Psal 27:14 (KJS) Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Monday, May 16, 2011
St. Margaret of Cortona, III Order (Memorial)
| First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: | Acts 11:1-18 Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4 John 10:1-10 or 10:11-18* If we say less than we should, it is easy to add. But having said too much, it is hard to take it away. -- St. Francis de Sales |
Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/inspiration.htm#16#ixzz1MYGkwte1
Saint Margaret of Cortona
![[Saint Margaret of Cortona]](http://saints.sqpn.com/saintm27.jpg "26kb jpg painting of Saint Margaret of Cortona, artist unknown")
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Farmer‘s daughter. Her mother died when Margaret was seven years old, and her stepmother considered the girl a nuisance. Margaret eloped with a young nobleman from Montepulciano, bore him a son, and lived as his mistress for nine years. In 1274 he was murdered by brigands, and his body dumped in a shallow grave.
Margaret saw the incident as a sign from God. She publicly confessed to the affair, and tried to return to her father‘s house; he would not accept her. She and her son took shelter with the Friars Minor at Cortona. Still young and attractive, Margaret sometimes had trouble resisting temptation, but each incident was followed by periods of deep self-loathing. To make herself unappealing to local young men, she once tried to mutilate herself, but was stopped by a Friar named Giunta.
She earned her keep by tending to sick women. She later began caring for the sick poor, living on alms, asking nothing for her services. She became a Franciscan tertiary in 1277. Margaret developed an deep and intense prayer life, and was given to ecstacies during which she received messages from heaven.
In 1286 Margaret received a charter to work with the sick poor. She gathered others of like mind, and formed them into a community of tertiaries. They were later given the status of a congregation, and called the Poverelle (Poor Ones). With them she founded a hospital at Cortona. Margaret preached against vice of all sorts to any who would listen. She developed a great devotion to the Eucharist and Passion, and prophesied the date of her own death.
Though she worked for those in need, and though the poor sought her help and advice, the calumny of her earlier life followed her the rest of her days, and she was forever the target of local gossips.
Mercy is God's Greatest Attribute
DM 101: Week 2
By Dr. Robert Stackpole, STD (Sep 3, 2005)
WEEK TWO: WHAT IS DIVINE MERCY ?
2. Mercy is the Greatest Attribute of God
The Holy Father wrote in "Dives in Misericordia" (no. 13): "the Bible, Tradition, and the whole faith life of the People of God provide unique proof... that mercy is the greatest of the attributes and perfections of God."
As we shall see later in this course, the Pope was merely reiterating here the teaching of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. But we still may want to know how this can be true. How can any of God's perfections be "greater" than any other? According to the Christian philosophical tradition, and the definition of God given at the first Vatican Council, God is one, simple, spiritual, infinitely perfect act of Being. He does not have "parts" as bodily creatures do. Rather, each of His perfections, such as His love, His goodness, His power, and His wisdom, is just another name for what He is. The Polish theologian Fr. Ignacy Rozycki explained it like this (Pillars of Fire, p.96).
In this sense, all of God's attributes are God, one and the same. For this reason, all are absolutely equal to each other. Divine Mercy is as infinitely perfect as His Wisdom or Power, for it is likewise god, and the same God, just as Divine wisdom and Divine Power are God.
In other words, God does not just do merciful things sometimes, nor does He have a merciful "side" to His character, as a human being might have. On the contrary, He is always and everywhere and at all times merciful. Everything He does is an expression of His Mercy — and of all of His other attributes too, all at once. All of His attributes are eternally in action! But then Fr. Rozycki goes on to write:
"If, on the other hand, mercy is understood in the Biblical sense as functional, then, even though it is called an attribute, it first of all denotes the results of the infinite and eternal love of God in world history, and especially in the history of mankind's salvation. In fact, both hesed (mercy in the Old Testament), as well as eleos (i.e., mercy in the New Testament) signify active manifestations of God's love toward mankind. In the Old Testament the manifestations found their expression in the calling and directing of the chosen people, and in the New Testament they were found in the sending of the Son of God into the world and in the entire work of redemption. This Biblically formulated relationship between love and mercy is expressed by [St.] Faustina in the words: 'Love is the flower, mercy the fruit' (Diary, 948)."
So, if we understand mercy in the Biblical sense, then without any fear of error contrary to the faith, it can be said that mercy is the greatest attribute of God... [in other words] within this Biblical understanding, the results of the activity of merciful love are the greatest in the world and in this respect, mercy surpasses all other Divine attributes.
Another way to express this insight would be as follows: Divine Mercy is supremely manifest in all of God's actions toward mankind, and to show mercy must be the motive and intention behind all of God's actions in the world.
Drawing upon the Biblical words for mercy, and upon the magisterial teachings of Pope John Paul II, therefore, let us try to formulate a clear definition of what we mean by "Divine Mercy."
According to the first epistle of St. John (4:8) "God is love." He is infinite, eternal, self-giving love within His own being, among the three persons of the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. From all eternity, therefore, within His own infinite essence, He enjoys the fullness of love given, love received, and love returned. He enjoyed that fullness of perfect love before He ever made the world — and even if He had never made any world at all, He still would have enjoyed this perfect beatitude of eternal love, for "God is love."
In that infinite, eternal love that He is, in the inner life of the Blessed Trinity, there is no need for "mercy," for there is no "want" or "misery" or "suffering" that needs to be overcome in the Infinitely Perfect Being. What then is Divine Mercy?
Saint Thomas Aquinas defined mercy in general as "the compassion in our hearts for another person's misery, a compassion which drives us to do what we can to help him." Divine Mercy, therefore, is the form that God's eternal love takes when he reaches out to us in the midst of our need and our brokenness. Whatever the name of our need or our misery might be — sin, guilt, suffering, or death — He is always ready to pour out his merciful, compassionate love for us, to help in time of need (Robert Stackpole, Jesus, Mercy incarnate, Marian Press, 2000, p. 112):
"In fact, God's love for His creatures always takes the form of merciful love. As we read in the Psalms (25:10) 'all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth,' and again (145:9), 'His tender mercies are over all His works.'
"When He created the world 'ex nihilo,' therefore, and holds it in being at every moment, it is an act of merciful love: His merciful love overcoming the potential nothingness, the possible non-existence of all things.
"When the divine Son became incarnate and dwelt among us, that was an act of merciful love too: His merciful love in sharing our lot, showing us the way to the Father, and making the perfect offering for our sins.
"When He sends His Holy Spirit into our hearts to refresh and sanctify us, that too is His merciful love: His merciful love pouring into our hearts the power to grow in faith, hope, and love, and to serve him with joy. Psalm 136 says it best; while celebrating all the works of the Lord in creation and redemption, the psalm bears the constant refrain: 'for His mercy endures forever.'"
http://thedivinemercy.org/jpII/dm101.php
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