Happy Easter, friends! On the Sunday within the Octave of Easter we celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy, which is a relatively new liturgical and historical development. While it is fairly recent, I believe that it speaks to a particular need in our day and age, much like the message of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was suited to its time and the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe came at precisely the right moment, all in God’s Providence.

Speaking at the Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Poland, Pope St. John Paul II pointed out humanity’s need for a redeemer and called our attention to how much we depend on God’s Mercy. “There is nothing that man needs more than Divine Mercy, that love which is benevolent, which is compassionate, which raises man
above his weakness to the infinite heights of the holiness of God… And it is a message that is clear and understandable for everyone. Anyone can come here, look at this Image of the merciful Jesus, His Heart radiating grace and hear in the depths of his own soul what Saint Faustina heard, ‘Fear nothing, l am with you always’.” Certainly, for those who seek God’s forgiveness, the message of Divine Mercy is a welcome one. But the challenge of our day and age lies in the fact that so many individuals reject even the possibility that they might need God’s Mercy
in their lives.

It is a sad reality that our culture today, in as much as it values strength, individuality, forging one’s own destiny, and other similar   values, has lost sight of humanity’s need for God’s mercy. We have convinced ourselves that we can work/earn/muscle our own way out of any situation, with no need for forgiveness or mercy from God or anyone else. But the message of Easter, the message of the Cross, the message of Divine Mercy, is that even though we are     unable, by our own merits, to redeem ourselves, God will always do so freely as soon as we ask Him. We live under the auspices of a God who wants to forgive us more than we ourselves want to be forgiven, but so often we obstinately refuse to acknowledge our need for God and His Mercy. Like stubborn toddlers who insist on   doing tasks by themselves that are completely beyond them, and are even dangerous to them, we rush headlong through life, not availing    ourselves of the Mercy that flows freely from the side of Christ on the Cross.
 
During this Easter Season, if you don’t already do so, I ask you to consider praying with the   Divine Mercy Chaplet. It is a devotion that reminds us of our own flaws and imperfections, invites God’s love into them, and even helps us to practice making amends for the sins of the world. Instead of trying to fix the world’s     problems ourselves and getting worked up by politics/the news/what’s wrong with the world today, in this devotion we can simply surrender it to God and trust that it is in His power to do with it as He will. Participate fully in Easter by immersing yourself, your family, and the world in the Mercy of God.
 
Prayers always,
Fr. McC