Divine Mercy Sunday
St. Pope John Paul II picked the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday because it coincides beautifully with the Gospel reading, which informs us that the Risen Christ gave his Apostles the gift of the Holy Spirit and then instructed them, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (Jn 20:23).
Divine Mercy is inherent in the message of the resurrected Christ to his Apostles upon meeting them in the upper room. In his Encyclical, Dives in Misericordia (Rich in Mercy), St. John Paul II wrote, “It is precisely drawing close to Christ in the mystery of His heart which enables us to dwell on this point—a point in a sense central and almost accessible on the human level of the revelation of the merciful love of the Father, a revelation which constituted the central content of the messianic mission of the Son of Man.”
There was little doubt that when John Paul II instituted Divine Mercy Sunday universally for the Church in 2000, he was concerned with people’s salvation. He was influenced by one of his native Poles, Sr. Faustina Kowalska. She was a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and was said to have been visited by the Risen Lord, who told her to promote His Divine Mercy.
You have probably seen the picture of Divine Mercy; if you haven’t, it is the picture used to accompany this article. It is an image that depicts the Resurrected Jesus as two rays of light emanating from his heart, one red representing blood, signifying the Eucharist, and the other a lighter color representing water, which symbolizes baptism.
At the bottom are the words, “Jesus, I trust in you.” Jesus told her to document the visions in her diary (number 48), saying, “I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over [its] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death.” St. Faustina, a poorly educated Polish woman, compiled a 600-page diary of the apparitions she received. Part of the message from the Lord was His desire for a Feast of Mercy to be a refuge and shelter for souls.
It has also been reported that St. Faustina Kowalska also had an encounter with St. Therese of Lisieux, which shaped the message of the need to trust Jesus. Apparently, during a tough spot in her life, St. Faustina began a novena to St. Therese for help. On the fifth day of the novena, St. Therese advised St. Faustina to trust the Lord. Trusting in the Lord is the central theme of Divine Mercy and is at the bottom of every picture of Divine Mercy.
In the Diary of St. Faustina, number 699, Jesus said of Divine Mercy Sunday: “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. . .My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity.”
I urge you to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy today and the Novena for the next nine days. Those prayers can be found here.
Divine Mercy Sunday coincides beautifully with the Gospel reading today, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”