The Church, fully adhering to the wish of Our Lord Jesus Christ, dedicates the Second Sunday of Easter to the Divine Mercy. As Jesus once said to Saint Faustina: “Humanity will never find peace until it turns with trust to Divine Mercy” (Diary, 300). Fallen humanity finds its healing solely when it turns to its magnificent Saviour, Jesus Christ.
The Bible shows us this necessary path from where eternal life is given in abundance. The Letter to the Hebrews portrays the loving mercy of Jesus for us, miserable sinners. “Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted” (Heb 2, 17-18). No one better than Jesus, can perfectly understand what we go through amid our incessant temptations and failings. Although he is sinless, Jesus knows the pains of being human and living in a world weakened by sin and death. “For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4, 15).
In the Sixth Notebook of her diary, Saint Faustina records the touching plea of Jesus for shattered humanity. “Tell sinners that I am always waiting for them, that I listen intently to the beating of their heart... My heart rejoices when they return to me” (Diary, 1728). In the Gospel of Saint John, Jesus makes the bold affirmation that He is the way that leads to His Father in Heaven, “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Cor 1, 3). “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14, 6). Since Jesus and his Father are one, and Jesus is the only revealer of the Father, it is solely by having recourse to the merciful Jesus that we can be saved from eternal perdition. Jesus is the main and unique outlet of the Father’s mercy for his creation. Thus he confided to Saint Faustina: “I am King of Mercy” (Diary, 88).
On 21 April 1993, Pope John Paul II said: “Where, if not in the Divine Mercy, can the world find refuge and the light of hope? Believers understand that perfectly”. And because we strongly believe in his unfathomable mercy, today we powerfully invoke to the Father the prayer Jesus urged us so much to pray through Saint Faustina so that our world be saved from sin and its ravaging consequences. “For the sake of his sorrowful passion have mercy on us and on the whole world”. The chaplet of Divine Mercy stands as one of the privileged modes through which we have access to and be healed in return by Jesus’ infinite mercy for us.
Jesus urged Saint Faustina: “Write down these words, My daughter. Speak to the world about My mercy... While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fount of My mercy” (Diary, 229-230). In the same vein the Letter to the Hebrews exhorts us: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4, 16). The main fruit that is reaped from seeking the face of the Merciful Father in Jesus is unending peace and joy. Saint Faustina, who had a first hand experience of God’s love, was able to say: “What a paradise it is for a soul when the heart knows itself to be so loved by God” (Diary, 1756). This paradise is possible for us through the devotion of the Divine Mercy. Are we really open to it?
Fr MARIO ATTARD OFM Cap
San Gwann