The Second Sunday of Easter April 28, 2019
Divine Mercy Sunday
On this Second Sunday of Easter full of the joy of the Resurrection of Jesus, we celebrate God’s Merciful Love. “In the various readings, the liturgy seems to indicate the path of mercy which, while re-establishing the relationship of each person with God, also creates new relations of fraternal solidarity among human beings”. (Pope John Paul II April 30, 2000):
“God of everlasting mercy,“. (Collect); those tormented by unclean spirits . . . were all cured. (Act 5.12-16); “His steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 118); the mission of mercy is extended to the Disciples by the institution of the sacrament of Reconciliation: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive their sins of any, they are forgiven them. . . .” (John 20.9-31)
The devotion to the “King of Divine Mercy” began in Poland in the 1930s. On February 22, 1931, Jesus appeared to Saint Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun, while she was in her cell praying. In the course of many visions and visitations, Jesus revealed to her his request for the feast of Divine Mercy. In obedience to her confessor, she recorded these visions in a diary.
Jesus asked her to paint the vision of His Merciful Divinity being poured from His Sacred Heart. He promised:“Every soul believing and trusting in My mercy will obtain it.”(Jesus’ words, Diary 420). In the image, Jesus, robed in a white garment, raises his right hand in a gesture of blessing. His left hand touches the garment near his breast. From beneath his breast, emanate two large rays, one red, and the other white. Jesus explained: “The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls… These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross.” (Diary 299)
The words “Jesus, I trust in you” are to be written below the image.
Jesus requested this devotion to be spread: “Iwant the image solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter, and I want it to be venerated publicly so that every soul may know about it. (Jesus’ words, Diary 341)
These are basic facts behind this Sunday’s designation as Divine Mercy Sunday. May this brief explanation invite us to help re-establish the relationship of each person with God, and thus create new relations of fraternal solidarity among human beings.
HAPPY BLESSED EASTER SEASON!
Submitted by Sister Janice Fournier, pm
Interesting trivia:
John Paul II, who died in April 2005 on the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday, was himself beatifiedon Divine Mercy Sunday, May 1, 2011, by his successor, Pope Benedict XVIand was canonizedon Divine Mercy Sunday, April 27, 2014, by Pope Francis.
