RICH IN MERCY!
Happy Feast of Divine Mercy!
Can you name your favorite attribute of Jesus’? Is it His free association with the poor and His ability to see those that most people overlook? Is it His ability to give the perfect answer to the Pharisees who are trying to trap Him? For most of us, it is His mercy, especially if we have been on the receiving end and known how thoroughly undeserving we were. The Hebrew word for mercy is “Hesed,” which means loving compassion, tenderness, and steadfast love, among other things. It is found in the Old Testament over 250 times, and is central to how God reveals Himself to His people.
Today’s feast, given to us by St. Pope John Paul II in the year 2000, is set aside to rejoice in and implore God’s Mercy. It originates in the messages Jesus gave to a young nun in Warsaw, Poland, Sr. Maria Faustina, between 1931-1938, a time of great distress in Europe between the two great wars. In the midst of this time of great suffering, Jesus told Faustina that “mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to my mercy” (Diary, No. 300). In fact, Jesus tells Faustina repeatedly that we can depend on his love and his mercy if only we turn to him, repent of our sins and trust in him: “Sooner would heaven and earth turn into nothingness than would my mercy not embrace a trusting soul” (Diary, No. 1777).
Sr. Faustina relates, “On one occasion, I heard these words: ‘My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day are opened all the divine floodgates through which graces flow. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity…The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter (Diary, 699).
We too live in a time of great suffering and confusion in the world. There is war and Christian persecution abroad, while in our own prosperous country, there is terrible strife and division affecting our families, an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, addictions, and grave moral collapse. So many souls feel beyond the reach of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Never before has the message of God’s Divine Mercy been more important. St. John Paul emphasizes our duty to spread this message:
“May the binding promise of the Lord Jesus be fulfilled: from here there must go forth ‘the spark which will prepare the world for his final coming’ (Diary, 1732). This spark needs to be lighted by the grace of God. This fire of mercy needs to be passed on to the world. In the mercy of God the world will find peace and mankind will find happiness!”
Elizabeth Brown
Coordinator of Marriage Formation