The Great Promise of Divine Mercy Sunday

The following comes from the Catholic Exchange:

Eastertime

It is a wonderful time of year.  Spring is here and the opening day of baseball. The weather is becoming nicer and the days longer. Lent has given way to Easter, and the Octave of Easter gives way on the following Sunday to “Divine Mercy Sunday.” It is another great reason to love the season.  But, what is so great about Divine Mercy Sunday?

The Promise

Divine Mercy Sunday may be the greatest day of the year because of the immeasurable amount of grace Jesus promised to pour forth on this day.  In the private revelation accepted publicly by the Church, Jesus made a specific promise to Saint Faustina about Divine Mercy Sunday:

“On that day . . . The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.” (Diary, 699)

Conditions

Christ wanted to draw our attention to the immense importance of these two sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion.  So much so, that Christ’s promise amounts to offering the graces of a complete pardon, or essentially a second baptism!

Jesus reiterated these conditions and promise of a complete pardon at least two other times to her. (Diary, 300 & 1109)  The “oceans of grace” available to us on Divine Mercy Sunday can make us anew and give us a fresh start again.  We simply have to make a good Confession (such as the Saturday before) and stay in a state of grace up to receiving Holy Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday or the vigil Mass.  Jesus requested we also do works of mercy whether deed, word, or prayer.

Read more on Divine Mercy Sunday here.

Divine Mercy: Hope of Salvation

According to Saint Faustina’s diary, Jesus said of Divine Mercy Sunday:

I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy.  If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity… tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near. —Divine Mercy in My Soul,Diary of St. Faustina, n. 965 

Divine Mercy Novena

The Novena of Divine Mercy begins today!  You can get daily reminders and prayers in your email by signing up here.

The Divine Mercy Novena begins on Good Friday and goes until Divine Mercy Saturday. You can join thousands of people in praying the novena this year! Will you join us for the Divine Mercy Novena?

The Divine Mercy novena prayers were given to St. Faustina through an apparition of our Lord Jesus. Each day has a new petition that seeks God’s mercy for different purposes.

The message of Divine Mercy is a powerful and moving way to come closer to Christ.

His Mercy is central to our lives and we must continually depend on it and ask for it daily.

Join us in praying the Divine Mercy Novena beginning this Good Friday!

Pope Francis to Youth: God prefers us weak

(CNA/EWTN News) The weaker we are, the more God's mercy can transform our lives. Pope Francis made these impromptu remarks on Saturday to crowds of young people gathered outside of Krakow’s St. John Paul II shrine.

“Today, the Lord wants us to feel ever more profoundly his great mercy,” the Pope said in a short, impromptu speech, delivered right after his visit to the Polish city’s Divine Mercy shrine. “May we never turn away from Jesus!”

Pope Francis shared these thoughts to a group of young people who are in Poland for World Youth Day moments before entering the St. John Paul II shrine to pass through its Holy Door, hear confessions, and celebrate Mass for priests and religious men and women. 

We may think that we are the “worst” on account of our sins and weaknesses, the Pope told the youth. However, this is how God prefers us to be, in order that “his mercy may spread.”

“Let us take advantage of these days to receive all of the mercy of Jesus!”

Pope Francis proceeded to lead the young people in praying the Hail Mary before bestowing on them his blessing.

“And please, I ask you to pray for me.”

Before his brief encounter with the young people, the pontiff paid a visit to the shrine of the Divine Mercy where the body of St. Faustina Kowalska are interred.

There, he venerated the relics of the Polish saint and mystic, during a brief ceremony attended by some 300 people, including members of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, St. Faustina’s own order.

While there, Pope Francis signed the sanctuary’s guestbook with the words: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifices.” The words refer to a passage from the Gospel of Matthew which the Pope has often referred to in the past.

Venerated by the Church as the “Apostle of Divine Mercy,” St. Faustina (1905-1938) reported numerous visions of Jesus throughout her life which she recorded in her diary. Many of the devotions relating to the feast of Divine Mercy, established on the first Sunday of Easter by St. John Paul II, were inspired by her writings.

Saturday marks the second to last day of Pope Francis’ July 27-31 apostolic journey to Poland where he is leading World Youth Day celebrations.

The Last Message of St. John Paul the Great

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today the glorious Alleluia of Easter resounds. Today’s Gospel from John emphasizes that on the evening of that day he appeared to the Apostles and “showed them his hands and his side” (Jn. 20:20), that is, the signs of the painful passion with which his Body was indelibility stamped, even after the Resurrection. Those glorious wounds which he allowed doubting Thomas to touch eight days later, reveal the mercy of God who “so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (Jn. 3:16).

This mystery of love is at the heart of the liturgy today, the Second Sunday of Easter, dedicated to the Divine Mercy. As a gift to humanity, which sometimes seems bewildered and overwhelmed by the power of evil, selfishness and fear, the Risen Lord offers his love that pardons, reconciles, and reopens hearts to love. It is a love that converts hearts and gives peace. How much the world needs to understand and accept Divine Mercy!

Lord, who reveal the Father’s love by your death and resurrection, we believe in you and confidently repeat to you today: Jesus, I trust in you, have mercy upon us and upon the whole world. 

–Last message of Pope John Paul II (Observatore Romano, 30 March 2005... via the Catholic Exchange)

Divine Mercy Movie