16 Marian Helper • Summer 2022 • Marian.org By Dr. Robert Stackpole The Church, the Body of Christ, brings us Divine Mercy through the grace of the Sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist. As the Catechism teaches, “The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the Sacraments” (CCC, 1113). The Blessed Sacrament is, in fact, “the source and summit of the Christian life.” The Catechism tells us: The other Sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ Himself (CCC, 1324). Layers of God’s Mercy Saint Faustina writes in her Diary, “Oh, what awesome mysteries take place during Mass!” (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 914). Amazing layers of God’s mercy are hidden in the Mass, the sacrifice that brings us the Holy Eucharist. Saint Faustina continues: A great mystery is accomplished in the Holy Mass. With what great devotion should we listen to and take part in this death of Jesus. One day we will know what God is doing for us in each Mass, and what sort of gift He is preparing in it for us. Only His divine love could permit that such a gift be provided for us (Diary, 914). Jesus yearns to give us His love and mercy in the Eucharist. As He tells St. Faustina: My great delight is to unite Myself with souls. Know, My daughter, that when I come to a human heart in Holy Communion, My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay any attention to Me; they leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with other things. Oh, how sad I am that souls do not recognize Love! They treat Me as a dead object (Diary, 1385). It is not just in the celebration of the Mass that Jesus is present for us physically and fully. Wherever the Eucharist is reserved in the tabernacle of a church, Christ is waiting for us and longing for us to come to Him. This is a great mystery of Divine Mercy. As Jesus tells St. Faustina: Behold, for you I have established a throne of mercy on earth — the tabernacle — and from this throne I desire to enter into your heart. I am not surrounded by a retinue or guards. You can come to Saint Faustina and the Eucharist ‘Awesome!’
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