Know someone suffering because of a past abortion? What greater time than Lent to brig the message of God's love & mercy to them!
An Ash Wednesday reflection from "A Journey to Healing Through Divine Mercy" available through Marian Press.
“Thank you, Jesus, for the great favor of making known to me the whole abyss of my misery. I know that I am an abyss of nothingness and that, if Your holy grace did not hold me up, I would return to nothingness in a moment. And so, with every beat of my heart, I thank You, my God, for Your great mercy towards me. “( Diary 256)
Remember You are Dust!
“Remember you are dust. From dust you come and to dust you will return. Repent and believe the gospel.”
I have always considered these words to be striking, and to be honest, ones I did not like to hear. Talk about a wake up call! A reminder of my vulnerability and mortality, and the fact that this life will one day end, and my body will be placed into the ground to decay.
Each year on Ash Wednesday these words echo in my head as the priest makes the sign of the cross on my forehead. It really can be a downer, if not for the fact that I know better things, actually the best things, are yet to come on my demise.
I did not always feel this way. For years I shunned the church, terrified, hiding from my mortality and living in despair because I thought my death would mean eternity in hell. I seemed to place all of the focus on me, instead of on Him, Jesus Christ, and exactly what Lent and His life meant for us.
Lent is a time for sacrifice and prayer. A time to reflect on the ultimate act of love in Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins. It took no act of ours to get Him to do it. He willingly suffered and died so that we could come to know His great love and mercy for us. Through the pain and suffering of the cross, I am now also able to see the tremendous love He has for each one of us. A love that frees us from all of our sins, even the sin of abortion!
“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”
Pope John Paul II
