Divine Mercy Sunday

by Fr. Jess Ty  |  04/19/2020  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Family of God,

Our Catechism teaches that the Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God’s Mercy to sinners (CCC 1846). Today we celebrate the “Heart of the Gospel”, God’s mercy, His Divine Mercy. Benedict XVI said that “Divine Mercy is not a secondary devotion, but an integral dimension of Christian faith and prayer. Mercy is the nucleus of the Gospel Message.”

We will be celebrating this Feast because Jesus told Saint Faustina 14x during her vision in the 1930’s to make a Feast on the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday, He said, “My daughter, tell the whole world about my inconceivable mercy. 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… Let no soul fear to draw near to me. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of my Mercy” (Diary 699).

On May 5, 2000, five days after the Canonization of Saint Faustina, the Vatican decreed, through Saint John Paul II, that the Second Sunday of Easter would henceforth be known as Divine Mercy Sunday.

This time more than ever we are in need of God’s mercy, therefore let us all pray with one voice and one heart: “Jesus, I trust in you.”

In Christ through Mary Immaculate,

Fr. Jess Ty