Unclaimed Mercy

By Alyssa Bormes

Fall foliage by Condesign. Courtesy of Pixabay. CC0 Public Domain

There are four days left of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, and the best news is that the mercy has not yet been used up. In fact, in these last days, there are still infinite graces remaining. Now we just have to claim them!

This reminds me of the Miraculous Medal, which was a fruit of the vision of Mary that St. Catherine Laboure was given. On the front of the medal there are rays coming from Mary. Of these rays Mary said, “These rays symbolize the graces I shed upon those who ask for them. The jewels which give no rays symbolize the graces that are not given because they are not asked for.”

When I first heard this, my heart broke. How many times had I left grace on the table? How often did I go without grace when it was exactly what was needed? What about the graces that I could have claimed for others? What a disappointment – except that it no longer needs to be!

This is a Jubilee year; debts of all sorts are to be forgiven. It is time now. If you have already been asking for mercy, then double down. If this year has sort of slipped by, don’t think that it is too late. Be bold and ask. Give God the heaviest mercy request in your heart. In fact, request the mercy that you are not even aware that you need.

But isn’t it really too late?  Shouldn’t I have been more attentive to this Jubilee year? There are only four days left, what could possibly be done?

I know this for certain; God has done some pretty amazing things with very little notice. Four days is an eternity for He who is Mercy.

So here is the plan:
Step 1. Ask Him! Ask Him for all the mercy He wants to give to you.
Step 2. Be ready to receive it in whatever form He has for you.
Step 3. Pray in thanksgiving – even if you don’t think anything has happened yet – because it will!
Step 4. Repeat the whole thing tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day.

Mercy is waiting in this Jubilee Year – ask away!

Alyssa Bormes is an educator, author, speaker, and retreat leader. She currently teaches at the Chesterton Academy in Edina, Minnesota, writes for the Catholic Spirit, and the W.I.N.E blog, is the host of a weekly show,“Christian Witnesses in the Church,” on Radio Maria US, and is the author of The Catechism of Hockey. You can find her at alyssabormes.com.