We Catholics have been busy the last few weeks… a good kind of busy, but busy, nonetheless. Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Easter. Busy with family, maybe travel, busy with entertaining or being entertained. Then getting ready for Divine Mercy Sunday – the novena, confession, prayer, the Rosary. Busy, and here we are.

You have prayed well.

You’ve prepared well.

But now it is time to stop, to be still and be in the moment. The moment that we are really pursuing all our lives on our faith journey. The moment where you and Jesus are face to face. We often think of this moment as occurring at the end of our lives, but it doesn’t have to be then. Why can’t it be today? Face to face… you and Him, alone.

That’s what He has always wanted so that’s where we are going today because Divine Mercy Sunday gives us the means to do that.

You know, if Divine Mercy Sunday had a headline, it would be trust. In our lives, we learn to trust someone when we really get to know them, when we can see that their actions support their words, they are not only out for themselves and they want what is best for us. Over time when we see this, we become more relaxed, less guarded. Our conversations are very real and very personal. We share our joys, pain, hurt, and anxiety because we trust them. 

But, unfortunately, the world sometimes burns us, trust we have placed in someone turns against us and we are hurt. Maybe then we are slow to trust again, we become guarded, we don’t seek the counsel of others with our problems, we try to solve them ourselves. We draw inward.

What Jesus Christ is asking of us is the exact and complete opposite. He wants us to trust him more deeply and more completely than we have ever done in our lives. To reach a level of trust where we surrender our will to His in all things. To have a relationship where we can trust so deeply that there is nothing we keep from Him and nothing we won’t ask of Him. And in return, Divine Mercy Sunday teaches us that we gain a full measure of His mercy. 

Jesus Christ desires to share His deep, loving mercy with us and with the whole world… but is deeply troubled when we and the world ignore Him as we follow our own path and our own solutions. And He is very clear, the vessel of his mercy is trust. He desires us to surrender all of our hurt, burdens, desires, and pain to Him so that he can take care of them according to His will, not ours. 

When we let go and trust Him, we get way more than we can ever imagine. The well of His mercy and love cannot even be described in human terms. This tradeoff, trust for mercy, is the moment we seek today.

So, let’s talk about trust as a vessel. It is a beautiful picture for us, our trust as a vessel that is returned to us…overflowing with his mercy. All of our faults, mistakes and shame, all of our wounds and hurts enveloped by His mercy and love… until it is just us and Him. Alone. Totally connected in that moment.

OK, I want you now to close your eyes and be still. Close your eyes after all of your busyness and preparations. I want you to be still and know that Jesus is sitting with you face to face. You are holding a vessel in your hands called trust. You are staring into each other’s eyes. You want Him at the center of your life more than anything. You are alone with Him and nothing is crowding Him out of your heart.

In the vessel you are holding, is there just a little trust splashing around in the bottom? If so, fill it and imagine what it would look like if all of your trust was in it to the point of overflowing. He wants us all in. Now, hand that vessel to Him, the one overflowing with your trust and love.

He takes that vessel and his body language tells you how happy He is. His face has a huge, warm smile. His love is washing over you.

Now, look into His eyes. What do you see?

Now, picture that moment… forever.