In 2001, St. John Paul II
made today, the second Sunday of Easter, forever more known as Divine Mercy
Sunday. And the reason was due to a young Polish nun, by the name of St.
Faustina, who had countless visions of Jesus and who taught her and told her to
pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, those pamphlets we have by the door in the
back.
She was told to make every effort to pray this prayer at 3PM, because this hour, as Christ told her, is known as the hour of mercy. For, as St. Faustina relates in her famous diary, Jesus told her: “In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking; it was the hour of grace for the whole world – mercy triumphed over justice.”
The hour, however, was only part of the revelation; the rest was in dedicating a day, this day, as Divine Mercy Sunday. A day when we experience, receive and are covered in a multitude of mercy, in all its forms, from the confession of our sins, to praying the Chaplet, to receiving the very source and summit, the very essence from which mercy flows, the Holy Eucharist.
Jesus, however, also commanded that St. Faustina paint a picture of what she saw and, ultimately, after many attempts of trying to paint it on her own, she hired an artist who came closest. This picture therefore, is the best rendition of the image of Divine Mercy.
And, it is an image filled with meaning, in fact, the two rays are to be seen as water and blood. So that, as Jesus explained: “The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. (That is, Baptism) The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. (That is, the Eucharist) These two rays, He says, issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy, when My Agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross.”
And, as I shared with some of you last time, this day carries an even greater significance to me, because 4 years ago on April 9th, I came to truly understand the importance of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
My uncle was suffering intensely from a rare form of cancer and the doctor came in and said something that no one wants to hear, he said: “short of a miracle” nothing more can be done.
So, our entire family, and even the doctors and nurses all gathered by his bedside and together we prayed the Chaplet. We prayed for healing, we prayed for a miracle, and, while that didn’t happen, what did happen is it brought us all together, in spite of our sadness, in spite of helplessness, in spite of our worry, and it reminded me of what Fr. Peyton used to say: “A family that prays together stays together.”
Later on I discovered that this is a prayer commonly said for those who are dying, because it is a prayer that appeals to the mercy of God. That’s why my entire family was consoled knowing that this was probably the last prayer that my uncle ever heard here on this earth and why we were convinced that he departed this world at 3PM, the hour of mercy, the same hour, it is believed, when Christ died. In fact, when Jesus appeared to St. Faustina, He said: “When they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as a just judge, but as a merciful Savior.”
That is why today, in a special way, we are called to celebrate, to rejoice and to glory in God’s infinite mercy. For, He calls us forth to experience again and again the same thing that the Apostles experienced, the same thing that St. Thomas experienced, the faith to say with the utmost confidence, those same words that are found on the bottom of that image of the Divine Mercy: “Jesus, I trust in You.”
It is an interesting choice of words, because it is not: “Jesus, I love you,” “Jesus, I have faith in you,” not even “Jesus, I believe in you,” but “Jesus, I trust in you.”
Because to trust is to confidently abandon ourselves to Him, it is a desire to rely solely upon Him and to, literally, give Him our will. So that it becomes not just an affirmation of our faith, but, also an amazing act of humility.
So that, unlike St. Thomas who needed to see to believe, we don’t have to see, we only need to believe and to know that it is true, we need to only, in the end, to trust in Him.
She was told to make every effort to pray this prayer at 3PM, because this hour, as Christ told her, is known as the hour of mercy. For, as St. Faustina relates in her famous diary, Jesus told her: “In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking; it was the hour of grace for the whole world – mercy triumphed over justice.”
The hour, however, was only part of the revelation; the rest was in dedicating a day, this day, as Divine Mercy Sunday. A day when we experience, receive and are covered in a multitude of mercy, in all its forms, from the confession of our sins, to praying the Chaplet, to receiving the very source and summit, the very essence from which mercy flows, the Holy Eucharist.
Jesus, however, also commanded that St. Faustina paint a picture of what she saw and, ultimately, after many attempts of trying to paint it on her own, she hired an artist who came closest. This picture therefore, is the best rendition of the image of Divine Mercy.
And, it is an image filled with meaning, in fact, the two rays are to be seen as water and blood. So that, as Jesus explained: “The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. (That is, Baptism) The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. (That is, the Eucharist) These two rays, He says, issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy, when My Agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross.”
And, as I shared with some of you last time, this day carries an even greater significance to me, because 4 years ago on April 9th, I came to truly understand the importance of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
My uncle was suffering intensely from a rare form of cancer and the doctor came in and said something that no one wants to hear, he said: “short of a miracle” nothing more can be done.
So, our entire family, and even the doctors and nurses all gathered by his bedside and together we prayed the Chaplet. We prayed for healing, we prayed for a miracle, and, while that didn’t happen, what did happen is it brought us all together, in spite of our sadness, in spite of helplessness, in spite of our worry, and it reminded me of what Fr. Peyton used to say: “A family that prays together stays together.”
Later on I discovered that this is a prayer commonly said for those who are dying, because it is a prayer that appeals to the mercy of God. That’s why my entire family was consoled knowing that this was probably the last prayer that my uncle ever heard here on this earth and why we were convinced that he departed this world at 3PM, the hour of mercy, the same hour, it is believed, when Christ died. In fact, when Jesus appeared to St. Faustina, He said: “When they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as a just judge, but as a merciful Savior.”
That is why today, in a special way, we are called to celebrate, to rejoice and to glory in God’s infinite mercy. For, He calls us forth to experience again and again the same thing that the Apostles experienced, the same thing that St. Thomas experienced, the faith to say with the utmost confidence, those same words that are found on the bottom of that image of the Divine Mercy: “Jesus, I trust in You.”
It is an interesting choice of words, because it is not: “Jesus, I love you,” “Jesus, I have faith in you,” not even “Jesus, I believe in you,” but “Jesus, I trust in you.”
Because to trust is to confidently abandon ourselves to Him, it is a desire to rely solely upon Him and to, literally, give Him our will. So that it becomes not just an affirmation of our faith, but, also an amazing act of humility.
So that, unlike St. Thomas who needed to see to believe, we don’t have to see, we only need to believe and to know that it is true, we need to only, in the end, to trust in Him.
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