Now is the Time for Mercy
It is good to be back from my pilgrimage to Poland. I prayed for all of you! I had many wonderful experiences and today I am focusing on the very important message of Divine Mercy; a momentous and integral part of Christianity.
Although the devotion to God’s mercy has always been present in the church, the devotion was renewed through St. Faustina. While in the convent in Krakow, Poland in the 1930s, Faustina received incredible visions and messages from Jesus about Divine Mercy. Jesus asked her to write down these messages. Faustina did so and today we have her writings in the Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska.
Faustina was the first saint canonized in the new millennium by another remarkable Polish saint: St. John Paul II. By canonizing her, JPII placed an emphasis on Divine Mercy for all people of the new millennium.
Did you know that John Paul II was nicknamed the “mercy pope?” On the same day JPII canonized St. Faustina, he instituted Divine Mercy Sunday (the Sunday after Easter). He is known to have said, “this is the happiest day of my life” because he believed his mission was to spread the message of mercy. JPII even died on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday! His papacy was dedicated to the message of Divine Mercy:
"The Message of Divine Mercy has always been near and dear to me… which I took with me to the See of Peter and which it in a sense forms the image of this Pontificate," (Address of John Paul II, Shrine of Divine Mercy, 1).
Divine Mercy is quite mysterious. John Paul II wrote the following which helped me think of mercy in a new way: “For mercy is an indispensable dimension of love; it is as it were love's second name and, at the same time, the specific way love is revealed and effected, (Dives in misericordia, 7).
On day 6 of the pilgrimage, we visited the Shrine of Divine Mercy. We saw the original image (see below), prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3 pm (the hour of Jesus's death), and heard from a religious sister of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy (the community of St. Faustina). One important take-away I received from her is the need for us all to be “apostles of Divine Mercy.” That is, we are called to spread the message of merciful love by not only speaking of it, but by showing it through our actions. Unfortunately, I think it’s common for people to think of God as one who punishes, resulting in fear of the Father.
Before my pilgrimage, I started reading Faustina’s Diary. She wrote so many thought-provoking and powerful things. Faustina includes things Jesus has spoken to her regarding Divine Mercy including, “I perform works of mercy in every soul. The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy,” (Diary, 723). By faith, we know then that God is not vengeful because we have sinned. Rather, through Christ, the Father seeks to give the graces of his merciful love.
In a nutshell, the message of Divine Mercy is that God’s love and mercy is greater and more powerful than our sins. “Mercy is love when it meets poverty, weakness, brokenness, and sin,” (The Second Greatest Story Ever Told, 72).
On Good Friday, we can start the novena, which ends on Divine Mercy Sunday. The novena can be found by clicking here.
“Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners,” (Matthew 9:13).