Feb
23
2006
0
By Anonymous (not verified)
Today I want to speak about the great Feast of Divine Mercy. As you may know, by virtue of a Decree issued by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Holy See proclaimed the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday.
"The newly designated title - Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday - expands the theological significance of the Octave of Easter and deepens its meaning. The original title ("Second Sunday of Easter"), continues to proclaim, with all its splendor, the great Paschal Mystery of Christ: His dying and rising, His victory over sin and death, and His gift of new and everlasting life. The newly added title, "Divine Mercy Sunday," points the way to the inscrutable mystery of God, the mystery of divine mercy. It unveils the truth that the Paschal Mystery is the culmination of this revealing and effecting of [Divine] Mercy, and that the paschal Christ is the definitive incarnation of Mercy, its living sign ... [and] its inexhaustible source" (John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia 8,7).
"In proclaiming the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope John Paul II acceded to the wishes of the Christian faithful in many parts of the world [who] wish to praise the Divine Mercy in divine worship, particularly in the celebration of the Paschal Mystery, in which God's loving kindness especially shines forth (Decree) and those who wish to share in its inexhaustible riches. For it is through His divine liturgy that our Lord shares with us the fullness of His life, configures us to His image and leads us into the very mystery of His Divinity. Divine worship is the Church's unfailing source of divine grace and mercy, of transformation and knowledge of God.
"Through its liturgy, proper to the Octave day of Easter, the Church proclaims in various ways the Divine Mercy poured out by her crucified and risen Lord. The readings for the day focus on "the god and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy gave us a new birth" (1 Pet. 1:3), and on the risen Savior who breathed on His disciples and bestowed on them the gift of the Holy Spirit: "Whose sins you forgive they are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained" (Jn 20:20-23). The Responsorial repeatedly calls us to praise and thank the Lord, "for His mercy endures forever" (Ps 118:2-4). Saint Augustine called the Octave Day of Easter "the compendium of the days of mercy," and Pope John Paul II said that it is "the Sunday of Thanksgiving for the goodness God has shown to man in the whole Easter mystery" (Regina Caeli Address, Divine Mercy Sunday, 1995).
"The desire for the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday was expressed by Our Lord in His revelations to St. Faustina:
My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession, and receive Holy Communion [on this day] shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.
On that Day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity.
The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy (Diary, 699).
Jesus promised St. Faustina that those who received Holy Communion in a state of grace on Divine Mercy Sunday would receive "the complete remission of sins and punishment" (Diary, 699). The theologian who examined St. Faustina's writings for the Holy See, Rev. Ignacy Rozycki, explained that this is the promise of a complete renewal of baptismal grace, and in that sense it is like a "second Baptism."
So let us go out and tell the world of the mercy of God, and leading others back to the Merciful Savior. Let us close by reflecting on these words, "O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I Trust in You!"
"The newly designated title - Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday - expands the theological significance of the Octave of Easter and deepens its meaning. The original title ("Second Sunday of Easter"), continues to proclaim, with all its splendor, the great Paschal Mystery of Christ: His dying and rising, His victory over sin and death, and His gift of new and everlasting life. The newly added title, "Divine Mercy Sunday," points the way to the inscrutable mystery of God, the mystery of divine mercy. It unveils the truth that the Paschal Mystery is the culmination of this revealing and effecting of [Divine] Mercy, and that the paschal Christ is the definitive incarnation of Mercy, its living sign ... [and] its inexhaustible source" (John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia 8,7).
"In proclaiming the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope John Paul II acceded to the wishes of the Christian faithful in many parts of the world [who] wish to praise the Divine Mercy in divine worship, particularly in the celebration of the Paschal Mystery, in which God's loving kindness especially shines forth (Decree) and those who wish to share in its inexhaustible riches. For it is through His divine liturgy that our Lord shares with us the fullness of His life, configures us to His image and leads us into the very mystery of His Divinity. Divine worship is the Church's unfailing source of divine grace and mercy, of transformation and knowledge of God.
"Through its liturgy, proper to the Octave day of Easter, the Church proclaims in various ways the Divine Mercy poured out by her crucified and risen Lord. The readings for the day focus on "the god and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy gave us a new birth" (1 Pet. 1:3), and on the risen Savior who breathed on His disciples and bestowed on them the gift of the Holy Spirit: "Whose sins you forgive they are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained" (Jn 20:20-23). The Responsorial repeatedly calls us to praise and thank the Lord, "for His mercy endures forever" (Ps 118:2-4). Saint Augustine called the Octave Day of Easter "the compendium of the days of mercy," and Pope John Paul II said that it is "the Sunday of Thanksgiving for the goodness God has shown to man in the whole Easter mystery" (Regina Caeli Address, Divine Mercy Sunday, 1995).
"The desire for the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday was expressed by Our Lord in His revelations to St. Faustina:
My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession, and receive Holy Communion [on this day] shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.
On that Day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity.
The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy (Diary, 699).
Jesus promised St. Faustina that those who received Holy Communion in a state of grace on Divine Mercy Sunday would receive "the complete remission of sins and punishment" (Diary, 699). The theologian who examined St. Faustina's writings for the Holy See, Rev. Ignacy Rozycki, explained that this is the promise of a complete renewal of baptismal grace, and in that sense it is like a "second Baptism."
So let us go out and tell the world of the mercy of God, and leading others back to the Merciful Savior. Let us close by reflecting on these words, "O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I Trust in You!"
