Divine Mercy Sunday - Sunday, April 7, 2024

Divine Mercy Sunday - Sunday, April 7, 2024
Posted on 04/05/2024
divineEaster Message- Divine Mercy Sunday

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

A Blessed Easter to our Community. At Easter, we celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection, that gives all people the gift of eternal life with God forever in heaven. Salvation is God’s gift to all. Jesus is Risen! Jesus loves us and wants all people in heaven with Him. Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to His disciples. (Mt 28, Mk 16, Lk 24 & Jn 20) The disciples saw the empty tomb. The Risen Lord told His disciples to share the Easter message, which brings joy, hope and meaning to human existence. Like the apostles, we are also called to witness to the Risen Lord today. The Easter season lasts for 50 days until Pentecost Sunday. The Easter Octave, is the first 8 days after Easter Sunday, each a Solemnity like Easter.

The Easter Octave culminates with the Divine Mercy Sunday, the celebration of God’s love and mercy for humanity. God pardons, but we need to ask for His forgiveness. We receive God’s mercy through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where Jesus waits for us to forgive our sins once we confess the sins with sorrow and ask for God’s forgiveness. Jesus appeared to Saint Faustina Kowalska, a Polish sister in 1931 and said to her about Divine Mercy Sunday, “ I desire that this Feast be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, especially sinners. The very depths of my Mercy will be opened on that day. I will pour out a sea of graces for those that will approach the fount of My Mercy.” Those who go to confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and for the harm caused by sin.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is prayed on the Rosary beads with the following prayers: Our Father, Hail Mary and the Apostles’ Creed. On the Our Father Beads, we pray, “Eternal Father I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.” On the Hail Mary Beads, we pray, “For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion. Have Mercy on us and the whole world.” The Chaplet concludes with “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One- have mercy on us and the whole world.” Jesus asked that the Chaplet be prayed for a nine day Novena to the Divine Mercy Feast starting on Good Friday, leading souls to God’s Mercy. The Chaplet is also prayed for the dying. Jesus wanted The Divine Mercy Image to be blessed and venerated on the Feast, with God’s mercy being the topic of priests’ sermons. The red and white rays symbolize the blood and water that gushed forth from Jesus’ Heart as a fount of mercy for all. The Image with the signature “Jesus I trust in You” helps us contemplate the Mystery of Redemption and its blessings. We thank Jesus for His love and mercy.

There is a special connection between the Divine Mercy Devotion and Saint Pope John Paul II. Pope John Paul II canonized Saint Faustina Kowalska and instituted the Feast of Divine Mercy Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter on April 30, 2000. Pope John Paul II died on Divine Mercy Saturday April 2, 2005. Pope John Paul II was declared Blessed by Pope Benedict XVI on Divine Mercy Sunday May 1, 2011, and was canonized, with Pope John XXIII, on Divine Mercy Sunday April 27, 2014 by Pope Francis. Pope Francis proclaimed the Extraordinary Jubilee Year: A Holy Year of Mercy, beginning on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception December 8, 2015 and concluding on the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe, November 20, 2016.

We look forward to sharing this Easter time of God’s grace with our faith community We pray for all those impacted by, war, earthquakes, and injustice, especially the deceased, the ill and those who care for the ill. We are invited to open our hearts to receive Jesus’ love and mercy from Divine Mercy Sunday. Jesus is Risen and is with us in our lives. Jesus loves us. Through the intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary, Jesus please help us. Jesus we trust in You! Have mercy on us and the whole world.