Mercy Sunday 2022 The Spirit of the Risen Christ casts out fear from the hearts of the apostles and pushes them out of the Upper Room, to bring the Gospel. We also must have more courage to witness to faith in the Risen Christ! Let us not be afraid to be Christian and live as Christians! We must have the courage to go out and proclaim Christ the Risen Lord, for he is our peace. "Trusting in the mercy of the Lord forever, because he is waiting for us, he loves us." Pope Francis +++++++++ It can be very difficult to convince Christians about God’s mercy. I can struggle with the concept of mercy as revealed in the Gospels, especially the story about the Prodigal Son. The story (parable) is in reality, at least in my opinion, about the Father. How he treats both of his sons, and how he deals with his younger wayward child. It is nothing like anything I would do. In fact, this story, like some other parables, was not well received by many when he spoke them. They went against the religious sentiments of the time, and still do, even today. As a species, we understand things about justice, equity, and punishment differently than Jesus not only taught about but also shown in how he related to others. Even when he was angry, it was out of compassion, not out of a desire to harm, or hurt, but to teach. Often when hell is discussed it tells us more about ourselves than about the justice and mercy of God. Revenge can be desired for others, but mercy for ourselves. Jesus taught that there is no limit to the mercy of God for those who seek it. Did he not tell us to forgive 70 times 7 times a day? Well, he was showing us the love and compassion of the Father. He was the incarnation, the revelation of the Father, for to see Jesus is to see the father. The section below was taken from this site: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/celebrate ---------- In a series of revelations to St. Maria Faustina Kowalski in the 1930s, our Lord called for a special feast day to be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter. Today, we know that feast as Divine Mercy Sunday, named by Pope St. John Paul II at the canonization of St. Faustina on April 30, 2000. The Lord expressed His will with regard to this feast in His very first revelation to St. Faustina. The most comprehensive revelation can be found in her Diary entry 699: My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. 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. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day are opened all the divine floodgates through which graces flow. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My mercy. Diary entry 699: To receive these graces, the only condition is to receive Holy Communion worthily on Divine Mercy Sunday (or the Vigil celebration) by making a good confession beforehand and staying in the state of grace and trusting in His Divine Mercy. By these conditions, our Lord is emphasizing the value of confession and Holy Communion as miracles of mercy. The Eucharist is Jesus, Himself, the Living God, longing to pour Himself as Mercy into our hearts. In addition, our Lord says through St. Faustina that we are to perform acts of mercy: "Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy" (742). "The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive" (1578). The worthy reception of the Eucharist on Divine Mercy Sunday is sufficient to obtain the extraordinary graces promised by Jesus. https://www.thedivinemercy.org/celebrate ---------- Jesus has not revealed anything new when it comes to God’s mercy. It is our understanding of the message of the Gospel that is the problem. The call to trust sounds ‘nice’, but in living the message calls us to a death to an old way of looking at our relationship with God, and most importantly, God’s relationship with us. Often, without realizing it, we see God as just like us, but just bigger. Is it any wonder that many have a subservient fear when it comes to God? It is easy to do so, since we do understand revenge more than justice and mercy, and the struggle we have to forgive complicates matters. There is no such struggle with God, who is mercy itself. What we need to fear is ourselves, and the possibility of growing in such a way that we will freely turn our backs on God. Separation from God, as it is shown in the Parable of the Prodigal son, comes from us. The father waited, patiently for his son’s return. When he did return the Father ran toward him and showed only mercy, compassion, and love. It was the elder son, who had the problem. It takes great faith to trust in God when we are at our worst. Yet it is trust that allows us to arise and continue our journey towards our loving Father-Br.MD
Thank you Brother Mark for posting this today. I have had a struggle this week continuing even stringer today. I had a beautiful and spiritual Holy Week and Easter. And this whole past week and today has been what I can only say is an oppression - a battle- thoughts that are trying to pull me away. Almost the opposite of trust in Jesus. I need Divine Mercy more than ever tomorrow. I’m going to confession shortly. Please pray for me but more for my confessor. I’m grateful at least whike I’m in this struggle, my Guardian angel is guiding me to where I need to go. thank you. Peace.
Yes, I will pray, I understand, and I am sure most here do as well. It is a struggle, but grace sees us through, picks us up, and heals. peace mark
Divine Mercy Sunday is coming up, on April 16th this year. It will coincide with the date that the Orthodox celebrate Easter. Here is information about the Feast with links to all questions answered: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/celebrate/greatgrace It's an incredible gift, given in times where we need it the most. If we get crushed by our sins and think there we can't possibly be forgiven, think again! Not only can we be forgiven but the Lord will wipe our slates clean too and give us another Grace to start over. "With the Feast of Divine Mercy Sunday, Our Lord grants us the precious gift of wiping away all of our purgatory and restoring us to our baptismal innocence if we faithfully and lovingly observe the following: 1. Celebrate the Feast on the Sunday after Easter (It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter.) 2. Sincerely repent of all our sins and go to Confession, preferably less than eight days before or on that Sunday 3. Receive Holy Communion on the day of the Feast (The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.) 4. Place our complete trust in Jesus 5. Venerate the image of the Divine Mercy (meaning to perform some act or make some gesture of deep religious respect toward it because it represents Our Merciful Savior) 6. Be merciful to others, through our actions, words, and prayers on their behalf
Jesus taught that there is no limit to the mercy of God for those who seek it. Did he not tell us to forgive 70 times 7 times a day? Jesus, make me a conduit of Your Mercy for others.
You're welcome! Here is another wonderful reminder of this Grace which Fr Alar says is "like a second baptism". Wow.
We been blessed this year that our parish priest has led the DM novena and Chaplet immediately after the 9am Mass. We will have opportunity to celebrate tomorrow at 3pm in front of a large a beautiful image of the Divine Mercy. There is a story behind how that image got there……. Even prior to St. Pope John Paul II declaring the second Sunday of Easter as officially “Divine Mercy” Sunday, my wife and I were drawn to this via a holy woman (Kathleen Keefe) who had startled an apostolate for it. She focused on mercy for priests and families. There were celebrations of this feast at our Marian Shrine. It then slowly grew and of course exploded after it was officially declared I believe in 2000. One year there was a Divine Mercy conference (not DM Sunday) in Westchester NY at the County Center with close to 7000 people. My wife and I went…. It was quite a spiritual day… more for my beautiful wife. In fact, even as she walked into main auditorium where image was, she described being “zapped” and fell. Described it as the spirit filling her with warmth and she was filled with immense love of God. She still describes it that as much as she loves her family , at that moment, she was ready to leave us and be in this immense love. As it was a conference, there were several books, prayer cards, rosaries , etc on sale. My wife was like a kid in candy shop…. Bought everything she saw but with no intention to keep but to give to as many as she could. Of course, your truly, being the work in progress that I am was growing increasing anxious and yes a bit angry as we were struggling to make ends meet at that point. I sort of growled at her to stop buying stuff… it was loud enough that several near us wanted to sprinkle holy water on me Well my wife sort of listened. With literally her last $1 she took a chance on a gigantic ( 4 ft x 2ft) and golden framed image. It was beautiful. Well, she put ticket in her pocketbook and immediate said, she was donating it to our parish when she won it. She said I’ve seen the winning numbers and they are on this ticket. This is one of those small tickets with like 7-8 digits. My wife would admit she is not a numbers person and I know she did not look at ticket. After the beautiful closing Mass, the drawing for this beautiful image took place. Before they even finished saying the first number, my wife gets up and starts to walk to front. I was mortified and was like thjs is going to be embarrassing. Before she got to front, all the numbers were called. I watched in astonishment as she gave ticket and it was confirmed as that which was called. We had won this image. I think won is not really right word… we were asked by God to take custody of this image until it found its home. As I mentioned, my wife immediately thought it was meant for our parish. Unfortunately, the pastor at the time did not accept it. So, this huge image of Divine Mercy was the center of our living room for 10 years. I could go on with stories of what folks did when they saw it but will save you from an even longer post. When a new pastor arrived, my wife asked if he would like it. He immediately said yes. We thought he might put it in back of Church or on side area. But to our surprise and gratitude, it is enshrined in front close to the tabernacle. We asked our pastor to keep the donation private …. So only our family and now you here know it. So tomorrow , we will have opportunity to gain all the benefits of Divine Mercy Sunday at our parish in front of an image from over 20 years ago that resided 10 years in our home. Finally part… our youngest son when we first gave image away and our living room wall was bare was heartbroken. We were surprised as we thought he was indifferent to it… but he asked if we could put up another one… which we did ….a smaller version but still beautiful. As this son has grown, like many his age, he has drifted from faith, but I have confidence that the Mercy of God will draw him back as He will with all of our children and family members. Sorry for long story…. Happy Feast Day. Christ is Risen!
Oh miker, what a wonderful story! I'm sure our merciful Lord will draw your son back to Him. Will remember him in my prayers!
Thank you Miker. Your testimony (story) is a beautiful gift to receive today, Divine Mercy Sunday 2023. Praised be Jesus and Mary. Viva Christo Rey.
Happy Feast of Divine Mercy everyone. May our Lord Christ visit everyone's home & anoint them with His spirit.
So, I completed the DM novena and have confessed, received Holy Communion and asked Our Lord to grant me the special indulgence. However, I was really struggling to believe that I had 'reset' myself to the condition of a newly baptised baby. Today, coincidentally a story I heard decades ago kept replaying in my mind for some unknown reason. I have just completed my Rosary and, while saying the mystery of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, I asked Him why this story kept repeating itself in my head and the immediate inspiration I received was to that I should not be like Thomas and should believe (in the efficacy of the Divine Mercy). This doesn't make much sense without telling the story which went as follows (I can't vouch for every detail as I heard this a very long time ago). There was an old priest based in London who was very pious and loved by his congregation. He never went out except in immaculate priestly garb in case anyone might be inspired by the sight of him to seek his spiritual help. So one day, the teller of the story told me, he knocked on her door apologising and saying that he had just had an accident nearby. He was saying a Rosary and was distracted and fell down a hole in the road and his shoes and trousers were covered in mud. He asked if he could clean himself up and she ushered him in. He went to remove his shoes and said 'Oh, Our Lady has been mothering me again, look I was covered in mud a few minutes ago and now I'm perfectly clean! She looks after me so'. So, the story was linked to my doubts about being 'clean' as was Thomas's attitude in the Gospel of the day. I am still recovering from what I take to be an assurance and I hope that it might reassure other 'doubters' like me. Disappointingly no mention of this indulgence was made at our Church and, although there is a picture of the Divine Mercy in church near the altar, only two of us in the congregation approached it to make devotions after Mass. A chatting crowd was standing in front of the image preventing us from seeing it properly or being able to concentrate fully on our devotions. What a loss of opportunity to hundreds of people!
Thank you for this wonderful post. You need not doubt! I am sorry your church failed to recognize the Feast of Divine Mercy today. You are right about the great loss.
That is sad about your Church. Those parishioners lost out if they didn't already know about the special grace. Fr Chris Alar of the Marian fathers explains it so beautifully. That's how my understanding of this great gift was formed. I am taking it on faith that this gift is mine now. Thanks for story. Its very significant--esoecially for you today.
I am sad to say I failed to say the DM novena every day. I did pray 2 rosaries every day and attended daily Mass also. I do venerate my Divine Mercy picture several times a day and say the little prayer Jesus I TRUST in You. I attended the DM devotions today at House of Prayer, Clonfert. It was lovely. I don't know if I qualified for the special indulgence because of not doing the novena every day. I didn't have a good week health wise and was very exhausted several evenings. I'm sad that I didn't do everything as I should have
In my understanding, the Novena is not a requirement for gaining the indulgence. The conditions for the indulgence are Confession and Holy Communion, prayers for venerating the image of Divine Mercy, and an Our Father and a Creed. One should form the intention to gain the indulgence and have the disposition to avoid all sin. If I am wrong here, please correct me.
