Seventh Day of the Divine Mercy Novena:

Intention: Today bring to Me THE SOULS WHO ESPECIALLY VENERATE AND GLORIFY MY MERCY, and immerse them in My mercy. These souls sorrowed most over my Passion and entered most deeply into My spirit. They are living images of My Compassionate Heart. These souls will shine with a special brightness in the next life. Not one of them will go into the fire of hell. I shall particularly defend each one of them at the hour of death. Novena Prayers: Most Merciful Jesus, whose Heart is Love Itself, receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who particularly extol and venerate the greatness of Your mercy. These souls are mighty with the very power of God Himself. In the midst of all afflictions and adversities they go forward, confident of Your mercy; and united to You, O Jesus, they carry all mankind on their shoulders. These souls will not be judged severely, but Your mercy will embrace them as they depart from this life.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls who glorify and venerate Your greatest attribute, that of Your fathomless mercy, and who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls are a living Gospel; their hands are full of deeds of mercy, and their hearts, overflowing with joy, sing a canticle of mercy to You, O Most High! I beg You O God:
Show them Your mercy according to the hope and trust they have placed in You. Let there be accomplished in them the promise of Jesus, who said to them that during their life, but especially at the hour of death, the souls who will venerate this fathomless mercy of His, He, Himself, will defend as His glory.
Amen.
Divine Mercy Chaplet

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The Risen Lord and the Gift of Faith

For years I questioned this encounter between Mary and Jesus. Why did Jesus say, "Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to the Father." God, in His faithfulness, has drawn me to understanding the experience. Anthony Lillies has explained this well. I would go even further to say we can have the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and the Ecstatic Union with Jesus. Perhaps only in glimpses, but yet possible as Jesus has now ascended to the Father.

Sincerely,

~Margaret of souls for Jesus

To believe that the Lord is Risen is to believe that He is present in a radical and wonderful way. His powerful presence is accessible only by faith — this is because He has ascended into heaven. Such is the substance of our hope. When we cleave to Him by faith, because His presence is real and personal, He raises us up with Him.

When Mary Magdalene calls out to the Risen Lord, He tells her not to cling to Him because He has not yet ascended to the Father. He sends her — the Apostle to the Apostles — to his Apostles to announce to them the resurrection. His words reveal that someday she will possess Him in a more marvelous way — but He must ascend from the midst of this life first so that this new presence can be known. She will have the fullness of faith when the Holy Spirit descends on her. By the faith the Holy Spirit produces, Mary Magdalene will be raised up to new life – and with that life, she will be able to cling to the One whom she loves — and who loves her even more.

Christian faith is a not self-generated psychological exercise. It is part of the new creation, the new humanity which the Risen Lord has established by His victory. His Gift of the Holy Spirit produces the faith. This is why He ascended into Heaven. The Giver of Life could only descend on us if Christ ascended to His Father.

What a gift faith is! Doubts and difficulties of all kinds might afflict the soul — but the gift of faith is invincible. This loving assent of the will is given if we ask for it in even in trying circumstances. The darkest trials cannot defeat it because it communicates something to the mind which no affliction in this world – no height, nor depth – can shake. In fact, such trials when endured with love, and by love, make faith stronger.

Even though Mary Magdalene cannot yet cling to Him, the faith of the Apostles is stirred by her message. They run to find the empty tomb and encounter the Lord for themselves. They hear His voice and speak to Him. They see His body. They touch his wounds. They eat with Him. But they can not yet cling to Him.

Though He has conquered death, He must leave this world because His Kingdom is not of this world. He must ascend above this life so that the faith of the Apostles in Him will raise them up above this life too. The resurrection was not about any mere restoration of an earthly paradise — it is about access to heaven. This is a new humanity — a humanity with power that exceeds what this world can contain, a humanity which is filled with what is eternal.

What about us, here and now? The Risen Jesus longs for us to be where He is — and He is now ascended, and ascended He reigns at the right hand of the Father. Now we can cling to Him by faith.

Christian contemplation and theology converge on the objective and personal presence of the Risen Lord. By objective, we know He is present to us quite apart from whether we feel or imagine Him. By personal, we know that our faith opens up a real heart-to-heart relationship with Him. This is not fluff — it is the substance of our hope.
This objective and personal faith is not limited to knowing things about the Lord; the Christian faith discloses the mysterious depths of God so that we can really know Him and His great love. To know these depths, to plummet them in prayer, to search them in sacred doctrine — such things raise us up with Him so that we might dwell where He dwells. In all this the fullness of joy is ours, even now in a hidden way, here below the banquet has begun in mystery, and all this as we learn to cling to Him.

Written by Dr. Anthony Lilles. Dr. Lilles now teaches theology for the Avila Institute. He blogs at BeginningtoPray.blogspot.com

Sixth Day of the Divine Mercy Novena:

Intention: Today bring to Me THE MEEK AND HUMBLE SOULS AND THE SOULS OF LITTLE CHILDREN, and immerse them in My mercy. These souls most closely resemble My Heart. They strengthened Me during My bitter agony. I saw them as earthly Angels, who will keep vigil at My altars. I pour out upon them whole torrents of grace. Only the humble soul is capable of receiving My grace. I favor humble souls with My confidence. Novena Prayers: Most Merciful Jesus, You yourself have said, “Learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart.” Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart all meek and humble souls and the souls of little children. These souls send all heaven into ecstasy and they are the heavenly Father’s favorites. They are a sweet-smelling bouquet before the throne of God; God Himself takes delight in their fragrance. These souls have a permanent abode in Your Most Compassionate Heart, O Jesus, and they unceasingly sing out a hymn of love and mercy.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon meek souls, upon humble souls, and upon little children who are enfolded in the abode which is the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls bear the closest resemblance to Your Son. Their fragrance rises from the earth and reaches Your very throne. Father of mercy and of all goodness, I beg You by the love You bear these souls and by the delight You take in them: Bless the whole world, that all souls together may sing out the praises of Your mercy for endless ages.
Amen.
Divine Mercy Chaplet

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Fifth Day of the Divine Mercy Novena:

Intention: Today bring to Me THE SOULS OF THOSE WHO HAVE SEPARATED THEMSELVES FROM MY CHURCH, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. During My bitter Passion they tore at My Body and Heart, that is, My Church. As they return to unity with the Church, My wounds heal and in this way they alleviate My Passion. Novena Prayers: Most Merciful Jesus, Goodness Itself, You do not refuse light to those who seek it of You. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who have separated themselves from Your Church. Draw them by Your light into the unity of the Church, and do not let them escape from the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart; but bring it about that they, too, come to glorify the generosity of Your mercy.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of those who have separated themselves from Your Son’s Church, who have squandered Your blessings and misused Your graces by obstinately persisting in their errors. Do not look upon their errors, but upon the love of Your own Son and upon His bitter Passion, which He underwent for their sake, since they, too, are enclosed in His Most Compassionate Heart. Bring it about that they also may glorify Your great mercy for endless ages.
Amen.
Divine Mercy Chaplet

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