Please read the Free E-Book Covenant of Mercy and Blessing. It is found on the right hand column under the pages section. Feel free to copy it to your computer and share it with as many others as you want. If this site is a blessing to you please share it with at least 10 others and help with our vision of spreading Devotion to the Divine Mercy and Grace of Jesus and helping 3 million new people start praying the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and the Stations of the Cross daily. Your prayers and gifts are greatly appreciated in this effort. Thanks, Todd
Monday, January 10, 2011
Hebrews 1:1-6
Psalm 97:1-2, 6-7, 9
Mark 1:14-20
If I saw the gates of Hell open and I stood on the brink of the abyss, I should not despair, I should not lose hope of mercy, because I should trust in You, my God.
-- St. Gemma Galgani
Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/inspiration.htm#3#ixzz1AeeN1aKu
http://www.youtube.com/user/EWTN
St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 330-395)
The son of two saints, Basil and Emmilia, young Gregory was raised by his older brother, St. Basil the Great, and his sister, Macrina, in modern-day Turkey. Gregory's success in his studies suggested great things were ahead for him. After becoming a professor of rhetoric, he was persuaded to devote his learning and efforts to the Church. By then married, Gregory went on to study for the priesthood and become ordained (this at a time when celibacy was not a matter of law for priests).
He was elected Bishop of Nyssa (in Lower Armenia) in 372, a period of great tension over the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. Briefly arrested after being falsely accused of embezzling Church funds, Gregory was restored to his see in 378, an act met with great joy by his people.
It was after the death of his beloved brother, Basil, that Gregory really came into his own. He wrote with great effectiveness against Arianism and other questionable doctrines, gaining a reputation as a defender of orthodoxy. He was sent on missions to counter other heresies and held a position of prominence at the Council of Constantinople. His fine reputation stayed with him for the remainder of his life, but over the centuries it gradually declined as the authorship of his writings became less and less certain. But, thanks to the work of scholars in the 20th century, his stature is once again appreciated. Indeed, St. Gregory of Nyssa is seen not simply as a pillar of orthodoxy but as one of the great contributors to the mystical tradition in Christian spirituality and to monasticism itself.
As I post this today. I have to seek mercy for myself and give it to others. We just received a car bill $1400 higher than the estimate and did not receive a call asking permission to do the work. I was very angry and now need to forgive so I can be forgiven. It is a choice and sometimes obedience seems hard, but we can not please Him unless we are obedient.
Works of Mercy
Be Merciful as Your Father is Merciful
We are not only to receive the mercy of God, but to use it by being merciful to others through our actions, our words, and our prayers; in other words, we are to practice the Corporal and Spiritual Works (Acts) of Mercy.
The Lord wants us to do these works of mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no use without works.
What are the Works of Mercy?
Corporal Works
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the homeless
Comfort the prisoners
Visit the sick
Bury the dead
Spiritual Works
Teach the ignorant
Pray for the living & dead
Correct sinners
Counsel those in doubt
Console the sorrowful
Bear wrongs patiently
Forgive wrongs willingly
Jesus' Call to Mercy
"I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.
I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor:
the first — by deed, the second — by word, the third — by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy.
Many souls ... are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul.
If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy" (1317).
http://thedivinemercy.org/message/acts/
God Bless, Todd
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