A blessed feast of Divine Mercy to all of you! This feast has quickly become one of my favorites. First, because it ends the 8-day octave of Easter, completing our joyful celebration of Our Lord’s resurrection. Second, because it celebrates the Divine Mercy of Our Lord which led him to His Cross and Resurrection, and which He desires to share with us constantly.
This feast is new, at least in the history of the Church. In the year 2000, Pope St. John Paul II dedicated the Second Sunday of Easter each year to Divine Mercy. Now, we mark the Divine Mercy of Jesus on the Sunday following Easter, and have done so for the last 20 years.
While Our Lord’s mercy is not new, the visions that led to the creation of this feast are relatively recent. Throughout the early 1930’s, a young Polish religious sister, Sr. Faustina Kowalska, received a series of visions of Our Lord calling her to promote the message of His Divine Mercy. These visions were to culminate in a painting being produced of Jesus with red and white rays of light shining from His Sacred Heart. On the bottom of the painting were the words “Jezu, ufam Tobie,” which translates to “Jesus, I trust in You”.
This text on the painting, Jesus, I trust in You, is really the ultimate message of Divine Mercy. It’s a message of trust in the mercy and love of Jesus. It’s not a coincidence that today’s Gospel is that of Our Lord appearing to the apostles, with St. Thomas doubting until he saw Jesus in person. It’s too easy for us to be like Thomas, sharing his doubt that Jesus is present with us today. To fight this temptation towards doubt, the words of Divine Mercy are a prayer that should be constantly on our lips: “Jesus, I trust in You.”
With this trust in Jesus, we are called to live in Our Lord’s Divine Mercy. So, how do we do that? There’s actually a simple mnemonic device that we can use: A-B-C. Ask for mercy, Be merciful, Completely trust in Jesus.
First, we Ask for mercy. We received Our Lord’s Divine Mercy through the pouring of water at our baptisms, which is symbolized by the white ray on the painting. We also receive His Divine Mercy through the Sacrament of Confession, which is symbolized by the red ray. Confession is so deeply tied to Our Lord’s Divine Mercy that it really is the Sacrament of Divine Mercy, so we need to receive Confession frequently – at least once a month.
Second, we Be merciful. Divine Mercy is not just for ourselves, but it is to be shared. Just as Our Lord is merciful to us, we are to be merciful to others. It’s part of our sinful human nature that we don’t always show mercy to others as we should. If we are to live Divine Mercy, we must resist that temptation, and show the love and mercy that Our Lord shows to us.
Third, we Completely trust in Jesus. This takes us back to the painting of Divine Mercy, with those words, “Jesus, I trust in You.” Our lives must be lived in that radical trust in Our Lord, especially at times when we don’t know where He is leading us. We must be willing to profess as St. Thomas did, “My Lord and my God!”
The path of Divine Mercy is not easy, but He will give us the graces to live in that mercy and love. Jesus, I trust in You!
