The Easter Duty -
And Divine Mercy Sunday
There are some priests and bishops, as well as faithful, who see no need for the institution of the feast of Divine Mercy on the Second Sunday of Easter. Many consider it an innovation and out of character for the Easter season. Yet when Our Lord requested the feast, he never asked that anything be changed as far as the liturgical prayers or readings and offices. In essence, the very least our Lord asked for is that the Second Sunday of Easter be designated as the feast of Divine Mercy. The conditions for recieving the great pardon/indulgence differ little from what the Church has always required of Catholics during Eastertide for centuries.
Essentially, the Second Sunday of Easter is the perfect occasion for a Catholic to fulfill his Easter duty. Canon Law defines it as such:
Canon 920 - 1. Once admitted to the blessed Eucharist, each of th faithful is obliged to receive holy communion at least once a year.
2. This precept must be fulfilled during the paschal time, unless for a good reason it is fulfilled at another time during the year.
Contrast this with what Our Lord revealed to St. Faustina:
The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion (on that day) shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. (Diary 699)
So yeah, the objections to the feast seem to me to be pretty lame.
March 27th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
When you think about it, it makes perfect sense to have Divine Mercy Sunday the week after Easter. What I don’t understand is why some people apparently have to be forced to make their “Easter Duty”. How could someone bear to only receive Communion once a year (if they were able to receive the Sacraments)?
March 28th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Terry,
The Promise from the Lord and the Indulgence would have to be separate things. There’s no condition for the Promise as in the Indulgence, praying for the intentions of the Holy Father, etc. You also don’t need to be concerned about detachment from sin.
You exercise Mercy by using the Indulgence not for yourself but for someone in purgatory. Because it should be completely useless for you on that day.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:23 am
When you see the amount of people who ignore the Feast of Divine Mercy, I think it becomes very clear why there IS a purgatory to begin with.
Even if people didn’t completely believe it, isn’t it better to do it “just in case”? People don’t feel themselves as sinners. So they feel they have no need of Divine Mercy.
Until they kick the bucket.