Good evening everyone!

I just had to share this with all of you.  I am currently reading a book entitled, "The Biggest Lie in The History of Christianity".  The author is Matthew Kelly.  My good friends from my church, who bring me Communion each Sunday, brought a copy of it with them on Sunday, so that my husband and I can read it.

I'm not quite half way through, but it's a very moving book.  He talks about how Christianity is disappearing from our world today.  Just so you know, Christianity isn't any particular religion.  It applies to all those who believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  That would encompass most religions that I know of.

One question that he asks is, "Do we call ourselves holy?"  That's not any easy question to answer, but I would have to say, that I do try to be holy.  Am I always?  Definitely not, but I'm working on it.  How about you?  It takes work every single day of our lives to be holy.

Mr. Kelly suggests that we start with one minute of holiness each day.  I certainly think each of us are capable of starting there, and continuing on from there to ten minutes, and increasing the time as we can.

Okay, you're asking, what do I have to do to be considered 'holy'?  Not much at all!  All you need to do is to do something kind or helpful for someone else, expecting nothing in return.  Certainly we all are capable of doing that many times during each day.  It starts with each of us putting others before ourselves even in the smallest of things.

I will say that when I learned about Divine Mercy, Saint Faustina and how Jesus appeared to her on a daily basis, my life changed for the better.  I now feel so much closer to Jesus and I trust Him completely with my life and the lives of all those I love and care about.  That includes each of you reading this.

What I've learned is that being holy is truly not that hard.  Of course, if you do something for someone else just to get credit or be praised, then that is not being holy.  We need to do something for another human being simply because we care about all our fellow human beings.  We are all God's children and He loves us all equally.

One of the greatest sins we commit today, is the sin of 'judging others'.  We don't have the right to judge anyone else.  How do you react when someone judges you about something?  Most times, we react in a very negative fashion.  No one likes to be criticized by another person.

Acts of kindness can be the simplest small thing such as saying 'good morning' to someone, letting someone know that they are in your thoughts and that you care about them, treating someone to a cup of coffee, or something as simple as a smile.  None of us know what is going on in someone  else's life.  Even our friends don't always confide their worst fears to us.

Mr. Kelly speaks about the older generation sharing with one another that they are glad they won't be alive when their grandchildren and great grandchildren grow up in this world.  I know that's true because I often sit and wonder what this world will be like twenty, thirty or forty years from now.

Something has to change, and it can start with each of us.  Let us all try to be more holy each day of our lives.  I know, without a doubt, that there are many, many holy people out there.  I count you as one of them.  Many folks have been reading the Divine Mercy Minutes that I post daily on my blog.  That's how I know that you are holy.  Share those minutes with your friends, family or some stranger who's ahead of you in a check out line at the store.  You never know, it may just be something that will save their spiritual life.

Take care and may God bless each of you.
Susan

Mercy |  Chaplet  |  Feast of Mercy   |  Petition  |  Book Shop

I saw the Lord Jesus above our chapel 26 October 1934  On Friday at ten minutes to six, when I and some of our wards were coming in from the garden to supper, I saw the Lord Jesus above our chapel, looking just as He did the first time I saw Him and just as He is painted in the Image. The two rays which emanated from the Heart of Jesus covered our chapel and the infirmary, and then the whole city, and spread out over the whole world. This lasted about four minutes and disappeared.  One of the girls, who was walking with me a little behind the others, also saw these rays, but she did not see Jesus, and she did not know where these rays were coming from. She was overwhelmed and told the other girls. They began to laugh at her, suggesting that she was imagining things or that perhaps it was light reflected by a passing airplane. But she persisted in her conviction, saying that never had she seen such rays before. When the others suggested that it might have been a searchlight, she replied that she knew very well what a searchlight was like, but never had she seen rays such as these.  After supper the girl approached me and told me she had been so moved by these rays that she could not keep silent, but wanted to tell everyone about them. Yet she had not seen Jesus. She kept telling me about these rays, and this put me in an awkward situation, as I could not tell her that I had seen the Lord Jesus. I prayed for her, asking the Lord to give her those graces of which she had such need. My heart rejoiced in the fact that Jesus takes the initiative to make Himself known, even though the occasion of such action on His part causes me annoyance. For Jesus, one can bear anything. FEBRUARY 13, 2019 "Let us love God, but with the strength of our arms, in the sweat of our brow." — St. Vincent de Paul

Tuesday's Mercy Minutes...

Mercy |  Chaplet  |  Feast of Mercy   |  Petition  |  Book Shop

Jesus loves hidden souls Jesus loves hidden souls. A hidden flower is the most fragrant. I must strive to make the interior of my soul a resting place for the Heart of Jesus. In difficult and painful moments, O my Creator, I sing You a hymn of trust, for bottomless is the abyss of my trust in You and in Your mercy! FEBRUARY 12, 2019 "Fix your minds on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Inflamed with love for us, he came down from heaven to redeem us. For our sake he endured every torment of body and soul and shrank from no bodily pain. He himself gave us an example of perfect patience and love. We, then, are to be patient in adversity."  — St. Francis of Paola

Monday's Mercy Minutes...

Mercy |  Chaplet  |  Feast of Mercy   |  Petition  |  Book Shop

The Happiness of those in Heaven No greater joy is to be found than that of loving God. Already here on earth we can taste the happiness of those in heaven by an intimate union with God, a union that is extraordinary and often quite incomprehensible to us. One can attain this very grace through simple faithfulness of soul. FEBRUARY 11, 2019 "Build an oratory within yourself, and there have Jesus on the altar of your heart. Speak to Him often while you are doing your work. Speak to Him of His holy love, of His holy sufferings and of the sorrows of most holy Mary."  — St Paul of the Cross

Sunday's Mercy Minutes...

Mercy |  Chaplet  |  Feast of Mercy   |  Petition  |  Book Shop

St. Faustina records experiencing the Stigmata 25th September 1936 I suffer great pain in my hands, feet and side, the places where Jesus' body was pierced. I experience these pains particularly when I meet with a soul who is not in the state of grace. Then I pray fervently that the mercy of God will embrace that soul. FEBRUARY 10, 2019 "Totally love Him, Who gave Himself totally for your love." — St. Clare of Assisi

Saturday's Mercy Minutes...

Mercy |  Chaplet  |  Feast of Mercy   |  Petition  |  Book Shop

Cannot love anything else I feel there is not a single drop of blood in me that does not burn with love for You. O Uncreated Beauty, whoever comes to know You once cannot love anything else. I can feel the bottomless abyss of my soul, and nothing will fill it but God Himself. I feel that I am drowned in Him like a single grain of sand in a bottomless ocean. FEBRUARY 9, 2019 "We must stand up for the rights of our neighbour who is suffering from injustice; we must defend them all the more vigorously because we see Jesus present in them. Surely this is our duty because of our love for others for his sake. We have no right to be 'sleeping watchmen' or dumb watch-dogs. Whenever we see evil we must sound the alarm."  — Blessed Charles de Foucauld

Friday's Mercy Minutes...

Mercy |  Chaplet  |  Feast of Mercy   |  Petition  |  Book Shop

A Soul's Greatness Jesus, You have given me to know and understand in what a soul's greatness consists: not in great deeds but in great love. Love has its worth, and it confers greatness on all our deeds. Although our actions are small and ordinary in themselves, because of love, they become great and powerful before God. FEBRUARY 8, 2019 "If a tiny spark of God’s love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown out… Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter… Do not give yourself to others so completely that you have nothing left for yourself." — St. Charles Borromeo