Divine Mercy Sunday
St. John Paul II established Divine Mercy Sunday for the entire Church on April 30, 2000, when he canonized St. Mary Faustina Kowalska. At that occasion the former Pope said that by so doing, he intended to pass on the message of Divine Mercy to the new millennium.
He quoted from St. Faustina’s “Diary” of
her experience of Jesus speaking to her, “My daughter, say that I am love and
mercy personified” (Diary, p. 374), and “Humanity will not find peace until it
turns trustfully to divine mercy” (Diary, p. 132).
In regards to proclaiming Divine Mercy
Sunday (a feast day Jesus has asked St. Faustina to promote), St. John Paul
noted that the present liturgical readings for the day already focus on
mercy. “In the various readings, the
liturgy seems to indicate the path of mercy which, while re-establishing the
relationship of each person with God, also creates new relations of fraternal
solidarity among human beings. Christ has taught us that man not only receives
and experiences the mercy of God, but is also called to practice mercy towards
others: ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy’ (Mt.
5:7).”
The Pope said, “It is not easy to love
with a deep love, which lies in the authentic gift of self. This love can only
be learned by penetrating the mystery of God's love. Looking at him, being one
with his fatherly heart, we are able to look with new eyes at our brothers and
sisters, with an attitude of unselfishness and solidarity, of generosity and
forgiveness. All this is mercy!”
Again he quoted St. Faustina from her
Diary, “I feel tremendous pain when I see the sufferings of my neighbors. All
my neighbors’ sufferings reverberate in my own heart; I carry their anguish in
my heart in such a way that it even physically destroys me. I would like all
their sorrows to fall upon me, in order to relieve my neighbor” (Diary, p.
365).
The Pope said, “This is the degree of
compassion to which love leads, when it takes the love of God as its measure!
It is this love which must inspire humanity today, if it is to face the crisis
of the meaning of life, the challenges of the most diverse needs and,
especially, the duty to defend the dignity of every human person. Thus the
message of divine mercy is also implicitly a message about the value of every
human being. Each person is precious in God’s eyes; Christ gave his life for
each one; to everyone the Father gives his Spirit and offers intimacy.
“This consoling message is addressed above all to those who, afflicted by a particularly harsh trial or crushed by the weight of the sins they committed, have lost all confidence in life and are tempted to give in to despair. To them the gentle face of Christ is offered; those rays from his heart touch them and shine upon them, warm them, show them the way and fill them with hope. How many souls have been consoled by the prayer, ‘Jesus, I trust in you,’ which Providence intimated through Sr Faustina! This simple act of abandonment to Jesus dispels the thickest clouds and lets a ray of light penetrate every life.”
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.
Dibby Allan Green has a BA in Religious Studies (Westmont College, 1978) and MA in Theology (Augustine Institute, 2019), is a lay Catholic hermit, and a parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.