Divine Mercy Sunday

Dear Parish Family,

Today we conclude the octave of Easter, eight days that are treated as an elongation of Easter Sunday itself. We also celebrate today, as we do now every year since 2001, Divine Mercy Sunday. It was at the canonization of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, the Polish nun to whom our Lord appeared and revealed the particular message of and devotion to Divine Mercy, that Pope John Paul II declared the Second Sunday of Easter to be “Divine Mercy Sunday.” Although the devotion had been around since the 1930s, it really took off after this saintly pope’s clear endorsement. As a Polish man, priest, and bishop, JP II had long known of the devotion and had a particular place in his heart for it. This was remembered by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, when he chose Divine Mercy Sunday to beatify John Paul in 2011. And then a few years later, Pope Francis canonized both John Paul II and John XXIII on Divine Mercy Sunday in 2014.

There are many graces given by Our Lord on this day, as he made clear to St. Faustina. There is much that you can find online regarding the devotion and the promises made by Jesus to us through St. Faustina. However, the primary grace is essentially a return to our soul’s state when we were just baptized. A total cleansing! The conditions are that one receives Holy Communion and goes to confession and puts their trust Jesus. Prayer before the image of the Divine Mercy is also recommended by the Church, as well as praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

Regarding the Chaplet: this is a prayer said on the beads of the Rosary. It is a prayer composed by the Lord himself, and given to St. Faustina in her various mystical encounters with Christ. The Lord promised many graces through the regular saying of the Chaplet, especially great help for those who are dying. I highly recommend learning this prayer! It is quite simple. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is something that I also strongly encourage you to pray with and for your family and other loved ones when the time is coming for them to pass from this world. God has promised that he will defend those who say the chaplet, or those who have the chaplet said for them. God loves us and wants us all to come to him!

Happy Easter, and happy Divine Mercy Sunday! God bless you.

-Fr. Kennell

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