Divine Mercy
Since the year 2000, the universal Church has concluded the Octave of Easter by celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday. This great solemnity calls us to rejoice in the merciful love of God as it is most profoundly manifested in the Pascal Mystery of Jesus Christ.
In Saint John Paul II’s 1980 encyclical Rich in Mercy he wrote that “Believing in [God’s] love means believing in mercy. For mercy is an indispensable dimension of love; it is as it were love’s second name and, at the same time, the specific manner in which love is revealed.”
Salvation history is rich with evidence of this truth, from God’s Covenant with the people of Israel when he gave Moses the Ten Commandment and later said of himself “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy….”
The entire Old Testament reveals God’s mercy, as does the New Testament, especially in the words of the Lord’s last agony, when Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them…” and the Father of Mercies was revealed to the world.
Simply speaking, “Divine Mercy” is another name for the magnificent love of God, which culminated in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. The Christian world has long known and praised this abundant mercy…so it’s nothing new.
Jesus appeared to a Polish cloistered nun, Sister Mary Faustina Kowalska first on February 22, 1931, who He called “His apostle of mercy” and over the years to follow spoke to her and gave her the very important message relating to God’s mercy. Here’s a very condensed version:
“Mankind will not be at peace until it turns with trust to My mercy….Proclaim that mercy is the greatest attribute of God.”
Jesus requested that the image we see in the stained glass window in our church be painted with the signature “Jesus, I trust in You.”
In His conversations with Saint Faustina He told her “My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls….”
Our Lord told St. Faustina of His great desire that the first Sunday after Easter be dedicated as the “Feast of Divine Mercy,” and that the Divine Mercy image be known and venerated by the whole world.
On April 30, 2000 St. Pope John Paul II both canonized Sister Faustina and in his homily states his desire that the Second Sunday of Easter be called “Divine Mercy Sunday,” and so it is…Christ’s Easter gift to the world.
At the Mass of Faustina’s canonization the Pope prayed for her intercession …we should join him in this prayer:
“Divine Mercy reaches human beings from the Heart of Christ crucified.... Today, fixing our gaze with you on the face of the Risen Christ, let us make our own prayer of trusting abandonment and say with firm hope: ‘Jesus, I trust in You!’”
God bless…Deacon Loris