About My Cousin Saint Faustina
by
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The
world today seems to be on the edge of World War III, a war that, were it to
happen, would predictably be more devastating than any previous war in human
history in that it portends to be a mutually destructive, nuclear war.In this
century, Saint Faustina's life in human history occurred in the period which
immediately preceded the near million or more Holocaustal deaths of the
innocent in Poland and in the neighboring countries in Europe. Preceding World
War II, the gospel message of Mercy, was once again given to humanity through
the life of heroic virtue Sister Faustina lived, the words of profound wisdom
she heard within, mystic that she was, - and the many graces she received, -
all of which she recorded for us in her "Divine Mercy in My Soul"
diary in accord with the request of her spiritual director. By divine
intervention, the human family was reminded then, even as we are reminded now
by Saint Faustina, that mercy not war, compassion not hatred, charity towards
all, - not annihilation of each other - is the right thing to do. It is the
rightful Christian, Jewish, Moslem thing to do. May the message of Saint
Faustina touch all hearts; may it touch both the hearts of the oppressed and
the hearts of the oppressor. May we - of all faiths and cultures and political
views - join together in prayer to touch and be touched by the Heart of God in
this moment of human history when humanity has lost its sense of balance. May
the Divine Mercy renew our hearts, lead us to reconciliation, and spare us from
the folly and tragic effects of our misguided, war-making pursuits. Today,
moreover, the Church itself is in crisis for lack of true vocations to the
priesthood and the religious life. The message of Mercy given us by Saint Faustina
both invites and re-affirms an urgent need for the personal holiness of both
the clergy and religious in this and every age. Without the inspiration, faith
and the sense of joy that "there is more", to which religious
vocations give witness, a society will gradually begin, end and succumb to
ambiguity and crass materialism. So it would seem that the Divine Mercy
message, given its universally applicable spiritual and political implications,
is both timely and appropriate, and needs to be heard anew by one and all. In
the words of Saint Faustina, let us pray…
"For
the sake of your sorrowful Passion, [an expression of your unconditional love
and forgiveness], have mercy on us and on the whole world."
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About the Book
In
my own life, my work for the past fifteen years as a Sister of Charity, has
gone from "feeding and empowering the poor" to research in public
policy and current legislation, serving as a kind of specialist in national
offices focused on the international dimensions of United States' health,
education, security, trade and conflict-resolution efforts. In
doing this work, the more I learn of the crises domestically and abroad,
the more I am convinced that neither weapons nor war, neither diplomacy nor
handshakes, neither water nor bread, will give us a world of peace. What is
needed, I believe, is a new way of seeing, a new way of caring, a new way of
being for and with each other …as together, on the journey, we honor and
allow the Divine to incarnate within the self; as we commune with and allow the
Divine presence within every self to transform and lift our humanity to a new
consciousness, to a new level of understanding, and to a new depth of
compassion for each other; to a depth, an expansiveness, a height, - heretofore
unknown in this dimension of reality. One of the conduits of that new way, I
believe, is the practice of the Divine Mercy devotion: a practice of trust and
confidence in unconditional love, and in unconditional goodness and mercy, - like
to that love, goodness and mercy, which the Divine is for and with each of us,
and which we - in our daily living - are to be for and with each other.
It
is this way of living, which I would like to further clarify for the reader,
and which, I believe, Saint Faustina was given to
express.
About the Author
PAULETTE
G. HONEYGOSKY, VSC, a researcher,
scholar, and world traveler, is the author of three previously published books,
namely “In Search of Heart Answers”; “Too Many Dollars; Too Little Sense”;
“Cling Not To What Is, There Is More”. She has worked as a teacher, a human
rights activist, and an advocate for the elderly. She holds a B.Ed., B.A., and M.A. degree from