I Remember

"Open my eyes, O merciful God, and let me see with the eyes of Jesus. In my most difficult moments, let me think only of the love and peace of heaven...I pray for all the souls of my family members who have gone before me. May the warmth of God's love shine forever on their face." (Open My Eyes)

My sister and I share a common bond...we both have babies interceding for us in heaven. This is a passage from the book Open My Eyes, describing my mother's vision of the babies God took home to heaven so many years ago.

A few weeks after her admittance into the nursing facility, my mother told my sister and me that she could see our heavenly babies. She recognized that they were in the room with us.

"Jessica is here," she said.

"And Kathy, your two baby boys are here also. I can see them. They remain at your shoulders, following you everywhere around the room. Climb into my bed and get close to me so I can touch them because they will not leave you."

Honoring her wishes, we climbed into her bed. My sister and I managed to get as close to my mother as we possibly could. Unable to hold back the tears, we wept as my mother spoke about the babies God took home to heaven so many years ago...

Mom...may the warmth of God's love shine forever on your face.

Here I Am Lord

"Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will."

Today I open my heart to seek God's will, and yet a slight fear is taking hold of me.

I know God will take the fear away and all will be fine; He has done this for me so many times before.

Although the fear remains... I think fear of this kind is good.

It helps me practice humility. It is also a slight reminder that I can do nothing without God.

So pray for me as I present a seminar this evening about living the Divine Mercy as a way of life. So many people hunger for God's mercy; so many people are unaware of His willingness to grant us His mercy.

May God direct me as I open the door and seek His will. Also, please check out my Prayer's of Trust blog. I have placed some prayer requests there. Thank you!

Peace,

Blog: Prayer's of Trust

In response to so many prayer requests on my Treasures of Grace website, I have decided to create a new blog focusing on praying with trust.

On this blog titled Prayer's of Trust, I also will be taking prayer requests that are placed under a relic of St. Faustina.

I will be sharing passages of St. Faustina's diary that deal with praying with trust.

My hope is to get more people praying for each other.

Let us have the attitude of a child who simply trusts in a loving God who is all merciful.

Jesus, I Trust in You!

Peace,

So Beautiful

From the Diary of St. Faustina:

"From early morning, I felt the nearness of the Blessed Mother. During Holy Mass, I saw Her, so lovely and so beautiful that I have no words to express even a small part of this beauty." (805)

Today, I feel the need to reflect on our Blessed Mother. I could not help but ponder how my own mother, as she so patiently waited to return home to Jesus, saw Mary in all her beauty.

She said to us, "Our Lady is here!"

When asked to describe Mary my mother responded, "She is just so beautiful...so beautiful!"

There were no words to describer her. Mary, in all her beauty is indescribable. She is beyond words.


As my mother suffered from her physical afflictions, I always saw her clinging to her rosary.

By meditating on the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus through the "praying of the beads", my mother received many graces from a merciful God.

May we always pray for those in hospitals, nursing homes or even in their own homes, who may be clinging to a rosary seeking God's mercy.

Thank you Blessed Mother, for bringing us closer to your Son through the power of the rosary!

Peace,

Many Thanks

"I thank my God for you every time I think of you..." Phil 1:3

Many thanks to my new "blogging friend" Esther, for designing my signature tag. I love it!

Kevin...thank you for all of your help. You are truly amazing!

The One Who Treated Him With Mercy

Today's Gospel Reading:

Luke 10:25-37

"Which one of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"

He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."

Jesus said to him. "Go and do likewise."

A wonderful way to express love for one's neighbor is to perform "works of mercy". There are fourteen works of mercy; seven spiritual and seven corporal.

Spiritual Works of Mercy:

• Convert the sinner
• Instruct the uninformed
• Counsel the doubtful
• Comfort the sorrowful
• Be patient with those in error
• Forgive offenses
• Pray for the living and the dead

Corporal Works of Mercy:

• Feed the hungry
• Give drink to the thirsty
• Clothe the naked
• Shelter the homeless
• Visit the sick
• Comfort the imprisoned
• Bury the dead

When we love God, we will love our neighbor. And if we love our neighbor, we will show them mercy.

"Lord, help me to love You more so that I might do positive things and bear more fruit by showing mercy to those who are in need."

Peace,

Kathy

God's Blessings

To realize how much God loves us,
observe a sleeping child...

And you will see God's mercy.

His mercy is beyond all comprehension;
His mercy is endless.

For when God created man and woman,
He created us out of love and mercy.

I thank God for His many blessings.

Peace,
Kathy

Feast Day of Saint Faustina Kowalska

Today, October 5th, is the Feast Day of St. Faustina. As I reflect on this beautiful saint, I smile and remember my visit to her church, St. Casmir's in Swinice Warckie, Poland. This was the place where St. Faustina was baptized, made her first Confession, first Communion and obtained her initial calling to the consecrated life.

As I prayed in this holy church, I envisioned a humble, holy child of God, Helena Kowalska, who longed for the religious life.

I could not help but wonder if, as a small child, she knew deep down in her soul one day she would do great things for God.

St. Faustina had a special devotion to Jesus truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. Today at Mass, I offered my Communion for those who are in need of God's mercy.

I asked this humble saint who sees the face of God, to intercede for all those who may not be trusting in God's mercy. In the midst of a great storm it is sometimes hard to say,"Jesus, I trust in You!"

But IF we do, no matter how turbulent the waters might be, God will bless us with His amazing grace.

So today I reflect on her death and the day St. Faustina Kowalska was called home to Jesus.

Here is a photo of the room where she passed away at the convent of the Sister's of Our Lady of Mercy in Krakow, Poland.

May St. Faustina continue to pray for all those who seek her intercession and may God bless us with His unfathomable Divine Mercy!

Peace,

Kathy

The Sight of the Angels

"In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord." (Ps. 138)

I want to reflect on a few stories about angels in order to prepare for the feast of the Holy Angels on September 29th. It is through these powerful angels that God grants us His mercy. Out of love, God's angels deliver messages and carry out His commands.

Taken from an excerpt of Open My Eyes, it states: "I began to contemplate this sense of peace that came over my mother through the grace of an angel. Peace...harmony, calmness, serenity, tranquility and contentment; her angel brought all this and more to someone who desperately needed to feel God's presence and His love. My mother soon experienced great tribulations. Her guardian angel came to deliver many treasures of grace from a merciful God."

My mother was graced by God to see her Guardian Angel. Not many of us see our angels, but we do know they are always present.

Several months ago my daughter ran a marathon in California. I was not able to accompany her on this journey, but I knew during her run I wanted to pray before Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament.

As she began this long and grueling task, I entered the Adoration Chapel to pray. A strong "sense of urgency" came over me and a need to offer intense prayer for my daughter.

Suddenly, I thought of the angels!

In the presence of the Lord I asked Him to round up as many angels as He possibly could and send them to my daughter's side. I asked her own Guardian Angel to protect her and keep her safe from all harm. Totally unknown to me, at this exact same time she was seeking treatment for dehydration. She probably would be unable to complete the run.

Not to worry...the angels came to her rescue!

After only a short period of rest and hydration, my daughter re-entered and finished the race!

God uses His celestial angels in amazing ways. It might be through a feeling or a sense of urgency; whatever means God may use, His angels will deliver a message of mercy.

May we constantly be under the attentive care of the angels as they help us on our spiritual journey.

And may we offer prayers of thanksgiving to God for their heavenly assistance!

Peace,

Kathy

Going Fishing

Today, I am going fishing.

I will cast my nets in hopes of catching not the gentle inhabitants of the sea, but someone who is in desperate need of God's mercy.

I had the opportunity to receive God's mercy from the hands of those who truly know and love Him. My grandson Jude was admitted into the hospital with Cystic Fibrosis on July 26th. He remains there today, trying to build enough strength to come home to the embracing arms of his family.

His mother and father keep constant vigils at his side, always making him aware that he is not traveling alone on this path God is taking him.

It may be stormy; it may be turbulent. But he is not alone. His parents are with him all the way.

And so is God.

Many of our friends and family have shown us their love by helping out with meals and babysitting Jude's big sister Joscelyn. It is through these acts of mercy that God gives us strength to endure each and every day. It is through these acts of love that I feel God's presence.

So today I want to give back in some way. How can I show compassion and kindness to someone in need? Who is it Lord, that I may help today? Please show me how to spread Your mercy, however vast or minute the act may be.




Yes, today before the sun goes down I will have hauled in my nets in the hopes of catching only one small fish...someone in need of God's love.

Think of one act of mercy you can perform today, however big or small it may be. It will make God smile!



Peace,
Kathy

God's Mercy Revealed

God's mercy is truly amazing!

My mother died in October of 1998 and through her extraordinary death, God graced us with a wonderful gift of His mercy. God presented my mother with beautiful visions of Heaven.

In my book titled Open My Eyes, I reveal all of these heavenly visions. My prayer is that this story will bring hope to those who may be in need of God's infinite mercy.

You may purchase this book by visiting the Treasures of Grace LLC.com website.

The desire to write about the many aspects of God's mercy has remained close to my heart.

And so I designed this blog.

May God continue to use me to help spread His Divine Mercy!

Peace,
Kathy