DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY –
From the Catholic Liturgy for Divine Mercy Sunday, April 8, 2018. 1 John 5:1-6
& John 20:19-31. Theme: Jesus. I Trust in You.
Today, we Catholics throughout the world celebrate Divine
Mercy Sunday. We have so many special Sundays and feast days during the year
but this one is most unique because it was asked for by Jesus Himself, in the
1930’s, during a series of Church-approved visions and messages to a Polish nun
whom we now honor as St. Faustina. Pope St. John Paul II was one of the biggest
promoters of this Divine Mercy devotion and believed so strongly in it that he
intentionally canonized St. Faustina as the very first saint of the Third
Millennium.
In addition to observing this Sunday as Divine Mercy Sunday,
Jesus asked that a special picture be made showing Him as He was when He
appeared to St. Faustina. He wanted this image displayed in parish churches as
well as in our homes. He called this image a vessel of mercy and promised that many graces and blessings would
come to those who honor it and live what it represents. Since Jesus himself asked that this image be
spread and honored, let’s take a closer look at it and see what He wishes of us
through it.
The first interesting fact is that this image is a totally
Easter-picture of Jesus. It is an image of our Risen Savior as He appeared to
the apostles on the first Easter night. His right hand is raised in blessing
and his left hand directs us to his heart. He looks out at us with compassion
in his eyes and invites us to come to Him, just as He did for Thomas. So,
through this image Jesus is asking us to deepen our faith in Him and blesses
those who believe.
Secondly, from the region of His heart we see two bright
rays shining forth…a reddish one and a bluish white one. These rays of light
coming from Jesus’ chest are symbols of the blood and water that gushed forth
from His heart through His pierced side on that first Good Friday. We heard
about this blood and water in today’s second reading. There are the signs of
the Precious Blood Jesus shed for us in his Passion and the graces bestowed
upon us in the Sacrament of Baptism. So, through this image Jesus invites us to
live this new life more passionately and to grow more deeply in our relationship
with Him.
Finally, we cannot overlook the words that Our Lord wanted
printed on every copy of this image: “Jesus, I trust in You.” Just as an artist signs his painting, so
Jesus called these words His signature. This simple little prayer which we all
can easily memorize sums up the entire reason and purpose of this devotion, as
well as the whole theme of the Gospels: to enter into and live a deep personal
intimate relationship with Jesus and to not allow our sins and weaknesses to
interfere with this relationship.
But I think the fundamental lesson to learn from Divine
Mercy Sunday is this: how do we live in such a way as to merit all the graces
and blessings that Jesus wants to pour out upon us through this devotion? A famous priest who is a worldwide promote of
Divine Mercy has given us an easy way to sum up, to remember and to live the
answer. All we have to do is recall the
first three letters of the alphabet: ABC.
A – Ask for mercy. Jesus desires that we pray, The Chaplet
of Divine Mercy is a great way to do this. It takes only a few minutes and is
an extremely powerful prayer for mercy.
B – Be merciful like Jesus. God wants us to not just
receive mercy for ourselves, but to become instruments of His mercy to others.
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