The Feast of
Divine Mercy
Divine Mercy
Today is the Feast of Divine Mercy. This feast was requested by Jesus in visions
that St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun, had in the 1930s. As with all private revelations, there was
nothing new added to the Deposit of Faith given to the Church through the
Apostles. So why a Feast dedicated to
the Mercy of God, which the Church has celebrated at every Mass for 2,000
years?
The 1930s were a time of great societal upheavals and evils. The Bolsheviks had brought the evils of communism
to Russia, evils which would spread throughout much of Eastern Europe and
beyond; a civil war was raging in Spain; and a man by the name of Adolph Hitler
was coming to power in Germany. The sins
of the world had grown great indeed, and the message Jesus sent through His
servant Faustina was one of Mercy.
Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My
mercy. Oh, how much I am hurt by a soul’s
distrust! Such a soul professes that I
am Holy and Just, but does not believe that I am Mercy and does not trust in My
Goodness, He
said to her, as recorded in St. Faustina’s diary Divine Mercy in My Soul.
People can tend to believe their sins are too great for God’s
Mercy. But His Mercy is an ocean in
which our sins are dissolved:
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.
Jesus spoke often to Faustina of his longing for souls: I
want to give Myself to souls; I yearn for souls, My daughter. And He spoke of His sorrow that
sinners do not trust in His Mercy: The flames of mercy are burning Me –
clamoring to be spent; I want to keep pouring them out upon souls; souls just
don’t want to believe in My goodness, and My Heart is sorrowful because
even chosen souls do not understand the greatness of My mercy.
In many ways we live in similar times today. I do not only speak of the great national and
international evils that are prevalent in our times. Most sharply the sting of sin is felt in
abortion. (Even in St. Faustina’s time
this was a great problem. On one
occasion she felt a horrible pain in her abdomen, which she recognized as a
suffering for those who had had abortions.)
When we hear statistics about the number of women who have
had abortions (and the number of men who have been accessories), it can be
overwhelming. What is overwhelming is
the knowledge of how much pain and brokenness there is because of this great
evil. Many people know women who regret
their abortion but refuse to forgive themselves, or to believe that God can
forgive them.
And even if the sins of souls were as dark as night, when the
sinner turns to My mercy, he gives Me the greatest praise and is the glory of
My Passion. When a soul extols My
goodness, satan trembles before it and flees to the very bottom of hell.
And there are so many women who have found healing in God,
and in Him, the strength to become heroic in virtue, and sometimes even great
defenders of life. Many of the heroes of
our time are women who have undergone abortions, found forgiveness, and now
dedicate themselves to the defense of life.
Of course, pro-life activism may not be God’s call to all women who have
suffered through abortion. But healing
is. Holiness is. Wholeness and happiness is. Heroism is.
Every soul believing and trusting in My mercy will obtain it.
These are the words of Jesus.
They are a comfort to us, but also a battle cry. We who love God and our neighbor must spread
the message of Mercy. And those of us in
the pro-life movement must reach out to those who are suffering from
abortion. The devil wishes to destroy
lives through this evil and steal from souls the hope of God’s Mercy.
But Jesus never stops loving any of us, and He never
withholds His Mercy from a soul that seeks it.
How much consolation He must receive from a woman or man who has been
suffering from the grief of abortion, finally turning to Him with trust. How desperately He must want to heal him or her.
I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for
all souls, and especially for poor sinners.
This feast day is for all of us, and especially for the
greatest sinners. They often have the
destiny of becoming the greatest Saints.
We pray to God that every soul that suffers the pain and shame of sin,
would bring those sins to Calvary in the Sacrament of Confession, would trust
in the Mercy of God, and would believe that He wants to take their shame away, and
that healing is possible. And may we be
messengers of Mercy, and stewards of the Love of God.
For help in finding healing from abortion, one place to start
is Project Rachel.
