“As the Father sent me, so am I sending you."

Today we celebrate the Divine Mercy -- the presence of God alive and active in the World -- working through the goodness of human beings to make a difference in the world.

Our feast was founded by the inspiration of a polish nun, Saint Mary Faustina Kowalska, who lived -- like the Lord Himself --; only 33 years -- from 1905 until 1938. She lived through the First World War and right up until the brink of the Second. And her entire life was filled with the sufferings of war and the need to find a Christian response to the evil of such massive killing and destruction. Her response was to be the best Christian she could be and pray to become an instrument of God’s mercy. And the best example of that I have ever seen was in the life of a woman I only met the once.

A few years ago, I walked into a Church and I found that there was a little service going on. So I sat down at the back and joined in. It was the reception into the Church of a young woman. It was a very nice ceremony and afterwards the people gathered for tea and biscuits in the presbytery. And I got to talk to her. Being as you all know the shy retiring sort, my first question was: "why did you want to become a Catholic"?

She said, "Well, there was a woman at the shop where I work who was a Catholic. And I noticed that, of all of us, she was the one who was never late for work and never left before time. And when customers came into the shop, she was the one they usually wanted to be served by. And she had a loving husband and three very well-brought up and polite children. But what I really noticed was that she was always happy - really happy. And one day I went and asked her why she was always happy. She said: 'because God wants me to be happy'.
'How do you mean: God wants you to be happy'?
Well, she said my favorite piece of scripture is Philippians 4.4-9. And she took down a Bible and read it to me. And at that moment, I knew that I wanted to be a Catholic too."

When I got home, I looked it up. This is what I read:
'I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord; I repeat, what I want is your happiness. Let your tolerance be evident to everyone: the Lord is very near. There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus. Finally, sisters and brothers, fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honor, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise. Keep doing all the things that you learnt from me and have been taught by me and have heard or seen that I do. Then the God of peace will be with you."

The greatest mission any of us do in life for Jesus is to live our lives well and to show the world that it is in living the Christian life that true human happiness is to be found. We do not pretend that being a Christian will make you wealthy, or better looking or higher status, or get you better marks in the exams. What we believe is that by living in the way God asks of us, we can become the people He created us to be. That is, we come to be the Best that we can Be. That is what God asks of each of us. That is our mission in the World. And if we live it faithfully then all people will see in our way of life a way that will lead them also to the Way, the Truth and the Life that will make them the People that God created them to be.

Let us all pray in memory of Justina Kowalska that we also may be instruments of God’s Mercy in the World.

And let us stand and profess our Faith in God’s Mercy in the World.

Mount Street Jesuit Centre,
114 Mount Street,
London SW1K 3AH.
ENGLAND.
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