Jul
02
1993
0
By Anonymous (not verified)
(Article appeared in Summer 1993 issue of the Marian Bulletin.)
On Sunday, April 18, Sister Faustina was beatified by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City during a Mass celebrated with more than 100,000 pilgrims from all over the world.
During the Mass, the Pope preached the homily in Italian, Spanish, Polish, and English, based on the readings for the Second Sunday of Easter. The following excerpts are taken from that homily.
"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endures forever" (Ps 118:1).
Like a band of light this psalm of thanksgiving passes through the octave of Easter. It is the choral "thank you" of the Church which adores God for the gift of Christ's resurrection: for the gift of new and eternal life revealed in the risen Lord. With one heart the Church adores and thanks Him for the infinite love which has been communicated to every person and to the whole universe in Him . ..
I salute you, Sister Faustina. Beginning today the Church calls you Blessed, especially the Church in Poland and Lithuania. O Faustina, how extraordinary your life is! Precisely you, the poor and simple daughter of Mazovia, of the Polish people, were chosen by Christ to remind people of this great mystery of Divine Mercy! You bore this mystery within yourself, leaving this world after a short life, filled with suffering. However, at the same time, this mystery has become a prophetic reminder to the world, to Europe. Your message of Divine Mercy was born almost on the eve of World War II. Certainly you would have been amazed if you could have experienced upon this earth what this message meant for the suffering people during that hour of torment, and how it spread throughout the world. Today, we truly believe, you contemplate in God the fruits of your mission on earth. Today you experience it at its very source, which is your Christ, "dives in misericordia."
"I clearly feel that my mission does not end with death, but begins ... ," Sister Faustina wrote in her diary. And it truly did! Her mission continues and is yielding astonishing fruit. It is truly marvelous how her devotion to the merciful Jesus is spreading in our contemporary world and gaining so many human hearts! This is doubtlessly a sign of the times - a sign of our 20th century. The balance of this century which is now ending, in addition to advances which have often surpassed those of preceding eras, presents a deep restlessness and fear of the future. Where, if not in The Divine Mercy, can the world find refuge and the light of hope? Believers understand that perfectly.
"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good ... Give thanks to the Lord, for He is merciful ... "
Today, on the day of the beatification of Sister Faustina, we praise the Lord for the great things He has done in her soul, we praise and thank Him for the great things He has done and always continues to do in the souls who through Sister Faustina's witness and message discover the infinite depths of the Divine Mercy.
On Sunday, April 18, Sister Faustina was beatified by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City during a Mass celebrated with more than 100,000 pilgrims from all over the world.
During the Mass, the Pope preached the homily in Italian, Spanish, Polish, and English, based on the readings for the Second Sunday of Easter. The following excerpts are taken from that homily.
"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endures forever" (Ps 118:1).
Like a band of light this psalm of thanksgiving passes through the octave of Easter. It is the choral "thank you" of the Church which adores God for the gift of Christ's resurrection: for the gift of new and eternal life revealed in the risen Lord. With one heart the Church adores and thanks Him for the infinite love which has been communicated to every person and to the whole universe in Him . ..
I salute you, Sister Faustina. Beginning today the Church calls you Blessed, especially the Church in Poland and Lithuania. O Faustina, how extraordinary your life is! Precisely you, the poor and simple daughter of Mazovia, of the Polish people, were chosen by Christ to remind people of this great mystery of Divine Mercy! You bore this mystery within yourself, leaving this world after a short life, filled with suffering. However, at the same time, this mystery has become a prophetic reminder to the world, to Europe. Your message of Divine Mercy was born almost on the eve of World War II. Certainly you would have been amazed if you could have experienced upon this earth what this message meant for the suffering people during that hour of torment, and how it spread throughout the world. Today, we truly believe, you contemplate in God the fruits of your mission on earth. Today you experience it at its very source, which is your Christ, "dives in misericordia."
"I clearly feel that my mission does not end with death, but begins ... ," Sister Faustina wrote in her diary. And it truly did! Her mission continues and is yielding astonishing fruit. It is truly marvelous how her devotion to the merciful Jesus is spreading in our contemporary world and gaining so many human hearts! This is doubtlessly a sign of the times - a sign of our 20th century. The balance of this century which is now ending, in addition to advances which have often surpassed those of preceding eras, presents a deep restlessness and fear of the future. Where, if not in The Divine Mercy, can the world find refuge and the light of hope? Believers understand that perfectly.
"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good ... Give thanks to the Lord, for He is merciful ... "
Today, on the day of the beatification of Sister Faustina, we praise the Lord for the great things He has done in her soul, we praise and thank Him for the great things He has done and always continues to do in the souls who through Sister Faustina's witness and message discover the infinite depths of the Divine Mercy.
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