Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Jetstream

Sunday, April 28, 2019

From John 20
Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

Time flies. At midnight here, it's 7 a.m. in Amsterdam. Miles will be asleep, but his parents will board the plane that brings them to the plane that brings them home. Perhaps he'll be sleeping again when they arrive, at 2 p.m. in Austin.

He sleeps a lot because he plays a lot! When he's awake, he's very very awake. When he sleeps, he sleeps just like a rock. I want some of that endless enthusiasm for everything again.

As it got dark, and the traffic slowed, I went out to get some milk. The weather's warm, and with the window opened, I listened in the quiet neighborhood to an owl, to a few children playing for a few more minutes, to a tired man washing his car. The tires hummed along the street, and I felt glad to be alive.

Miles goes to bed at 7:30. At 7:40 his nightlight changes color, from green to red, and one lullaby, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," begins to play. It plays for a couple of hours. When I sit with him, I set my Insight Timer for twenty minutes and sing along. "Up above the sky so high, like a diamond in the sky ..." In my quiet voice I pray for Miles and sing to him, and sometimes make up a story. Although tonight I fell asleep, and the three gongs at the end of the twenty minutes woke me up.

Sometimes I sit and listen to a priest and his choir recite the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. In the Roman Catholic Church, today is the Sunday of Divine Mercy. In Poland during the 1930s, Sr. Maria Faustina wrote what became a very famous diary. Her conversations with Jesus have become precious to millions. In one of them Jesus says, "My daughter, tell the whole world about my inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of my tender mercy are open."

The Chaplet is a simple prayer: "For the sake of his sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."

It is good for me to end the day with quiet prayers.

Sr. Maria died a year before the "terrible, terrible war" which she predicted broke out. She was only thirty-three. That is, of course, the age of Jesus when he died.

Lord, my prayers are so simple. I love these words that Sr. Maria shared with us: Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of his sorrowful Pasion, have mercy on us and on the whole world." Yes, Lord. Thank you, Jesus.

Sr. Maria Faustina, Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul, #669, 1981

Devotions Archive

Jetstream

Sunday, April 28, 2019