Reflection: Confession and the Image of The Divine Mercy...

During this season of Lent, set aside time to go to confession and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If you live in the Boston area, you know that there has been a record breaking amount of snow this winter. When the snow first falls, it is so beautiful, pristine and lovely to look at. Then the snow becomes dirty from the layers of sand and salt used to treat the roads. The beauty of the snow is gone and it becomes quite an eyesore and ugly.  

This is what happens to our souls. When we stay away from confession, sin makes our soul dirty. The longer we stay away, the more the layers of sin pile up.  The enemy will tell you that you are too far gone and will discourage you from going. Ask Our Lady to accompany you and ask her to give you the words you need to say. Run to the Sacrament of Mercy. The priest will welcome you home. Jesus will forgive your sins. You will know you are loved. Jesus will pour out His mercy upon you and His sanctifying grace into your heart which gives you strength and peace. Look at the image of the priest hearing confession and see the Divine light pouring out. After you go to confession this Lent, promise Our Lady you will go frequently and ask her to help you keep your promise.  

God is so good that He shows us His wonderful mercy. God sees beyond our sin and brings us His peace and mercy. Jesus speaks beautifully to Saint Faustina about confession. He calls confession “this fountain of My mercy”. He said to Saint Faustina, 

“Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls.”  Diary of Saint Faustina 1602

Look at the image of Divine Mercy. During confession, Jesus is standing over you and the rays of blood and water are pouring out upon you.

The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him.  Diary of Saint Faustina 299

By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works.  Diary of Saint Faustina 742

O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a Fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You.  Jesus I trust in You.