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a spotless sacrifice immolated with love for You. By her prayers, O merciful One, save us.” 373
Jesus Himself explained to Sr. Faustina about total self-immolation (Diary, # 923):
I demand of you a perfect and whole-burnt offering; and offering of the will. No
other sacrifice can compare with this one. I Myself am directing your life and
arranging things in such a way that you will be for Me a continual sacrifice and
will always do My will. And for the accomplishment of this offering, you will unite
yourself with Me on the Cross. I know what you can do. I Myself will give you
many orders directly, but I will delay the possibility of their being carried out and
make it depend on others….I Myself will accomplish directly in your soul. And in
the most hidden depths of your soul, a perfect holocaust will be carried out, not
just for a while, but know, My daughter, that this offering will last until your
death (Diary, # 923).
Then, in Matthew 5:48, Jesus says, “You therefore, must be perfect as the Father is
Perfect;” and in Luke 6:36, He says, “Be merciful even as the Father is merciful.” In both, Jesus
advances uprightness that goes beyond the Old Testament norms of holiness, in imitating God’s
mercy; for the Father has compassion on all, the good and the evil alike. 374 Jesus also says,
“Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of the
Father in Heaven; for He makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just
and the unjust” (Matthew 5:44-46). Thus, God’s children must do the same: show mercy to the
friend and enemy alike. 375 Also, in the Old Testament, the pursuit of holiness was to extricate
themselves from the so-called wicked, the unclean, and the sinners; but, in the New Testament,
mercy is the great rule of God’s kingdom, a new dimension to holiness, which Jesus adds, in
order to take in everyone and many more souls would enter God’s family. 376 Thus, in these end
times, Jesus urgently calls for His Divine Mercy message to be spread and to be lived (Diary, #
373
The Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church Sui Juris of Pittsburg, USA. The Divine Liturgies of our Holy
Fathers John Chrysostom and Basil the Great: Venerable-One Woman Martyr. (Pennsylvania: The Byzantine
Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburg Chancery Office, 2006), 391-394.
374
Hahn, Scott, The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible of the New Testament. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010), 119.
375
Ibid., Hahn, The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 17, 119.
376
Ibid., Hahn, The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 119.
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