Divine Mercy Sunday

 

This weekend is the Feast of Divine Mercy. The feast originated with Sr. Faustina, a Polish nun, in 1931, when she had an apparition of Jesus, which is different than how Jesus appeared to the Apostles.
Our Lord was 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 told sister Faustina, “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.”
Jesus asked Sr. Faustina that the Sunday after Easter be celebrated as a Feast of Mercy. He promised those who go to confession and receive Holy Communion would obtain a complete remission of all sin and all punishment due to sin. Our Lord told St. Faustina, “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 all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. 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.”
Confession is one of the fonts of mercy. We see this in today's Gospel. Jesus appeared to the 10 apostles, without Thomas, who was absent at the time. He showed them His hands and feet and side. Jesus then breathed on them saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” This action empowered the Apostles to forgive sins through the sacrament of Confession. From the time of the Apostles unto today, bishops and priests have been instruments of mercy.
Jesus gave bishops and priests the authority and power to forgive sins, including the worst sinners. Our Lord St. Faustina, “Were a soul like a decaying corpse, so that from a human standpoint, there would be no hope of restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God’s mercy!"
For example, if a man was away from Confession for 50 years, and during his life, if he was a serial killer, and a rapist, and if he went to Confession sometime during Lent and including today and if he receives Holy Communion on this weekend, the Feast of Divine Mercy, all of his sins and the punishment due to sins are forgiven and so their souls become like they were at the moment of baptism. And if he would die immediately after receiving Holy Communion, he would go straight to heaven.
Jesus explained to St. Faustina about Confession. Our Lord said, “Come with faith to the feet of My representative. I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest...I Myself act in your soul. Make your confession before Me. The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyze what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light."
The Holy Eucharist is also a font of mercy. The first time Jesus appeared to the apostles Thomas was absent. The following Sunday, Thomas declared he will not believe Jesus had risen unless he were to see the nail marks in His hands, feet and side. But, although the doors were locked, Jesus stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” and He told Thomas to put his finger in the wounds in His hand and in His side. And then Thomas made His famous statement declaring the divinity of Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”
Thomas bears witness to the physical presence of Jesus and His divinity. Jesus is God! It was really Him and not a ghost, not an apparition and not only a spiritual presence. He and the other apostles experienced Jesus in His resurrected body, which is a physical body that can be touched. But how could someone with a physical body enter a locked room?
The resurrected body of Jesus had what is called subtility, which means a physical resurrected body can pass through a solid substance like a door or a wall, and yet its a real physical body. At the General Resurrection, we will also get a new resurrected body and will have subtility and be able to pass through physical walls and substances, even though we too will have a physical body.
This is also true with regard to the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist is not only the spiritual presence of Jesus. Its His physical presence: body, blood, soul and divinity. His entire human and divine natures are present in the Eucharist. In the Eucharist is the resurrected and living body of Jesus. Not a hunk of flesh, but a person. We can’t have a relationship with a hunk of flesh, but a person. When we receive Holy Communion, Jesus passes through our body and we become one with Him. When we receive Holy Communion, Jesus always forgives our venial sins. But we are never to receive Holy Communion when in the state of mortal sin, otherwise we commit a sacrilegious communion. Jesus requires that we confess mortal sins in Confession. But, if our soul is in the state of grace, without a mortal sin, Jesus will forgive venial sins when we receive Holy Communion.
Now let us look at an example of how Baptism is a font of mercy. When I was in seminary, I met a man, who presided over 70,000 abortions, and he personally did 5,000 abortions, including his own child.
Dr. Bernard Nathanson, an atheist, and one of the world’s leading abortionists. One day, he used an ultrasound, to help him do an abortion. Through the ultrasound, he saw the horror of what he had been doing, changed his mind and he became an outspoken defender of the unborn in the pro-life movement. Ultimately, it was the attraction of a merciful God and his desire to be free from his sins which led him to be baptized in New York City at St. Patrick’s Cathedral by John Cardinal O’Connor. He spent the remainder of his life working for the cause of life.
If Dr. Nathanson would have died immediately after baptism, he would have went straight to heaven, because baptism washes away original sin, personal sin and the punishment due to sin.
This feast was established by Saint Pope John Paul II in 2000 and is now the Sunday after Easter every year.
With regard to the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, 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. It was later revealed to Sr. Faustina, the reason why God was going to punish the city, was because of the sin of abortion.
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, when we receive Holy Communion, if you are in the state of grace and if you have gone to Confession sometime during Lent up to today, all of your sins will be forgiven and the punishment due to your sins will be forgiven, and your soul will become like it was at baptism. What an incredible gift God is given to us this weekend.
Let us give thanks to God for His infinite, abundant and unfathomable mercy. O Mary, Mother of Mercy, thank you for interceding for us to obtain God’s mercy.