Meditations on Mercy - Sixth Sunday of Easter
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Just recently, the World Youth Day celebration came to a close. The footage from Poland showed vibrant images of over a million young people from every nation worshiping Jesus Christ in freedom and joy. Poland, a country that faced brutal oppression and occupation first by the Nazis then by an atheistic Communist regime, was transformed. The dream of John Paul II is coming true.
Some of the World Youth Day events took place at Poland’s Divine Mercy Shrine. From this Shrine in 2002, Pope John Paul II said,
“Today, therefore, in this Shrine, I will solemnly entrust the world to Divine Mercy. I do so with the burning desire that the message of God's merciful love, proclaimed here through Saint Faustina, may be made known to all the peoples of the earth and fill their hearts with hope. May this message radiate from this place to our beloved homeland and throughout the world. May the binding promise of the Lord Jesus be fulfilled: From here there must go forth "the spark which will prepare the world for His final coming" (Diary, 1732).
…This fire of mercy needs to be passed on to the world. In the mercy of God the world will find peace and mankind will find happiness! I entrust this task… to all… who will come here from Poland and from throughout the world. May you be witnesses to mercy!”
This message is not new. In the Gospel, Jesus warns us, “You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (Lk 12:40). This message is more urgent now that ever, as revealed in the Divine Mercy messages given to St. Faustina for our times. Jesus urged St. Faustina to “tell souls about this great mercy of mine, because the awful day, the day of my justice, is near” (Diary 965). Jesus also told St. Faustina where to find the greatest access to His Divine Mercy, saying, “Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy. There the greatest miracles take place... come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal to him one's misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated... The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full (Diary, 1448).
These messages are clear. Now is the time of grace and mercy: Don't be afraid; don’t wait; be ready. Place all your trust in Jesus. He longs to give you His merciful love in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the great "Tribunal of Mercy," so that you can become one of the "great cloud of witnesses" - the spark that will help bring the message of God's infinite mercy to the entire world.
Born and raised in a faithful Catholic family, I wandered far from my faith for nearly two decades. Through the infinite mercy of Christ and His Church, I found my way back home to the Catholic Church in the early 90s, and began a path of rediscovery of the beauty and truth of the Catholic faith, eventually earning a Bachelor's degree in Christian Tradition. A stay-at-home Mom for many years, my Church ministries grew to include teaching Catechism and First Eucharist classes, writing and facilitating retreats for healing after abortion, and becoming active in pro-life work with our local 40 Days for Life campaign in the Tri-Cities, Washington as an organizer, participant, speaker, and writer. My desire to share the greatest gift of my life, Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and His Divine Mercy, has found expression in my writing. My articles have been published locally in the Tri-City Herald's Spiritual Life and editorial columns; in the Carmelite Digest; Celebrate Life magazine; and recently in the National Catholic Register.
Links to these articles and more can be found on my blog at http://www.catholicethics.blogspot.com/. My Catholic Ethics page is on Facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/CatholicEthics.
