NOTE: Divine Mercy Sunday this year is on Sunday; April 28, 2019. The Feast of Divine Mercy falls on the second Easter Sunday of the liturgical calendar year. Below is a message from Father Niranjan Rodrigo who is the Pastor of the Church of the Infant Saviour in Pine Bush, New York. Fr. Rodrigo’s message appears in this week’s Church Bulletin and serves a timely reminder of the Feast. If you would like to learn more about the Devotion of the Divine Mercy you can read our refresher guide on that devotion here.
Today’s feast of Divine Mercy is especially important for all of us. It is because the miracle of mercy has radically changed the destiny of humanity. It is a miracle in which we experience the fullness of the love and mercy of God our Father. Today is a powerful reminder that Jesus is very much alive and working in His Church and in our lives. One of the reasons why this feast is important to us is that it is a feast for our times. It is almost a 20 years old new feast. And it is less than 100 years ago that Jesus specifically asked St. Faustina to let our Holy Father know that He wanted the entire Church to honor and celebrate His Divine Mercy on the Second Sunday of Easter. And it was St. John Paul II who listened to her and acted. God has special blessings and graces for us, if we take the time to listen and respond to Him in trust.
On this Divine Mercy Sunday we all are called to ask for the “mercy of God on us.” God wants us to pray for His mercy, saying “The Jesus Prayer.” The Jesus Prayer is very simple: “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner.” It is considered as one of the foundational Christian prayers. Jesus told St. Faustina this: “Souls that make an appeal to my mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask .… beg for mercy for the whole world.” We are called to be merciful in our words, actions and prayers.
Jesus said that when a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls.” (St. Faustina, Diary 1074) The prayer, “Jesus, I trust in You!” has become so dear to many of the devout Catholics. It expresses the attitude with which we would like to abandon ourselves trustfully into the hands of Jesus our only Savior. May we choose to trust Him and let Him work as He wills in our lives!
— Fr. Niranjan Rodrigo, Ph.D
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