Divine Mercy Sunday - Year B - How Merciful is God?

 

How merciful is God? If we look at Sacred Scripture, we see how God was merciful to Mary Magdalene, a prostitute, who converted. She later stood at the foot of the Cross and when Jesus rose from the dead, He chose to appear to her first, before the Apostles.

St. Paul, who persecuted Christians and was responsible for the stoning of St. Stephen, but converted after having a vision of Jesus and then became an apostle founding many churches and wrote letters that now make up the New Testament.

Or Peter, who denied Jesus three times, but became the first Pope of the Catholic Church. Remember what Jesus asked Peter after the resurrection? He asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” in order to make up for the three times Peter denied Him.

Remember the adulterous woman, who was going to be stoned to death and all Jesus told her, was “Go and sin no more.”

Outside of scripture, Blessed Barto Longo, a satanic high priest, converted due to the Holy Rosary and became a Dominican brother.

Or Fr. Don Calloway, who was a drug mule delivering drugs from one dealer to another. He lived very promiscuous life with many young women, and was addicted to drugs, but had a conversion and was then called to be a priest and is now a Marian of the Immaculate Conception.

Or Bernard Nathanson, who was an abortionist, who admitted to killing over 7,000 unborn children, but converted, was baptized as Catholic and then became a pro-life leader.

Bishop Fulton Sheen tells the story of a prostitute, who went to Confession and then later became a cloistered nun. Jesus said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

All of these people were touched by their personal contact with Jesus. All of these and many more came to know the love and mercy of God. If God was merciful to all these people, He certainly will be merciful to each of us, whose sins are so much less than these notorious sinners.

In the year 2000, Pope John Paul instituted the Feast of Divine Mercy, which is celebrated today, the Second Sunday of Easter. The feast arises out of a series of apparitions, from a Polish nun, by the name of Sr. Faustina. She 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.

In February of 1931, Sr. Faustina saw Jesus dressed in a white garment. He held one hand raised-- in blessing and the other hand touching his garment at his chest. From the point on his garment two rays of light emanated (one red and the other white). Jesus said, “Paint a picture according to the vision you see and with the signature, ‘Jesus I trust in You!’ I desire that this picture be venerated first in your chapel and then throughout the whole world.” Later Jesus explained, “The rays represent the Blood and Water which gushed forth from the depths of my Mercy when My agonizing heart was pierced on the cross. The pale rays symbolize the water which cleanses and purifies the soul: the red rays represent the blood, which gives new life to the soul.”

In the Gospel today, the disciples were gathered in the Upper Room and were afraid. But Jesus came to them with his message of peace. He said, “Peace be with you!” They were no longer afraid. It is like that for us too. We will not find peace until we find it in Jesus. Jesus’ message for each of us today is to find our peace in Him. In the Gospel, He also breathed on them, and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained'.

Jesus entrusted to them, and to all the bishops and priests unto today through apostolic succession, the gift of "forgiving sins,", the way of giving peace to mankind. Forgiving sins is a gift that flows from the wounds in His hands, His feet, and especially from His pierced side. From there a wave of mercy is poured out over all humanity. The rays of Divine Mercy restore hope, in a special way, to those-who feel overwhelmed by the burden of sin.

Jesus asked Sr. Faustina that the Sunday after Easter be celebrated as a Feast of Mercy and be preceded by a novena beginning on Good Friday. Jesus promised those who go to confession and receive Holy Communion would obtain a complete remission of all sin and all punishment due to sin.

The cardinal of Poland- at the center of the devotion said, the Lenten confession is sufficient for the requirement of the devotion, as long as one is not currently in mortal sin.

A different priest from Poland, Canon Ignacy Rozycki, came to the conclusion that the extraordinary grace promised by Jesus on the Feast of Mercy is a gift of grace equaled only by the grace of Baptism. Therefore, today, if we have the intention of having all our sins forgiven and all the punishment due to our sins washed away, our soul will become like it had been at baptism. And, if we were to immediately die after receiving Holy Communion, we would go straight to heaven. There would be no purgatory time at all. All sins and punishment due to our sins will be completely washed into Our Lord’s infinite ocean of mercy.

Jesus said, “Let no soul fear to come to me, even if its sins be as scarlet. This feast emerged from the bosom of my mercy and is founded in the depths of my mercies.”

Sr. Faustina saw an angel about to execute God’s punishment on a city. She prayed for mercy but her prayers were without effect. Then suddenly she heard this prayer, “Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.” which caused the angel to lose its power to punish the city.

With this prayer, as well as the prayer, “For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world”, it’s called the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

Jesus said, “Say unceasingly this chaplet. Anyone who says it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as a last hope. If the most hardened sinner recites this chaplet even once, they will receive grace from my infinite mercy. I want the whole world to know my infinite mercy. I want to give unimaginable graces to those who trust in my mercy.” Jesus also said, “I desire the confidence of my people. Let not even the weak and very sinful fear to approach me, even if their sins be as numerous as all the sand of the earth all will be forgiven in the fathomless pit of my mercy.”

Today, we will celebrate Divine Mercy Devotions, with a Eucharistic Holy Hour at 3pm. Please come and pray for God’s mercy for the Church, our country and our families.

After we receive Holy Communion, with a heart full of thanksgiving like the Virgin Mary’s Heart, which was always completely free from sin, and the punishment due to sin, may we return to our pews, kneel down, close our eyes-- and from the depths of our heart---- cry out, “Thank you Lord, for forgiving all of my sins and the punishment due to my sins. For you-- O my Jesus--- are infinitely merciful. And I am an unworthy sinner—but I trust in your unfathomable mercy.”