When Divine Mercy Breaks Through

Roxane Salonen describes the experience of Divine Mercy pouring into her life.

At the Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, our priest offered several definitions of mercy, including one once uttered by St. Thomas Aquinas: “Mercy is love’s response to misery.”

Fr. Meyer described mercy also as something that can create a bridge between the life we were meant to live and the one we are living. There is a space there in all of our lives; a tension. Mercy can fill in the gap.

I didn’t have to strain to understand what he meant, for I have lived it in a most profound way.

It had been a long climb. Too long. The visual that came to me so often during this particular stretch of strife was that of a mountain, reaching upward, and lengthening day by day. I was a mother at the bottom of that large rock, trying to climb it, clawing my way up without the proper equipment. At the top, there were people laughing, and kicking rocks down to hamper my quest.

Even before I’d reached the mountain itself, I’d been on a journey through a dark woodland. Along the way, I’d been having to duck to thwart the arrows that would intermittently shoot out from nowhere.

I was growing tired and weary from the futile climb on the day God called me away for a bit to tend to another important matter. He was asking me to summon what little energy I had left to speak to a crowd of several hundred people, to uplift them. How could I when I could barely lift my own head?

On the way there, I felt numb. The climb had become impossible, it seemed to me. But in the middle of the night, I was awakened. “It’s not time to give up; not yet.”

It was a clear intuition; so clear that I could hear my voice in response: “Thank you, Lord.” I knew that whatever would follow, the Lord would be there ahead of me with provisions.

By the end of that weekend away, it was so clear why God had pulled me aside from my mountain climb. He’d done so to refresh me, to remind me of who I am, and whose, and to surround me with beautiful, Christ-loving women who would hold me up and bring me back to life, invigorating me for the next part of the journey.

And that next phase would be more tumultuous yet, though now, I was assured of fortification. Toward the end of it, I knew I’d given everything. I had spilled the contents of my heart and soul onto the table to fight for the one in need; the one so misunderstood and weary—even more than I.

After one last violent shudder, the mountain grew still, and the people at the top disappeared for a time. I waited, wondering what God would do with my prayers and efforts. I rested and waited some more. And during my pause, God spoke to me through a psalm:

In you, Lord, I take refuge, let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness deliver me; incline your ear to me; make haste to rescue me! Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to save me. (Psalm 31:2-3)

null

I waited some more, and then one day, Divine Mercy came, rushing in like a fire, reaching out for the center of my heart, to cleanse and burn off the broken parts, the tired parts, and even my own bitterness.

When Divine Mercy breaks through, it makes way for new life, bringing light and healing to wounds, exonerating, enlivening, engulfing in the most sublime way.

Click to tweet:
Divine Mercy came, rushing in like a fire, reaching out for the center of my heart, to cleanse and burn off the broken parts, the tired parts, and even my own bitterness. #CatholicMom

As I absorbed this exquisite reality, understanding it as a pure gift from God, I was able to release so much of what had hampered and constrained me. As Divine Mercy came, my own mercy toward others followed. For when God releases us from the chains of mercy’s lack, shrinking the mountain down to level ground, our own ability to extend mercy comes easily, effortlessly. For mercy begets mercy.

“I will rejoice and be glad in your mercy, once you have seen my misery, and gotten to know the distress of my soul. You will not abandon me into enemy hands, but will set my feet in a free and open space.”

In the midst of this struggle, a song pierced my heart, giving me hope. May it refresh you, too, in the midst of a wearing day. After all, that’s why He came.