Divine Mercy

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) – Much  of what we discuss here deals with secular matters. Granted they all relate to our ability to worship, to live, and to evangelize according to our faith. Of course, our opponent, the Devil, is working overtime to defeat us both spiritually and legally. So, we fight, and we pray that God will protect us from Satan’s snare, especially right now as we enter into what should be the most joyful time of the year: Easter.

But the weekend after Easter is, in my opinion, one of our most significant feasts: Divine Mercy Sunday. It was designated such by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000. It is based on the writings of a Polish nun, Sr. Faustina Kowalska, who died in 1938.

Beginning in February of 1931 the good sister started receiving apparitions of Jesus in which He emphasized the extent of His mercy towards us. At the suggestion of her spiritual director, she began writing the messages down in a diary that after her death was sent to the Vatican for review. It met with resistance, however, due to a poor translation from sister’s native Polish.

However, when the archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla, was elected Pope in 1978 there was now someone with authority in the Vatican who could read Sr. Faustina’s diary without the need for any translation. Not only was he impressed by the messages contained in her writings, but he designated the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday.

The message of Divine Mercy is very basic: God loves us and wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, and if we can call upon Him in humility and in truth, we will receive His mercy and come to share in His joy. We need only to ask, be merciful ourselves, and to trust in Jesus. And if you listen closely to the readings and prayers Sunday, you will hear that message throughout.

So, as we celebrate God’s mercy towards us this weekend, we need to sit back for a moment and look at this mercy in reverse, as the mercy we are required to show to others. God’s mercy toward us is only part of His merciful gift; the rest of Divine Mercy is on us to pass it on to others.

How many times in the Gospels have we been reminded of this: Go and reconcile with your brother before you make your offering to God…forgive seven times seventy. And then there is the story of the servant who was forgiven his debts by his master but was condemned when he did not forgive the debts of his fellow servant.

And, of course, there is the example of the Prodigal Son, who was reunited with his father, which contains all sorts of lessons on true mercy and forgiveness. In short, we are asked to show to one another that same mercy shown to us by God, and in doing so we become part of God’s plan for Divine Mercy.

But we know it is difficult to show mercy and to forgive those who have hurt us, especially those in today’s secular society who are constantly taking aim at our faith. Forgiveness, however, is a decision that each of us can and must make. It does not mean blotting out painful memories, but it does mean not acting on them as was done in this story about two lawyers:

They were the only lawyers in a small town and over the years had developed a fierce rivalry. Unfortunately, one of the lawyers was always getting the short end of the stick and being bested by his rival. One night an angel appeared to him and offered to give him anything he desired, no matter how exotic or flamboyant. There was only one catch: Whatever he wished for himself the same would be given twofold to his rival.

The lawyer thought for a few minutes and replied, “I want to be blind in one eye.”

Of course, in today’s environment it becomes easy to think in those terms, to let our disappointments and failures lead us to hate, especially those who are persecuting us, casting aspersions and belittling our faith, and seeking to nullify the word of God in modern society; those who follow a god they have created for themselves rather than the God who created them.

Forgiveness, however, does not mean surrender; we are still obligated to protect our faith and traditions. 

What it does mean is that we remember that Jesus died for the other guy just as He died for you. It is only through the grace of our own forgiveness that we are able to forgive anyone else.

Holding grudges, anger, and resentment is not only spiritually unhealthy, but it is physically unhealthy as well, and is thought to be one of the contributing causes to heart disease. Divine Mercy demands the proper choice on our part; that in humbly seeking His mercy we should be able to extend the mercy to others, as Jesus taught us to do.

In the midst of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was asked how he would treat the Rebels after the war ended. The president replied, “I will treat them as if they had never been away.”

God’s mercy is infinite and unchanging, and though we are imperfect and finite creatures, we are still called to do the same. That’s the course we must embrace. We can treat those who have offended us as others might do or we can respond as Lincoln did — mercifully, from our Christian tradition.

This is not a hard concept to understand. It reminds me of the story told about a rich king who gave a citizen a magnificent jewel. The man said to his king, “This is too much for me to accept.” In reply, the king said, “Perhaps, but it is not too much for me to give.”

In the end, we will be judged by the choice we make, and mercy toward us will be distributed accordingly.

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(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every weekend on Faith On Trial or podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/.)