Divine Mercy Sunday, 12 April 2014
Because thou has seen me, thou hast
believed. Blessed are they who have not
seen and yet have believed
. Jn. 20: 29
The words of John’s Gospel (Jn. 20: 19
-31)
are very appropriate for today’s feast of Divine
Mercy. Jesus commended those who have not seen
and yet believe. (cf. Jn. 20:29) We have to trust in
the words of Jesus both in the gospel and in His
words to St. Faustina. Jesus continually spoke of
mercy during His earthly life. He went so far, as
we see
in today’s Gospel, to ordain His apostles and
their successors in the priesthood to forgive sins;
“
Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall
forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins
you shall retain, they are retained.
”
Jn. 20:22-23.
The sacrament of Reconciliation is essential to our
salvation, yet there are many who do not believe.
St. John in today’s Epistle (I Jn. 5:4
-10) tells us
how necessary it is for us to believe in Jesus Christ
if we wish to save our souls:
“Who is he that
overcometh the world, but he that believeth that
Jesus is the Son of God?”
(I Jn. 5: 5) Only with
Jesus Christ can we overcome the evils in the
world. This is why Jesus brought the messages of
“Divine Mercy”
to St. Faustina in Poland just
before World War II.
“Divine Mercy” is a critical
message for our dark and destructive times It is
now more important than ever as the era of mercy
may soon end, and the time of judgment will arrive
with Jesus’s Second Coming. The Mother of God
told St. Faustina:
“Oh how pleasing to God is the
soul that follows faithfully the inspiration of His
grace! I gave the Saviour to the world; as for
you, you have to speak to the world about His
great mercy and prepare the world for the
Second Coming of Him who will come, not as a
merciful Saviour, but as a just judge. Oh, how
terrible is that day! Determined is the day of
justice, the day of divine wrath. The angels
tremble before it...”
(Diary of Divine Mercy #
635 DDM)
Rich in Mercy
Our Holy Father Pope John Paul II has
given us this feast of Divine Mercy and has written
much about the need to go to the fount of mercy
by reciting the Chaplet of Divine Mercy: “
At no
time… especially at a moment as critical as our
own can the Church forget the prayer that is a
cry for the mercy
of God…The Church has the
right and duty to appeal to the God of Mercy
with ‘loud cries’.
(Rich in Mercy, #15) Our
Blessed Lord told St. Faustina that He cannot refuse
a soul who begs for mercy: “
Souls that make an
appeal to My mercy delight me. To such souls I
grant even more, more than they ask. I cannot
punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an
appeal to My compassion.”
(DDM #1146) Jesus
tells us to “
Beg for mercy for the whole world.”
(
DDM #570) “No soul that has called upon My
mercy has
ever been disappointed.”
(DDM
#1541)
But on the contrary, I justify him in My
unfathomable and inscrutable mercy.
” (DDM
#1146)
Channels of Grace
Souls who come to Jesus with trust receive
such an abundance of grace that they radiate it to
others. Jesus
told St. Faustina: “When a soul
approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an
abundance of graces that it cannot contain them
within itself, but radiates them to others.” (
DDM
#1074)
How is this done? “You are to show
mercy to your neighbour always and
everywhere...
(DDM #742)
Mystery of Divine Grace
Sanctifying grace is one of the most
important doctrines of our faith. To be ignorant of
divine grace is to be ignorant of the Catholic faith.
At the Last Supper, Jesus told us,
“I am the vine
you are the branches; he that abideth in me
beareth much fruit, for without me you can do
nothing.”
Jn. 15:5 We can only grow in holiness
and bear much fruit with the grace of God. We
received this sanctifying grace at our baptism when
we were made children of God, heirs of heaven and
sharers in God’s divine nature. We were also called
to be spouses of Christ which is our eternal destiny
in heaven. Grace is nothing else than sharing in
God’s love. In fact, another name for sanctifying
grace is love
. “God is love.” I Jn. 4:17 Jesus told
St. Faustina:
“I desire to unite Myself with
human souls; My great delight is to unite Myself
with souls. Know, my daughter, that when I
come to a human heart in Holy Communion, My
hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want
to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay any
attention to Me; they leave Me to Myself and
busy themselves with other things. Oh, how sad I
am that souls do not recognize Love! They treat
Me as a dead object....” DDM
#1447 How
blessed we are to go to confession and receive Holy
Communion and gain so many graces on this Feast
of Divine Mercy!
The Hour of Divine Mercy
Jesus asked St. Faustina to promote the
Chaplet of Divine Mercy which should be said
frequently especially at the hour of Divine Mercy,
3:00 P. M. He promised:
“In this hour you can
obtain everything for yourself and for others for
the asking: it is the hour of grace for the whole
world
—mercy triumphs over justice.”
(DDM
#1572). He also promised, “
In this hour I will
refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request
of me in virtue of my passion.”
(DDM #1320).
“
For the sake of His sorrowful passion have
mercy on me and on the whole world.”
(Divine
Mercy Chaplet
)
Image of Mercy
Jesus said, “
Not in the beauty of the
colour, nor of the brush lies the greatness of this
image, but in my grace.
” (DDM #313) “The two
rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray
stands for the Water which makes souls
righteous (Baptism). The red stands for blood
which is the life of souls… These
two rays issued
forth from the depths of My tender mercy when
my agonized heart was opened by a lance on the
Cross. These rays shield souls from the wrath
of My Father. Happy is the one who will dwell
in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall
no
t lay hold of him…
(DDM #299)
Easter Novena of Masses
The Masses from the Easter Vigil, 4
April 2015 to Divine Mercy Sunday 12
April 20154 will be offered for all the
Relatives and Benefactors of the
Franciscans of the Immaculate. May God
bless you all for all the good that you do
for the Friars and Sisters of Lanherne.
Divine Mercy Sunday
(1
st Sunday after Easter)
:
12 April 2015
10:00 AM Sunday Holy Mass
2:00 PM Adoration of the Most
Blessed
Sacrament
- (with
Confessions)
3:00 PM Divine Mercy Chaplet &
Holy Mass
(After the Divine Mercy Services, there will
be tea at St. Joseph’s Hall. All are welcome.
)
