His Mercy

This past Sunday (the Feast of Divine Mercy), after a week filled with many graces, but also with many difficult moments, it was powerful to pray the prayer after the Chaplet of Divine Mercy...

Eternal God, in Whom mercy is endless,
and the treasury of compassion, inexhausible,
look kindly upon us, and increase Your mercy in us
that in difficult moments, we might not despair,
nor become despondant,
but with great confidance,
submit ourselves entirely to Your holy will,
which is love and mercy itself. Amen.

It amazes me sometimes how I can pray some prayer plenty of times, maybe even for year, and then it will hit me in a whole new way at a time when it becomes really personally relevant. That prayer, especially the last five lines above, was like a balm to my soul on Sunday. It was exactly what I need to pray and hear at that moment!

"But I will call this to mind,

as my reason to have hope:
The favors of the LORD are not exhausted,

his mercies are not spent;
They are renewed each morning,

so great is his faithfulness.
My portion is the LORD, says my soul;

therefore will I hope in him.
Good is the LORD to one who waits for him,

to the soul that seeks him;
It is good to hope in silence

for the saving help of the LORD."

~Lamentations 3:21-26

(I didn't realize until recently that such a hope-filled passage was in Lamentations... thanks to Sr. M. Franchesca!)