A "Divine" Nudge

Some times God whispers to us. I have heard some people talk about experiencing gentle tugs on their heart strings that lead them to new chapter in their life and relationship with Christ. I can relate to that. God truly can be subtle.

Other times, he is not so subtle.

Two weeks ago, I had one of those experiences where I felt like screaming, "Okay God, I get it! I will do it."

It was two weeks ago that I was opening some mail, paying some bills, and just cleaning the top of our desk off when I found something. It was something I had seen before. It was a thin, cardboard CD case. The kind that free CD's or demo a CD for a garage band usually come in. But there was something much more timeless recorded on the CD within this case. This was a CD of The Rosary and The Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

For those of you not familiar with The Rosary or The Chaplet of Divine Mercy, they are what I guess one would consider to be more structured, or organized, prayers that are part of our Catholic faith. And if you knew anything about my prayer life up until two weeks ago, you would have known that it was anything but structured or organized. I am not sure if it was just because I was inexperienced with these beautiful prayers or perhaps intimidated by them, but the end result was I simply did not pray them on a regular basis. It wasn't my thing. I liked to "free-style" in my prayer time.

I thought to myself that maybe I should give it a shot. I had seen this CD around the house before and thought to myself that maybe it keeps popping up for a reason. I had heard wonderful stories about both The Rosary and The Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I should at least try to pray The Chaplet of Divine Mercy. After all, that is the shorter of the two. I can do that during my morning commute. No biggy. Just put the CD in the car and I will pray The Chaplet of Divine Mercy tomorrow morning.

The next day, October 5th, I drove to work and listened to a CD. The one I listened to, however, was a Best of The Counting Crows CD that I also recently found in my house. I figured I'd start that Chaplet of Divine Mercy some other day.

Then, at 9:04 a.m., my wife emailed me. She sent me a forward of a "Saint of the Day" email that automatically gets sent to her. She does this on occasion if it is saint that I have particular interest in or devotion to. The Saint of the day on that day was St. Faustina.

So who exactly is St. Faustina?

St. Faustina was born in Poland in 1905 and joined the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy 1925. Thirteen years later, on October 5th, 1938, Faustina died of tuberculosis. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000. That day was the 72nd anniversary of her death.

But here is the kicker... St. Faustina was the holy servant of God who gave us the Chaplet of Divine Mercy! In the years before her death, she had visions in which God's mercy was revealed. An inner voice taught her to pray The Caplet of Divine Mercy on Rosary beads and Jesus Christ said to her, "Say unceasingly this chaplet that I have taught you. Anyone who says it will receive great Mercy at the hour of death."

Now some people might view the rediscovery of the CD with The Chaplet Divine on eve of the anniversary of St. Faustina's death as a coincidence. But as our Pastor, Fr. Walt, frequently reminds us, there no coincidences.

But, if you still think it was a coincidence, let me tell you about the email I received at 9:42 a.m. Just 38 minutes after that first email about St. Faustina I received one from my friend Amy. The subject line simply said, "Chaplet of Divine Mercy?" Amy had recently found out that a family member had passed away and she was emailing me and several other people to ask us to pray a Chaplet of Divine Mercy for her.

Within the hour, I was in my car and heading to a meeting about 25 minutes away. After finding that CD and receiving those emails all within a twelve hour span, I was pretty darn sure that God wanted me to pray the Chaplet. I put the CD in and prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy by myself for the first time in my life. On the way back from the meeting, I prayed it again. I have since began praying it during my drive in during the morning. The thing is, it only takes me about ten minutes to do so I have learned I have plenty enough time to pray The Rosary as well on my way into work.

I, like any novice, stumble with the words at times. I get distracted. My mind can wonder. But I keep praying. Every day I seem to get more drawn into these prayers. These are prayers that I feel the Holy Spirit grabbed me by the hand and led me to. For two weeks I have been walking into my office with different sense of peace, calmness, and trust in God for what the day might bring.

Maybe you don't know how to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy but you can click on this link and learn how. Maybe you don't have a CD to guide you on praying The Rosary or The Chaplet of Divine Mercy but here is link where you can order one for free. Maybe you did not receive two emails related to this Chaplet but you did read about it in a blog. Maybe all our souls can benefit a great deal if we allow ourselves to get out of our comfort zones as it relates to our prayer life. I think God gave me a good shove two weeks ago... let me give you a nudge.

Questions for reflection:

1) How is your prayer life?

2) Are you willing to get out of your comfort zone?

3) Have you recognized God calling to you to do something new?
4) In what ways have you maybe been deaf to His voice?
5) Are you willing to pray The Rosary or Chaplet of Divine Mercy just once a week?

Pray: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.

St. Faustina, pray for us.