Today is the feast of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska. This young woman lived an incredibly simple, ordinary life. In the midst of that life, Jesus appeared to her and entrusted to her the mission to share about His Divine Mercy. Much of her life and these apparitions is shared in her diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul. There are so many beautiful words from Jesus to St. Maria Faustina in this book. One of my absolute favorites is this one:
Be at peace My daughter, it is precisely through such misery that I want to show the power of My mercy. (Divine Mercy in My Soul, paragraph 133)
These Divine words came when Faustina was upset at her own ordinariness, her own limits. She had just been scolded and mocked by a superior. Her ‘misery’ was not that of having had a terrible past like some saints or anything big. Like so many of us, her misery was her own limits, her discouraging thoughts, her weaknesses, her lack of ability to do something great that she felt very deeply. How relatable!
It was in this ordinary discouragement that Jesus met Sr. Faustina that day. He wanted her to know that He loved her and was with her, not just in the chapel, not just in her good deeds, but also with her in those moments of humiliation and discouragement. Even more though, He sought that her limits would be a part of her mission. Frequently throughout the diary, Jesus calls her a “witness to mercy.” Her life, mostly lived ordinarily in a quiet convent, was a witness to mercy that shows up and works in the little things.
Throughout Jesus’ revelations to this simple woman, He reveals the depths of His love and His desire to meet both her and every person in their lowest points. Jesus makes the point to say that there is no amount of our misery that could exceed His merciful love. The more people are in need of His Love, the more His love expands.
This fills me with so much hope! For my life, that despite the discouragement and melancholic moods I am prone too, Jesus will meet me there. For my mission, that my limits and weaknesses are not the end, Jesus will meet me there. This great mission of mercy that St. Faustina was entrusted with is the sharing of Jesus’ own heart. His Heart is one that longs to be with the miserable, that longs to be in the ordinary, that longs to be with His dear ones:
Faustina, and me, and you.
You can read more about St. Faustina’s life here: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/stfaustina/bio