Father, I offer you, the body and the 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 passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
– Divine Chaplet of Mercy
It was a gift this morning to drive out to Rosenberg, Texas and share in Divine Mercy Sunday with the parish. They were holding a Generations of Faith event and had me out to speak on forgiveness. It is a real treat when I get to speak to adults and their teens. To have the opportunity to encourage them to open the line of communication and spread God’s loving message that everyone is in His mercy and all they have to do is make that willing step to ask and accept forgiveness. The greater joy is telling my story on how I came about to forgive the men who took advantage of me. I know forgiving the perpetrator is the most difficult to accept but when you are the victim the only way to fully become a survivor is to give them over to God so that the anger, shame and fear can no longer keep you in it’s fold.
God blesses me when I have women come to me with tears in their eyes, letting me know, “God spoke to me today through you.” Yes, that is why I ‘put myself out there’. Thank you God! 🙂
The most touching story this morning was when a gentleman came up to me, thanked me for coming to their parish and being able to be so open and forthcoming. He told me he had recently shared with his 15 year old daughter what it meant to him as her daddy that she remain pure. He then took her out for a father/daughter date night and bought her a purity ring, asking that she wear the ring as a sign of the love God (and her father) has for her. He said to me, “I told her she can give it to me the day I walk her down the aisle.” And then I saw masculine tears form in the corner of his eyes that represented not only his devotion to his daughter but also God’s love for them both.
WOW…I want all daddy’s of daughters to share in that gift.
It truly has been a merciful Sunday.
Blessings
Shannon