This Sunday, April 19th, is Divine Mercy Sunday. The first Sunday after Easter was designated as Divine Mercy Sunday by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000. This feast day came to be through the diary of a polish nun named Sister Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938) who was canonized as a saint that same year. St. Faustina recorded in this diary revelations of Jesus, who spoke to her especially about the immensity of his mercy. She often compared the mercy of God to the ocean. At one point in the diary she even writes that Jesus said to her “the flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out on human souls” (#1074). 

Sometimes it is easy for us to think that our sins disqualify us from God’s mercy. But whenever we start thinking this way, we can be sure we have got it backwards. Mercy is not for the righteous because the righteous do not need mercy. Mercy is for sinners. As Jesus says in the gospel of Mark, “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (2:17).

One way that Jesus told St. Faustina that he wishes to pour out his mercy on us is through special graces on this day of Mercy. In paragraph 699 of her diary she records Jesus saying: “My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day, the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the Fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. … Let no soul fear to draw near to Me. … It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter.”

In order to give an opportunity for you to participate in this, we are offering the sacrament of Holy Communion on the feast of Divine Mercy according to the schedule below. As far as confessions, it is commonly understood that going to confession several days before or after Divine Mercy Sunday fulfills this condition.

While God’s mercy is superabundant, we can only receive it with a disposition of faith and repentance. We must be like the prodigal son who turned away from his sinful life and came back to his father because he had a trust in his goodness (Lk 15). And like the prodigal son, when we do so, we will be surprised to find that God is even more merciful and compassionate than we even thought. So, let us approach the Lord’s mercy with confidence this Sunday and every day.
-Fr. Sandquist