Thy Kingdom Come - Divine Mercy (Fr. Charbel of St. Michael's Abbey)

Katie Hughes, host of Thy Kingdom Come and evangelist speaks with Norbertine Father Charbel Grbavac of Saint Michael's Abbey about the importance of Divine Mercy in our lives.

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Transcript

Katie Hughes: 0:45

Be in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Then the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. Welcome back to another episode of that kingdom calm on spirit filled radio. This is Katie Hughes. And I have a special guest here today. Father sharp owl. He is a priest from St. Michael's Abbey in Silverado Canyon in California. And he loves the topic we're going to talk about today. It's a great treat and blessing to have him share from his heart, the importance of Divine Mercy and Divine Mercy in our lives. And so welcome father Shar Bell.

Unknown: 1:53

Thank you very much peace and blessings to all of you listening let us enter deeper into the Sacred Heart of Jesus during our time together. And so we have the privilege of speaking about our Lord's divine mercy, what is mercy mercy is basically having compassion on your neighbor. And Jesus showed us the greatest mercy by creating us recreating us in his blood in his life, suffering, death and resurrection by sending the Holy Spirit with his eternal Father on Pentecost and giving us his very life. So, Divine Mercy is essentially devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which as we know, well, the heart is oftentimes a symbol of love, of mercy. And the images that are in mercy is so beautiful, you know that Jesus appeared to a polar Saint Saint Faustina Kowalska and wanted an image painted with him touching His merciful heart and white and red rays coming out, but his heart, his right hand is raised in blessing, his five wounds are visible. And the caption at the bottom is Jesus, I trust in You. And we know Jesus has explained this image to Saint Faustina the white ways represent baptism, cleansing, washing away Original Sin, celebrating that sacrament that has given us Christian dignity that has made us God's adopted children, that infuses us with all the virtues and the graces of the Holy Spirit and a life of Christ in seed form. So the white arrays are arrays of baptism of washing a cleansing. And we know Jesus said nobody pours new wine into old wineskins the new wine in his blood as members of a New Covenant, we read the New Testament, do you want to be a new man or a new woman, we want to get ready for the new heavens and new earth to see my new song. And so the new wine is his blood were represented in the picture with the red rays coming from his heart. And that is the Eucharist and we pray Eternal Father, I offer You the Body Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ and atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. And this beautiful Divine Mercy devotion has its greatest gift, I believe, on Divine Mercy Sunday, which is a Sunday after Easter with a very special promise from Jesus Christ, that He wants to give people a very special gift. And that is basically, for those who go to Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, the Sunday after Easter, where they receive Holy Communion, venerate the image. That means looking at the image of loving it, praying before venerating it. And going to confession within three weeks before or after the Sunday of Divine Mercy. You can receive basically a total expiation of all of your sins. That means all of your sins that you're sorry for are forgiven, and the punishment due to sin. So it's basically like a second baptism. And baptism is a reoccurring theme during this Easter octave, during Easter, putting on the new man and a woman receiving the graces of the pastoral mystery, and when we usually baptize people on the Easter Vigil, and so this special grace is something he wants to give us from his heart. That is, if you were to die after fulfilling and receiving the conditions and the promise of Divine Mercy Sunday, you've got a right To Heaven, you would not have to go to purgatory because there's no punishment to your sins. Everything is washed, clean. And so this is a treasure, from the Sacred Heart for you and for me. So that is a great gift of mercy, from the Most Holy Trinity, through the Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, through His Church unto us, wow, what a gift. Thank you, Jesus, thank

Katie Hughes: 5:56

You, Lord. That's such a beautiful expression of God's love. Like, we're so undeserving father. And yet he pours it out, he can't help himself from the cross, just a continual blessing. And to even add on more like he just keeps giving us more. And I don't know about you, father, but these are the times of mercy. This is the time where we are alive here on earth. You know, once once it's done once word dead in the ground, is the judgment time I know you've shared about that, like, this is critical. And to let everyone know about this access, I mean, not only to new life and the resurrection, and all the sacraments, this is just it. It's like, unbelievable gift. And it's almost unbelievable, completely, how could he do this? How could he give us even more, the most wretched soul has access to this? And it's very humbling. So why is he doing this? Why? Why? I mean, this is such an amazing gift and grace.

Unknown: 7:14

Why is God do this great question because like you said, He loves us. He wants us to be with Him in Heaven. However, God does not force Himself on people. He gives everybody free will, the option to accept him. Sin in a sense, is the one thing that separates us from God. That's where we we use our freewill. In order to sin you have to desire you have to will it has to be in your will your power to love, your power to choose. So sin is what separates us. I mean, no mortal sin is mortally wounding to the soul. And we do not want to hear the words that Jesus spoke of Judas, the one who betrayed Him with a kiss. When he says of Judas drops the status words in the whole Bible better for Judas to have never been born. Wow. However, on the contrary, as you said, Now is the time of mercy. God is both just and he's merciful. How is that? Well, while we are live on Earth, it's time to have mercy a time for us to apply these graces the merits of Christ to our life. When we die is a time of justice. That means we have to reap what we have sown. And he will measure us according to the measure, we measure other people. As Jesus says, if you wish to be forgiven, you must forgive. If you wish to be shown mercy, you must be merciful. The measure you mete out to others will be the same measure meted out to you. And so the more merciful we are with our neighbor with ourselves, God is more merciful to us. And so yes, it's from an abundance that is Divine Love is the mind mercy flowing from a Sacred Heart to us. But we have to accept it. We have to ask, seek and knock. And so he respects our freewill. So for us not take advantage of it is today during Holy maps, I have quoted one of our priests father, Sebastian and Albertine, priests, a good conference in mind and we enter the army together. Sometimes he'll say, instead of Holy Communion, what if the priest gave out $100 bills, how many people have come to mass or twice a day or three times a day? How much more is the Eucharist, more important than 1000s of dollars? It is the body Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ JESUS IS THE EUCHARIST of you, Chris is Jesus. So it's out of his abundance of mercy and love. He wants to be with us forever in heaven, but we have to accept His salvation. We have to accept Jesus Christ, apply his love and merits and mercy to our life and imitate him. And this way, we will be truly happy forever and ever. Amen.

Katie Hughes: 9:48

Hallelujah. I get this sense of like, St. John the Baptist like out in the desert crying out and instead of like guests, behold the king Behold, the one the Messiah is a behold Divine Mercy and you and father sure bail you just you're you have that spirit of St. John the Baptist and here we are recording at the parish of St. John the Baptist. So is this the Lord have blessed that in the scriptures like Jesus showed a lot of Mercy throughout the gospel. Is there like one particular or a couple themes that you'd like to share father about this.

Unknown: 10:31

Sure. Out of all the variables, perhaps the most touching. One is from Luke chapter 15, the parable of the prodigal son, the father had two sons younger and older. And we know the younger son asked for his inheritance. He says, Dad, you're dead to me, give me my money, my inheritance. Now, the Father gives it to him. So similarly, parents, even other children are going astray. They should exercise that mercy to their children by giving them what they need to survive, not cutting them off. Because in the parable, the prodigal son, the Eternal Father does not say, You arrogant, entitled, son of mine, no, I'm not going to give you your money. Because what you're doing is wrong. No, he lets him go. Because ultimately, Mercy rules. So the other side goes, we know he spends his money and desolate impure living, there's a famine, he wants to even eat what the pigs are eating, but he can't shows you how far he fell. Jewish boy, feeding pigs, that's not kosher. So we know the beautiful story he wants, he goes back to his dad, and says, I know what I'll do. I'll say Father has sinned against you and have an Earth have offended you treat me as one of your hired servants. I'm not worthy to be called your son is going to say three things. He goes before his dad, his dad won't let them say the third thing. Treat me as a hired sermon. But he interrupts them immediately says, Put sandals on his feet, clothe him in a row, put a ring on his finger, Khilafat of the calf, my son was dead, has come back to life. You are not a hired servant, you are my son, my dear friends, my brothers and sisters, you are a beloved Son, you are a beloved daughter of Jesus Christ, you have Christian dignity. Your soul means more to God in the entire created universe than all the planets you created, because your soul forever. But all that he created will constantly so your soul is of infinite value to God. And so he's doing this to save us. He wants us to receive and communicate his divine mercy. Wow,

Katie Hughes: 12:30

wow, it's all that up. Because so many people are out there. And they're, they have lost hope in their children in themselves. And they're looking inward. And the key is, that can lead into depression that can lead into oppression that can lead into addictions that can lead to lead into idolatry, your own self, you become your own god, you decide your future, you decide that you're damned, or whatever it is that you're not worthy. And as a Christian, you have been adopted, like you said, we are His children, we are as Beloved. And despite what we have done, there's always the chance to come back, there's always this open arm and we have this whole treasury of Heaven. The whole kingdom of God belongs to us. And that's I think about the son, the good son, the one that stood by the Father and was complaining and groaning and had no clue that he had access to everything of his father's and he was living in poverty, and how we can do that living out the sacraments and still be impoverished. And there's just so much hope with with the prodigal son. And we both we've probably all been in both areas. Like

Unknown: 13:56

you mentioned the older son, well, he was always treating his father more as a master, not a father. Because we know he asked what's going on, he asked a servant, he hasn't asked his dad and number one. Number two, he says, you know, your son has done this, spend your money, and then he refuses to go in. And the key I think to the parable is when the father says everything I have is yours. And he's begging with his older son is to come in and to rejoice, but he won't. And how many times have we failed to rejoice in the mercies and the treasure and the gifts that God has given us, even in the things that he doesn't give us we should rejoice because we might lose our salvation. And that is key because we have to glorify His will accept whatever happens each day coming from a loving hand and be grateful for the things we have and we do not have. They don't give us more like our lady. Nobody loved God. Not even all the ages of saints combined and everybody's ever live combined loves God for their marriage. She's perfect. As she said Our Lady Guadalupe she said Know for certain Lisa my sons and Diego. I am the perfect and perpetual virgin Mary, mother of a true God and everything lives. It is my earnest wish at a temple we built here in my honor. So she has perfect without sin she can see without sin. She is Petro virgin. She is the Mother of God. She's assuming to heaven and she has immediate access to all graces and blessings all graces flow through her into the church into the world just as Christ came into the world through Mary. We go the same way he came to the road through Mary, we go perfectly to cry. She is the shortest, perfect and the best way to her son, Woman, behold your son. He says on the cross, how can a Christian without a mother fully worship God? Perfectly impossible, because like you said, He gives an abundance He gives us His Church, His mother, the scriptures, his forgiveness, His mercy, He gives us the angels and the saints, he gives the sacraments. He gives us a beautiful tradition. He gives the magisterium, all these devotions, the devotion, the chaplain, Divine Mercy, the Holy Rosary, the Chapel of the Holy Face, the Rosary, the holy wounds, devotion to his shoulder, the way of the cross and Eucharistic Adoration, the list goes on.

Katie Hughes: 16:16

That is our inheritance. And it's impossible for us like with all of this access, free will of course, included. There's no way we can fail. He has given us every everything possible to get us there because like you said earlier, everything will fall away but the soul remains and he cares about us and loves us. And I love the beauty that you're talking about. Through Mary came Jesus and the church like just in the Pentecost and in this is this birthing. It's like this continual birthing. And her love is amazing, as you know the way that you just spoke about it. How can we ignore her?

Unknown: 17:02

One of our nobody has loved God. Nobody loves God. Yeah, Mary does. She's never offended God. So we have a great gift right there. And she at the foot of the Cross said, Yes, you hold your son lonely holding her son. She said yesterday, Archangel Gabriel, right about conceiving and giving birth to the Messiah. Her Yes, thank God, one of our own. Our mother made it to a level so high. She's she's reached such a beautiful, noble level of God's love and grace, it's incomparable. So we have a great treasure and her and that's why I'm here. Right because i Lady allowed me to love her son, she taught me how to pray. She called me out of my own selfish, egotistical behavior, about wanting to be a dentist about wanting to have a big family but wanting to make money about wanting to serve, and just have a good life. That's all good, but nothing compared to loving her son, according to God's will. Everybody is in God's plan. He has a plan for you. And another element of mercy if people forget is Jesus has assigned the power to drive out demons as an act of mercy. He get it primarily to his bishops and priests, which have care over the whole flock. They can do minor exorcisms and obey the tradition of Bishop using the solemn rite of exorcism. They can drive in Castile demons. Now, that's for the ordained clergy in a special way which pertains to everybody they have authority of everybody, by their ordination, however, you you, even a layperson, you have authority over your own body, you have the power to exercise mercy. By using as Jesus says, in my name, you will cast out demons. So since you have authority over your own body, and parents over their children, you can use that authority to cast out evil from yourself or your children. By simple prayer in the name of Jesus. I bind and cast out any evil spirits that afflicting myself and evil spirits, a sloth and the anger lust, gluttony, hours of pride, negativity, sadness, the scourge of fear, anxiety, any spirits, unforgiveness or rage or impurity of pornography or perversion, and it was alcoholism, drug abuse or lack of forgiveness. And I command the spirits of go to Jesus and Mary without retaliating with no distribution. And I asked the Holy Spirit to come upon me, and that is St. Michel prayer. So you have that authority to do that prayer in the name of Jesus over yourself, and your sphere of influence that is your children, your finances, your household, etc. And so if you want more information, I'm going to make a plug here. You can join me on June 3, at 7pm. At St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point for a healing mass at 7pm. I'm an offer a regular mass, with the intention of God's mercy and healing. And at the end, the option of laying hands and being blessed with blessed oil and deliverance, prayers being prayed, as we say, in the seventh and last petition of the Our Father, deliver us from evil, amen, mass, we continue, deliver us Lord from every evil grace to see grant peace in our day. And so we need that act of mercy, which he has assigned to his church, to drive out demons and to invite the Holy Spirit. I want to emphasize that because that is also an attribute of God's mercy, driving out evil from us.

Katie Hughes: 20:28

Yeah, and that's it. That's healing like Jesus. His ministry is so beautiful, and it's amazing. He shared the Father's heart. He shared the Father's love. He spoke the truth. He spoke the gospel. And then he demonstrated it. He showed us how much the father loved them using him. And he went to the Father for everything because he was, he was like a slave, right? So he, he laid down his powers, his glory, put them Allah and then he assumed a life like us. As true God and true man. There's some mystical things that are I'm sure I'm missing. But that's the point. And he went to the father and said, I just I think about how you love Lazarus. He loved his friend, and it showed us because he wept. And then he waited. You're like, why is he waiting to go through? Boy? And then he gets there. And it's like, no, he's dead. But it was so that he could show reveal. He could reveal who he is the resurrection, right? I know you have I know. You know, lots more but

Unknown: 21:38

beautiful. Three times in the gospels. We hear the father's voice to God, the Eternal Father, our Almighty Father speaks. He speaks at the baptism of Jesus. This is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased. Then at the Transfiguration, when he takes Peter, James and John the sixth day of a high amount of the stressor before his face, he comes out of a boy, they appear to him Moses, Elijah, and you hear the father's voice Peter interrupts Peters interrupted, right? Let us build three moves, one for you, and Moses, Elijah, This is My beloved Son in whom I please listen to him. Then in John chapter 12, we hear this beautiful dialogue where Jesus says, Father, glorify Me, as I had the glory, before creation, and the father's voices for I will glorify it. So Jesus, yes, Jesus is being pointed to John the Baptist points of Jesus, Behold the Lamb of God, Mary, points of Jesus, listen to him, Do whatever he tells you. Right? And so we have all these people pointing to Jesus, Moses and Elijah, the scriptures, right the Messiah, or 300 prophecies, referring to Jesus. But then Christ teaches us to pray the Our Father, to go to our Heavenly Father, when you pray, close the door, speak to your only father and speaker in secret. Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing and say Our Father, so all worship is directed to God the Father, Jesus, because there's two natures is our brother and friend and his human nature Son of Mary sent a man sent a David and he's also the Son of God and His divine nature, surely God truly man. So he has a very unique role as the bridge between heaven and earth. So in his two natures, but one divine person, Christ takes us into His humanity. Like centuries Avila says a doctor prayer, we never leave the humanity of Christ. We always venerate His Body, Blood soul, right? We venerate his sacred humanity. We venerate his wounds, every aspect of Christ's humanity is united to his divinity. So therefore, his his humanity takes us into His divinity. That's why he's called the Sovereign Pontiff, the Ponte effects the bridge between heaven and earth, and He is our brother and friend as man, as a son of David's Son of Mary, and he is our beloved Lord and Master and Savior Redeemer, he is the Son of God, and he comes to send the Holy Spirit with his father. It's very Trinitarian we cannot forget that Christ came to reveal to us the Father, and to send the Holy Spirit with his father, as we hear in Galatians, the fullness of the Godhead is in bodily form, Jesus Christ, wow. This is mercy this is true, this is life.

Katie Hughes: 24:22

I can do is be joyful with all of that is unfathomable love, it's in that Divine Mercy in the Divine Mercy prayers and and holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal, one, have mercy on us on the whole world. And he does it.

Unknown: 24:40

Yes. And as mercy says, When you pray that when you pray, when you pray, this prayer of blood and water which goes forth in the heart of Jesus, Mercy person I trust in You, when you pray that the grace of conversion is given to one soul every time you pray that according to the Divine Mercy in my souls FLC in his diary, so blood and water which gushed forth in the heart of Jesus, as a founder of mercy, first I trust in You. So pray that continuously, I think, and the grace of conversion will be given. Wow. He also says he pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in the presence of a dying soul. He will act not as just judge, but as merciful Redeemer between his Heavenly Father and a dying soul. So pray the Chaplet unceasingly, Jesus says, Pray the Chava Divine Mercy, pray, especially in the presence of the sick and the suffering of dying If you can, he says at three o'clock every day if you can immerse yourself in My Mercy, whenever you ask to be given to you, it's united with my Father's will and my passion, my suffering, if you're able to do the Stations of the Cross, if you're able at three o'clock pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, pray without ceasing, but your whole life be a Chaplet of Divine Mercy rising up to having go big, she has mercy, and you will not be

Katie Hughes: 25:57

let down. And Father you have such a big heart for for this feast for this, who God is this merciful God, how did that kind of arise? Is it just have you always been about Divine Mercy?

Unknown: 26:12

Great question. No person who was reading say falsely in his diary. Part of it is just at three o'clock trying to pray the chocolate trying to immerse myself. But remember the the notion Divine Mercy is the notion of the Sacred Heart. It is that beautiful wound St. Bernard says, The Greatest wound of Our Lord is his heart. The five visible wounds are visible wounds of his greatest wound which is his heart. My soul is sorrowful even unto death. And so I believe that reading St. Augustine as diary, divine mercy on my soul, and going to Krakow Poland on a pilgrimage greatly helped me but also being there on the vigil Divine Mercy Sunday, the night John Paul died I was outside of the Vatican there with many people, He who instituted this feasts in April of 2000 this feast the Sunday after Easter, divine mercy, he died that Saturday night before the feasts of Divine Mercy in Rome 2005 When I had the privilege to be there, so that was a great grace for me

Katie Hughes: 27:21

definitely that's how supernatural is our God like to and I everyone there received something it just to be there to be willing to be there. Coming from wherever they were where you seminarian at that

Unknown: 27:37

summary, as Norbertine we were studying in Rome at the angelicum getting our theology there. I was actually in Spain visiting our Norbertine sisters in Zamora near Salamanca, Spain, with fathers Sebastian and Andrew. We were all seminarians positive action was a deacon. And then we already had plans to go back to Rome. And that's when John Paul got sick. Over a million Polish people went to Rome, you couldn't get a flight. I was there studying and was able to be there and meet him four times in Rome. That was an act of mercy through seeing the blessing of one of the greatest saints of our time, St. John Paul the second, and to have him impart his blessing upon me. And hopefully that blessing has been a part upon all of you, as a guy as you hear these words, that is Divine Mercy pours out upon you in an abundance way that the gates of Divine Mercy flood your soul and all those in your life, that it takes any fear, anxiety, worry and fills you with mercy and trust. There is one vessel by which Grace has received Jesus as a Faustina. It is trust. Without trust, we cannot receive His grace and mercy, Jesus, I trust and you

Katie Hughes: 28:48

Amen. And Hallelujah. Thank you so much, father Chevelle for being with us. And again, Father sharp owl is from St. Michael's Abbey in Silverado, California. And they have a website and you can go visit. It's like a destination place. They're brand new. Abby is the most beautiful place you can visit in Orange County, the holy ground, what's going on there? The prayers in this little cannon area is just a highlight of someone's prayer life being there. I can honestly say that lots of souls are being saved just through all the reconciliations. The masses. Thank you for joining us on spirit filled radio and this was that kingdom come with Katie Hughes and our special guests, Father Sean Bell of St. Michael's Abbey and Silverado King. Thank you and God bless.

announcement: 29:48

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