized until she spent several months in our program at St. Gianna Home.
It is through consistent meetings with the Marian Sisters, onsite counseling provided by the Immaculate Heart of Mary Counseling Center, encouragement and support from our program staff, and personal prayer that she asks for God’s mercy. The moment when she approaches Him in prayer, repents of her sins and asks Him to pour His mercy out upon her and on the whole world is the moment we desire for each and every mother in need of His mercy.
A homeless client discreetly enters the chapel at our Lincoln office on ‘O’ Street and sits for hours in the presence of our Lord. This particular client is relatively quiet when he comes for his meals each day. It’s often hard for those living on the streets to build trust with others, but our front desk staff members learn their names and always offer warm smiles when they come.
As I noticed the man in the chapel on that particular day, with his head bent in prayer, I was reminded that we must all ask for God’s mercy in our lives. For God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and on the whole world.
Our thrift store is a place where those often living on limited incomes come to shop. With a fixed amount of money and, at the same time, needs that must be met, tensions can get the better of us when all that one desires to buy cannot be realized in a single shopping trip. We do our best to accommodate their needs with discounts and gift cards, but ultimately it is through mercy that we are able to fully meet their needs. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. Just as God extends His love and forgiveness to us, so must we extend it to others, even when there is anger, confusion, and frustration.
It must be mentioned too that there are the moments, encounters, and clients that we are unable to impact, or so we think. The clients who are asked to leave our programs or facilities because they are abusing the rules and disrespecting others in that space. It hurts to not be able to help someone, but at the same time, we know that we must trust completely in Jesus. Trust that He has a plan better than we can imagine for the salvation of all souls even those that we struggle to connect with and help.
Once again, the message of Divine Mercy is clear and that is that God loves us – all of us. We are called to trust in Him not only those that we are able to exercise mercy with but in particular those that we do not have the chance to see succeed in embracing His mercy for themselves and others. We must trust in Him and with that continue to pray for and be merciful toward all those we encounter, “for the sake of his sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
