This weekend the church celebrates “Divine Mercy Sunday.” In Catholicism, divine Mercy is a devotion to Jesus Christ associated with the apparitions of Jesus to Saint Faustina Kowalska. The venerated image under this Christological title refers to what Sr. Kowalska’s diary describes as “God’s loving mercy” towards all people, especially for sinners. Sr.Kowalska was granted the title “Secretary of Mercy” by the Holy See in the Jubilee Year of 2000 Sr. Kowalska reported a number of apparitions during religious ecstasy which she wrote in her 19341938 diary, later published as the book The two main themes of the devotion are to trust in Christ’s endless goodness, and to show mercy to others acting as a conduit for God’s love towards them. Saint Pope John Paul II, a native of Poland, had a great affinity towards this devotion and authorized it in the Liturgical Calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The liturgical Feast of the Divine Mercy is celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Worshippers of the Divine Mercy commemorate the Hour of Mercy (3 p.m.), which according to Sr. Kowalska’s diary is the time of the death of Jesus. Another very popular form of the devotion is the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. The primary focus of the Divine Mercy devotion is the merciful love of God and the desire to let that love and mercy flow through one’s own heart towards those in need of it. As he dedicated the Shrine of the Divine Mercy, Pope John Paul II referred to this when he said: “Apart from the mercy of God there is no other source of hope for mankind”. Fr. Roach
