Our Lord revealed to St. Faustina that the greatest obstacle to Divine Mercy is not grave sin. This is because there are no sins grave enough or numerous enough to ever stand a chance against God’s infinite mercy, which is His burning thirst for each one of us and His desire to come for us and restore our souls to grace and beauty, no matter how far we’ve fallen. The only obstacle is our lack of trust that God loves us enough to come for us. We somehow believe we are not worth it- that we do not attract His favor; that no one would want to come close to us; that we are soiled and twisted beyond repair. These may not be the conscious thoughts of our minds, but rather the sentiments of our hearts that shape how we think, how we act, and the image we have of God.
These attitudes restrain God, putting Him in the chains of our narrow-mindedness. They assume that He judges and condemns us as mercilessly as we condemn ourselves. Thus Divine Mercy is “trapped” inside the Heart of Jesus because it is rejected by souls who don’t trust Him. God cannot bear to watch us cover or ignore our wounds with superficiality and denial. He wants to enter into the depths of our hearts, into the very wounds we want to hide; not to condemn us (John 3:17), but to say “Peace be with you. See my hands, my feet, and my side. (John 20:19-20) I too am wounded, but my wounds are now transformed for you. Let me transform yours. You are not undesirable or beyond repair. You are my beloved. I made you in my image, and I delight in my creation. No sin of yours is more powerful than my ability to make all things new.” The greatest secret of Divine Mercy, as St. Thérèse points out, is that it is our very weakness and need for mercy that attracts Our Lord’s loving gaze. His mercy shines forth the most in little, broken souls who cry out to Him. This is what St. Thérèse meant when she professed that Divine Mercy always seeks the lowest place.
The purpose of the Consecration to Divine Mercy is to console the Heart of Jesus by asking Him to pour out on us the mercy that is so often rejected. It is an effort to recognize anew the darkness of our own littleness and brokenness and thus rejoice in the love, mercy, and humility of Our Savior, Who thirsts and delights to pour Himself into little souls who trust in Him. Thus by owning our weakness and receiving all the mercy stored up in the Heart of Jesus, we become channels of mercy to others and soldiers in an “army” of little saints—an army of forgiven souls who have experienced the depths of Mercy.
~ Written by Sister Zélie Marie