Divine Mercy Sunday
When I was in seminary, I learned so very much more about the depth of our faith. One of the new lessons I obtained was about Divine Mercy Sunday, the chaplet of Divine Mercy and how to recite it and what it meant for me/us. This did not occur in a vacuum as I will relate and it caused me to give increased attention to it. We had exercises of different spiritual methods and approaches each semester and one included reciting the Divine Mercy chaplet, which was a devotion founded by Sr. Faustina Kowalski (1905-1938), using a Rosary. She reported visions of Jesus and conversations with Him which she recorded in her diary. She became known as “the Apostle of Mercy.” The three main themes of the devotion are to ask for and obtain the mercy of God, to trust in Christ’s abundant mercy, and finally to show mercy to others and act as a conduit for God's mercy towards them.
The devotion places emphasis on the veneration of the Divine Mercy Image, first seen by Sr. Faustina, which depicts a stream of blue color and red color coming from Jesus with His arms outstretched. We
have such an image in the vestibule of St. Brendan’s Church and it is to depict the water and blood of Christ that Jesus shed for us in His Divine Mercy to us. The image is displayed and venerated by Catholics on its own, and is solemnly blessed during Divine Mercy Sunday. The devotion includes specific prayers such as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
In the year before I came to St. Brendan’s , I served as a deacon at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in San Francisco where Bishop Ignatius Wang is in residence. I enjoyed my time at Holy Name and became friends with Bishop Wang and the priests, deacon and good people of Holy Name. I learned first-hand that Bishop Wang had been the presiding Bishop at Divine Mercy conventions held throughout the Bay Area and I was privileged to accompany him as his deacon for Mass. Some of my best conversation have been while driving. Bishop Wang who explained that the image of God’s Divine Mercy is made public to us in the sacrifice of His Son, a total and complete sacrifice as Jesus shed his last drop of blood and water signified by the blue and red streams of light from the sacred heart of Jesus. We discussed that it did not matter that it really was the last drop of Jesus’ blood or not, but that we should appreciate the totality of the sacrifice of Jesus in the Paschal Event – the suffering, death through crucifixion, and glorious Resurrection in Christ. He added that that is what made him attracted to the Divine Mercy of God, the contemplation of the totality of God’s life giving sacrifice.
I thought about that for a while and measured my giving to God as in need of a “boost.” I evaluated , at that time, that while I had done much to trust in God by sacrificing to enter seminary, I had not done it with the last ounce of my conviction or every fiber of my being. I believed myself to be like most of us who hold back just a bit and reserve dedication to God and appreciation of God’s plan for us and the
sacrifice of Jesus, even if less than we used to, with concern for earthly matters. One of my concerns at that time was what parish would I be assigned to as a new priest. I decided after that car ride to completely trust in God’s plan for me. As we all know, that plan involved me coming to St. Brendan’s parish, a “dream assignment” that I have enjoyed beyond words. Trusting in God’s mercy means trusting
completely. It is a wonderful experience that is rewarded always. Try it!!!!
Fr. Mike
