Divine Mercy Sunday

April 19, 2009

 Introduction

The message of Divine Mercy is that God is merciful and that He is love poured out for us.  He wants all His children to turn to Him with trust and repentance.  Divine Mercy is at the heart of the Gospel.  It presents the truth and the call of the Gospel.  Pope John Paul II's encyclical Rich in Mercy proclaims Divine Mecy as the message for our age.

The message is not new.  In the past God spoke to patriarchs and prophets.  God continues to speak to us about His mercy.  In the 1930's, He revealed Himself to Sr. Faustina, a simple holy nun in Poland.  He called her to be His secretary and apostle of His mercy.  He revealed to her the desires of His merciful Heart-the ways He wants us to respond to His mercy.  He promised specific graces to all who would honor and proclaim His mercy.  Divine Mercy is not just another devotion.  As Cardinal Schonborn stated at the World Congress of Divine Mercy in Rome in 2008, "Divine Mercy is first a way of life, second, a message, and third, a devotion."

 Please click on the Questions and Answers by Rev. George Kosicki, CSB.  This will give you a clear understanding of Divine Mercy and why Pope John Paul II on April 30, 2000 made the Sunday after Easter Divine Mercy Sunday and canonized Sister Maria Faustina Kowalski.