I ran into mass with 11 others in my freshmen class and two consecrated women. The wind blew the door shut as we entered. Our clothes and hair were spotted with rain. As we came in, the tender gaze of our Lord and the rays of His mercy greeted us. My class had taken a road trip to Ohio and Michigan to visit the Regnum Christi schools, the consecrated women, and our little sisters in the Immaculate Conception Program. Trying to arrive before the storm, we had made a quick start that morning. With two-and-a half-hours left to drive, we stopped for two o’clock mass at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Stockbridge, MA.

During the homily the priest told stories of how Divine Mercy takes care of those who put their trust in Him. He told us the Divine Mercy had preserved houses from the devastation of the Nazis during World War II, and another time Jesus saved a man’s shack in the Philippines during a hurricane. The priest then assured us that Jesus takes care of His people. After mass we soon discovered that the roads were closed. The “perfect storm” was coming faster than we expected and it would be impossible to drive back that day.

 While we wondered what to do a Marian brother came and greeted us. When the brother saw us in mass he had thought it was either a nun run or the consecrated of Regnum Christi.  He had met the consecrated when they came to sing at the mass of Divine Mercy Sunday the past two years. It just so happened that there was a guesthouse with twelve beds and two blow up mattresses. Christ’s mercy was taking care of us in the middle of the storm. After arrangements were made it was three o’clock. We went back into the shrine to say the chaplet of Divine Mercy. God always takes care of those who put their trust in him. 

The night and the storm rolled on. Eating leftover pizza inside, we heard a loud crash. Later with a friend and one little lantern, I went outside to see what the storm had done. We discovered a bush uprooted, many branches strewn everywhere, but most striking was a large branch just outside the house. It was the size of a small tree and had landed in an open space between the house and the cars. We looked to see the tree it had fell from. The tree was directly over the cars. It is amazing how it landed there and did not damage the house or the cars. The Divine Mercy was taking care of us and sheltering us from the powerful storm. If God’s mercy is so powerful in the physical world how much powerful it is in the souls of the His creatures.