Mercy Sunday
Source: Dennis ward
Mercy, forgiveness, healing. This is what we celebrate today on this Feast of Divine Mercy. And the Godwin family proclaimed this truth, lived this truth so beautifully this week.
God loves us. God can heal our minds and save our souls. God calls us to forgive, and by that act of forgiveness, we ourselves are forgiven.
Mr. Godwin's son, Robert Jr, echoed the sentiment shared by his sister. He said, “One thing I do want to say [to the killer] is I forgive him. Because we are all sinners“¦I´m not happy with what you did, but I forgive you.“
Here is a family, devastated by the senseless death of a dear loved one, but filled with the mercy of God.
This is our vocation as Christians: to be filled with the Mercy of God. Mercy was at the heart of Good Friday, Mercy was at the Heart of Easter Sunday. Today´s Feast celebrates the mercy lavishly poured out upon us by God and the mercy we are in turn to pour out for others.
Today´s feast of Divine Mercy stems from a series of private revelations given by our Lord in the 1930´s to a simple Polish nun by the name of Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska. Now canonized, St. Faustina recorded these private revelations in a diary of about 600 pages detailing a whole program of devotion to the mercy of Jesus Christ. Consider the Lord´s timing in appearing to St. Faustina! The 1930s was the beginning of an era of unparalleled cruelty of man toward his brother, it saw the rise of totalitarian atheistic governments and rampant materialism, and the trampling of basic human freedoms like the right to life.
So, Our Lord himself gave to the Church this special and important gift, right when we needed it, to help us survive an era of darkness“”an era which continues still.
In the pages of St. Faustina´s diary we learn of the Image of Divine Mercy. The Lord explained how this image is to help us remember God´s mercy and the need to show mercy. I encourage you to place the image of Divine Mercy somewhere in your homes.
In the Diary, we hear about the Divine Mercy Chaplet, which the faithful should pray with great devotion: asking God to show mercy upon our troubled world. The Lord said to St. Faustina, “Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.“ So, we do well to pray the Chaplet. If you don´t know how to pray the Chaplet, I´ve just given you homework. Learn it and pray it. Don´t turn on a television until you´ve done your homework!
Also in the diary St. Faustina writes about the Hour of Mercy, how our Lord desires that every day at three o´clock, his death on the Cross“”the supreme sign and source of God´s mercy“”be recalled in prayer and devotion. Every day we should stop at 3pm, and thank God for the gift of our salvation.
St. Faustina records in numerous places in her diary Jesus´ desire that a liturgical feast be instituted in honor of his mercy on the second Sunday of Easter. Thanks to St. John Paul II who instituted this feast, we honor our Lord´s wishes today.
Finally, Jesus told St Faustina, "I demand from you deeds of mercy... You are to show deeds of mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere."
Always and everywhere. To terrorists, show mercy. To murdering facebook killers, show mercy. To annoying neighbors and inconsiderate drivers, show mercy. To people who you disagree with
politically, show mercy and patience. To people who betray your trust, show mercy. To rude shoppers at the grocery store, show mercy. To God´s poor ones who reach out to you for help, show mercy. For souls trapped in cycles of sin and souls in danger of hell, pray for mercy. For bishops, priests, and religious who so often fail in our solemn duties, pray for mercy. For children whose parents do not raise them in the faith, pray for mercy. “Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.“ You and I will not have peace until we become people of mercy for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
Dennis Ward USPA
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