12th Dublin International Divine Mercy Conference
Held on the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of February 2003 Main Hall RDS. Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
The Theme was "What I want is Mercy, not sacrifice" Matt 9:13
At present we do not have any of the talks available from the 2003 Conference but we do have the excellent article that Gerry Duff wrote for the Conference program booklet.
I Desire Mercy, not Sacrifice.
By Gerard duff M.A. B.A.
This year's conference has taken as its theme a quotation from Mat: 9-13, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice". Reading through the gospel passage, Jesus stresses the importance of mercy to his listeners, saying they need to learn the meaning of the words. However, a little reflection will show us that sacrifice without mercy is an empty gesture marking human actions as cold without love or warmth. It seems strange then, to say that sacrifice is a necessary quality for a compassionate person to have. Sacrifice is what we surrender or let go of, love is the power that helps us to carry out the demands that sacrifices make on us. One of the great saints of our time who understood and lived out the demands of love and sacrifice was Saint Faustina.
In her spiritual writings contained in her diary, she allows us a unique understanding of her interior life, and how Jesus taught her the meaning of mercy. One of the first lessons that Sister Faustina was to learn was that of childlike simplicity. The hallmark of the simplicity she practiced was trust, this would enable her to depend on Jesus for the strength to be able to let go, in this way every action carried out bore the stamp of His will. In order for Sister Faustina to carry out the will of Jesus she first had to die to her own self in reality this means becoming aware of the demands of self and combating them. In order to do this the spiritual virtue she practiced was humility and silence. In silence she came to know her self "I understand and learn many things each day and see that I know very little, and I am constantly discovering faults in my conduct. Still' I am not discouraged by this, but thank God that He deems to grant me His light that I may know myself" (Diary900).
In humility she learned to put her own likes and dislikes aside for those of the will of Jesus and her neighbor, because of the love she received from Jesus she derived the strength to be merciful in all sorts of ways and was able to fulfill the desire of Jesus that she become "transformed into love and then burn ardently as a pure victim of love" ( Diary726). The sacrifice that Saint Faustina made to Jesus is her will; this was necessary to accomplish unity with Jesus and brought her much suffering, but also the readiness to accomplish her mission of mercy for the Lord. Only someone who is willing to live out their lives in mercy could act and speak with the conviction necessary to be able inspire new forms of the devotion and encourage others to the same kind of sacrifice that brings about a genuine spirituality of mercy.
The suffering that we all face is ultimately to let go or be able to sacrifice out of pure love for God and neighbor. However, unless we turn to Jesus and learn how to trust in His merciful love our sacrifices will lack the transformation that brings about their completeness: "Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to my mercy" (Diary300). The act of turning to the Jesus' divine mercy calls for daily conversation of the heart, in practice this means understanding that the heart is understood as the person fully engaged in coming to know one's self through the light of grace. In coming to know ourselves, we consent to accept like Sister Faustina the fact of our own misery. And trust that the mercy of Jesus will save us and grant us the grace to turn away from our sinfulness. The reason that so many of us find it so difficult to do this is because fear robs us of the ability to fully let go or we find that we love something else more then we love Jesus.
This is why Jesus instructed Sister Faustina to inspire new forms of devotion to His mercy. All of the elements of the popular devotion known as the divine mercy at the request of Jesus are to be celebrated on Divine Mercy Sunday. On this day priests are to preach sermons on the mercy of God, the faithful who go to confession and receive Holy Communion will receive "complete remission of sins and punishment". (Diary300) Saint Faustina, was privileged by the grace of God to be able to love and trust like a child, in doing so she was given the task of reminding the world of God's greatest quality, His mercy. She became a child by consenting to sacrifice or let go of her self and allowing Jesus to unite Himself to her in this she availed of every grace that Jesus through the church provided seeing the church as the best of mothers.
It seems right then to ponder the reflections of another child who was asked what he thought love was, five-year-old Mark said:
"God could have said magic words to make the nails fall off the cross, but he didn't. That's love."
It also shows us that sacrifice flows from mercy and not the other way round hence the comment from Mat: 9-13 "I desire mercy, not sacrifice".
Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, Stockbridge, MA 01263. www.thedivinemercy.org Used with permission and gratitude.
