As we are now in the Feast of the Divine Mercy, I am listening once again those powerful poetic words, which came from Pope St John Paul II, at the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Łagiewniki in 2002:
How greatly today’s world needs the mercy of God! 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. (…) In the mercy of God the world will find peace and mankind will find happiness!
In view of this utter self-inflicted misery of our world is the message of Mercy given to us in and for our days. Today I appreciate more the words of Pope Benedict XVI when he said in his General Audience on May 31, 2006, as he came from his pilgrimage to Poland where he visited the Krakow-Lagiewniki Shrine of Divine Mercy: It is a really central message for our time: Mercy as the force of God, as the divine limit against the evil of the world.
In the Diary of St Faustina one encounters the highlights of such a powerful devotion and, yes, a way of life. The Divine Mercy Feast was a wish of Jesus himself. He told St Faustina:
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 shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet (Diary, 699).
Jesus’ Mercy is the absolute condition for this injured world of sin. Jesus says again in the Diary entry 300: Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My Mercy. Furthermore, Jesus tells us as well that His unfathomable mercy marks the end times prior to the day of justice. In 848 of the Diary he says to St Faustina: Let all mankind recognize My unfathomable mercy. It is a sign for the end times; after it will come the day of justice. Jesus’ mercy is the only door for salvation. The rest is settled by his divine justice. He says to Faustina: He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice … (Diary, 1146).
Jesus is also sorrowful there are souls who still perish despite his bitter passion. In his indescribable mercy he is giving us his Feast of Mercy as his last hope. He said: Souls perish in spite of My bitter Passion. I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy. If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity (Diary, 965). Jesus’ heart pours for poor sinners. His wish is that they recognise him as the Father in Mercy par excellence. He said: My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls, and especially for poor sinners. If only they could understand that I am the best of Fathers to them and that it is for them that the Blood and Water flowed from My Heart as from a fount overflowing with mercy (Diary, 367).
Jesus takes time to explain to St Faustina the rays coming from him, the Divine Mercy of the Father in person, as portrayed in the image that is to be venerated at His Feast of Mercy, Divine Mercy Sunday. He said: These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him. I desire that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy” (Diary, 299). The greatest sinner has the absolute right for his Mercy. Such a really heart moving claim Jesus made it in St Faustina’s Diary entry 1182: My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy; [urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. He reiterated this point again in Diary entry 723 where he put himself as the defender of the most hardened sinner who returns to his Mercy: The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy. My mercy is confirmed in every work of My hands. He who trusts in My mercy will not perish, for all his affairs are Mine, and his enemies will be shattered at the base of My footstool.
Jesus’ Mercy is so powerful that it can justify the greatest sinners. He tells St Faustina: [Let] the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy (Diary, 1146).
Our Lord reminds us of the complete pardon you and I get if we go for Confession and receive Him in the Most Holy Eucharist on the Divine Mercy Feast: I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy (Diary, 1109). In an incredible way Jesus keeps harping in the Diary of St Faustina on the importance that the most weak souls search his mercy to be saved. He claims: I desire trust from My creatures. Encourage souls to place great trust in My fathomless mercy. Let the weak, sinful soul have no fear to approach Me, for even if it had more sins than there are grains of sand in the world, all would be drowned in the unmeasurable depths of My mercy (Diary, 1059).
In the Diary written by St Faustina, Jesus also says that the veneration of his image as Divine Mercy is of absolute importance in the celebration of the Feast of Mercy. Through his Divine Mercy image, Jesus gives alot of graces to souls. He said: I demand the worship of My mercy through the solemn celebration of the Feast and through the veneration of the image which is painted. By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works (Diary, 742). Adding to this, Jesus also promised sure victory on the enemies of the person who venerates his Mercy image as well as His divine assistance at the hour of death. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over [its] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory (Diary, 48).
Jesus’ self-description as Love and Mercy inspires all of us to repent from our sins and give ourselves to Him entirely. He says to Faustina: Tell [all people], My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls (Diary, 1074). Underneath his Mercy image He also wanted it to be signed with the signature of signatures, namely Jesus, I trust in You. He said to Faustina: I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: ‘Jesus, I trust in You (Diary, 327).
To the people who propagate his Mercy Jesus promised that He will be for them as the most tender mother for her infant and assist the person by being a Merciful Savior at the hour of death. He said: Souls who spread the honor of My mercy I shield through their entire lives as a tender mother her infant, and at the hour of death I will not be a Judge for them, but the Merciful Savior. At that last hour, a soul has nothing with which to defend itself except My mercy. Happy is the soul that during its lifetime immersed itself in the Fountain of Mercy, because justice will have no hold on it (Diary, 1075).
If God’s mercy is infinite and our world is in dire need of it how am I spreading it among those with whom I live and communicate?
