After a week of Sundays…
It is the Second Sunday of Easter.
Nothing has changed much, the readings for the Second Sunday of Easter are the same as they have been for decades, it’s still doubting Thomas Sunday, as it were. Yet John Paul II declared this Sunday of the octave of Easter as the Feast of Divine Mercy, just as Our Lord had asked for through His revelations to St. Faustina.
Checking the blogs as of this writing, it seems a few have written about today as the feast of Mercy, while others have not. I am hoping traditionalists who may not esteem JPII will not let this prejudice them against this Feast of Divine Mercy, a devotion that began to flourish during WWII until the late 1950’s when it was suppressed, due to a misunderstanding of the writings. After the writings were cleared, the devotion was once again permitted, with Vatican approval in the early portion of 1978, shortly before John Paul II became Pope.
It’s a feast for sinners.
“He welcomes sinners and eats with them” - that fact which scandalized the priests and Levites - perhaps continues to scandalize people of our own day. This feast is for those who are sick, the lame and the outcast; since “those who are well, do not need a doctor, sick people do,” as Jesus said. Nevertheless, those who are well, those who are holy and devout, this feast is for you as well. Jesus cries out, “Come to me, all you who are labored and burdened…If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, let him drink who believes in me, Scripture has it; ‘From within him rivers of living water shall flow.’” Thus every soul ought to respond as the Samaritan woman had when confronted by the Divine Mercy, “Lord, give me this water always!”
A conversion story
In 1972 my friends had pretty much given up drugs and were seeking a more spiritual life, a couple of them becoming interested in Transcendental Meditation. I went along, since I had developed an interest in the occult, and I was curious about TM.
At a conference a friend mentioned her belief that the second coming of Jesus was imminent. I scoffed. Determined to prove her wrong, I went home and began reading the Book of Revelations. Oblivious to anything else, I kept reading until I had finished it, moving on to the letters of St. Peter.
I cannot remember at which point in the second letter of Peter that it happened, but I was suddenly convicted that Jesus was Lord, that he was the Son of God and rose from the dead. The conviction was so intense it seemed to reverberate through my entire body. In distress I went into my room and knelt down, crunched down, my forehead touching the floor, and prayed Our Lord to forgive me for not believing before this, for having left him, for having sinned.
I experienced what I later understood in Teresian terminology, an ‘imaginary’ vision of Jesus, as distinct as if I were looking at another being, although my eyes were closed and I could not physically lift my head. The other difference was, I could not lift my interior gaze above his wounded feet. It seemed I could see the lower part of his garment, but the rest of him was obscured by rays of light. I heard no sound, yet I felt myself suspended in grace and mercy, immersed in love. I was instantaneously converted at that moment.
A few years later, when I encountered the image of the Divine Mercy, I understood that it was the same as my ‘vision’ - Jesus had shown himself to me exactly as he stood in the image, I recognised the position of his feet, and knew the light that had obscured him had been the rays streaming from his heart, representing the blood and water.
These events happened to me on a day shortly after Easter of that year, although I can’t say it was the Second Sunday after Easter - I just don’t remember what day of the week it was. Nevertheless, the experience restored my faith and changed my life.
Our Lord’s words to St. Faustina
I desire, Jesus promised, to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy. Let them approach this sea of mercy with great trust. Sinners will attain justification, and the just will be confirmed in good. Whoever places his trust in My mercy will be filled with My divine peace at the hour of death.
Trust is not only the essence or soul of this devotion, but also the condition for obtaining graces.
The graces of mercy, Jesus told Sister Faustina, are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is - trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My desire to give much, very much. The soul which will trust in My mercy is most fortunate, because I Myself take care of it. No soul that has called upon My Mercy has been disappointed or brought to shame. I delight particularly in a soul which has placed its trust in My goodness.
