The great multitudes of people which packed Saint Peter’s Square and flooded the streets of the Eternal City, praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and thanking God for the holy life of Blessed John Paul II, in itself shows the Polish Pontiff’s intimate relationship with the Merciful Christ.
After celebrating Mass in Saint Peter’s Square and beatifying Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, in his usual greeting to crowds in various languages before praying the midday Regina Caeli, said of the newly beatified: “May his example of firm faith in Christ, the Redeemer of Man, inspire us to live fully the new life which we celebrate at Easter, to be icons of Divine Mercy, and to work for a world in which the dignity and rights of every man, woman and child are respected and promoted.” In this brief yet important message, the Holy Father showed that for Blessed John Paul II, Divine Mercy is never entrapped in itself. The God he believed in became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of humanity, so as to generously and hastily show his loving face to us. In becoming like us, a human person, the Son of God took upon himself our sufferings and offered us his mercy as the most powerful and effective antidote to combat evil and ultimately conquering it.
In his posthumous message for Divine Mercy Sunday of 2005, which he never managed to deliver due to his death on the eve of the aforementioned feast, Blessed John Paul II wrote: “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”. That is why on 12 August 2002, during his last apostolic journey to his native country, Poland, precisely in Krakow-Lagiewniki, John Paul II consecrated the whole world to the Divine Mercy with these eloquent words:
“How greatly today’s world needs God’s mercy! In every continent, from the depth of human suffering, a cry for mercy seems to rise up. Where hatred and the thirst for revenge dominate, where war brings suffering and death to the innocent, there the grace of mercy is needed in order to settle human minds and hearts and to bring about peace. Wherever respect for life and human dignity are lacking, there is need of God’s merciful love, in whose light we see the inexpressible value of every human being. Mercy is needed in order to ensure that every injustice in the world will come to an end in the splendour of truth. Today, therefore, in this Shrine, I wish solemnly to entrust the world to the Divine Mercy. I do so with the burning desire that the message of God’s merciful love, proclaimed here through Saint Faustina, may be made known to all the peoples of the earth and fill their hearts with hope. May this message radiate from this place to our beloved homeland and throughout the world.”
He personally bore witness to Jesus’ mercy for the world by following his example in meeting and forgiving his would-be assassin, the Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Ağca. In fact, four days after the assassination attempt, precisely on 17 May 1981, while reciting the Angelus at Gemelli hospital, the Holy Father made the subsequent appeal to the faithful who gathered in front of the Policlinico in Rome: “Pray for the brother (Ağca) who shot me, whom I have sincerely forgiven.”
For Blessed John Paul II, forgiving the enemy is the loftiest expression of being an authentic icon of Divine Mercy. What about us? Are we ready to be authentic icons of Divine Mercy by forgiving those who trespass against us?
■ Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
San Ġwann