In the year 2000 Our Holy
Father Pope John Paul declared a new feast, the Feast of Divine Mercy to be
celebrated for the first time in 2001 on the Second Sunday of Easter, tomorrow.
We usually call it Divine Mercy Sunday on the remembrance of St. Faustina who
was privileged to receive apparitions from Jesus emphasizing his mercy. Sr.
Faustina was born in Poland in 1905. When she was twenty years old she entered
the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy where she lived for the next thirteen years
until her death on October 5th 1938. She was beatified by Pope John Paul
II in 1993 and canonized in 2000. When canonizing her Our Holy Father said,
“Today my joy is truly
great in presenting the life and witness of Sr. Faustina to the whole Church as
a gift of God for our time. In fact, it was between the First and Second World
Wars that Christ entrusted his message of mercy to her. Those who remember the
events of those years and the horrible sufferings know well how necessary was
this message of mercy.”
One of the important
vision of Faustina is the picture of Divine Mercy. In February 1931 Sister
Faustina saw Jesus dressed in a white garment. Jesus told her to Paint an image
according to the vision she see. And in the bottom, Jesus asked her to write:
Jesus, I trust in You. In the vision, Jesus held one hand raised in blessing
and the other hand touching his garment at the chest as in the picture. From
that point in his garment two rays of light emanated, one red and the other
pale.
Later Jesus explained, “The
two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes
souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls.
These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My
agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross..” (Diary §299)
In the picture, we can
see Jesus walking to us. It means Jesus is coming to us with his peace and
Mercy. No matter what sins you committed, no matter where you are Jesus is
walking to reconcile with you. He comes to you, not in ager but with divine
mercy. And what is interesting is that this image is very close to the image of
shroud of Turin especially its structure. It’s not just coincidence but it’s
the work of God.
Another one is powerful
prayer Divine Mercy Chaplet. A number of
times in St. Faustina’s diary we see the power of the Chaplet of Divine
Mercy."Say unceasingly this chaplet that I have taught you. Whoever will
recite it will receive great Mercy at the hour of death. Even if there were a
sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this Chaplet only once, he would
receive grace from My infinite mercy. I want the whole world to know My
infinite mercy. I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust
in My Mercy.
And as we celebrate
divine Mercy, we are reminded of this mercy we need to show each other in order
to avoid another war and its suffering. Today we are reminded about when people
are suffering and in pain, we have to bring Christ’s peace to them.
Today we need to ask this
question: What does "mercy" mean?
To understanding the
meaning of mercy, it will help if we examine its etymology. Our English word,
mercy, goes back to the Latin: misericordia, which is composed of two words.
"Cordia" is familiar to us from such words as "cardiologist"
and "cardiac." It means heart. The first part, "miseri"
refers to suffering. Mercy, then, means to have a heart for those who suffer
or, more precisely, to have a heart willing to suffer for others.
Today’s gospel we see St. Thomas believes Jesus
resurrection by putting his hand in Jesus’s side. This side, this wound is the
entire mystery of Christ and of God: his Passion, his earthly life – filled
with compassion for the weak and the sick. Pope Francis says,
“Being apostles of mercy means touching and soothing the wounds that
today afflict the bodies and souls of many of our brothers and sisters.”
“Curing these wounds, we
profess Jesus, we make him present and alive; we allow others, who touch his
mercy with their own hands, to recognize him as ‘Lord and God.’”
During today’s retreat at
Franciscan Kitchen for homeless, om of our students shared this
beautiful concept of Mercy, "whenever we sacrifice our time and convenience for
others, whether it be family or strangers, we are helping Jesus to spread his
mercy. Whenever we care for the poor by feeding them and asking them how their
day has been, we are helping Jesus give his mercy. It is in the simple moments
when we smile at strangers or offer comforting and supporting words to others
that help Jesus spread his mercy".
Ultimately mercy results
not so much from human effort as from God's free gift. " During the this
time of Easter, we ask God to open our hearts so that we might receive into our
hearts his Mercy - his Holy Spirit, so that we will be apostles of Mercy.
Fr. John Pozhathuparambil
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