Divine Mercy Sunday
This final Day of the Easter Octave, named Divine Mercy Sunday by Pope John Paul II in 2000, is a ‘hermeneutical crown’ of the eight-day-long celebration of that Eighth and final Day of creation.
Hermeneutical? The word simply means ‘interpretive’, or the science of discovering meaning. Hence, I mean that this feast of Mercy really gets to the core of Easter’s true meaning.
Eleison?
Mercy, as I intend it here, is love encountering evil and overcoming it, healing it, and raising from it surpassing goods that could never have been without those evils. Mercy structures the mysterious logic of the ‘happy fault’ of Adam that we sing of at the Easter Vigil.
The whole economy of God’s work in Jesus is at heart a work of mercy, with the Passion being the deepest center of that heart. In the Resurrection, God the Father accepted his Son’s sacrifice as a new and eternal mode of God’s being God: in the heart of the eternal Trinity is forever the risen Body of Jesus ever-marked with the signs of the Passion. God for unending ages relates to creation through the ever-open wounds of the Risen Christ. To me, this is utterly astonishing to ponder: God’s mode of being-God has been reshaped by human hatred and cruelty. This is the message embedded in the icon of Divine Mercy revealed to St. Faustina Kowalska.
Eucharistic Chaplet
It’s also the meaning of the “Chaplet of Mercy” that St. Faustina received from God in a vision. The Chaplet is a priestly offering of the Slain-Risen Lord to the Father asking God to be who he has shown himself to be in Christ: Mercy. As such, the Chaplet is an extension of the liturgical-sacramental offering of the same Slain-Risen Lord that is the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
To see this, one need only reflect on the words of Eucharistic Prayer I that follow the Consecration: “…we, your servants and your holy people, offer to your glorious majesty, from the gifts that you have given us, this pure victim, this holy victim, this spotless victim, the holy Bread of eternal life and the Chalice of everlasting salvation…”
In this sense, I have always found the Chaplet to be a superb way to prepare for, and extend forward the celebration of the holy Eucharist. It shapes in me a deeper awareness of the share in Christ's royal-priesthood I have through Baptism; a priesthood that calls me to, at every moment, not only offer my own life as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) to God but also to offer the living sacrifice of Christ-Crucified-Risen. It causes me to tremble.
Implore
On this Feast we commend ourselves and the whole world to God’s fierce and merciful love, asking that he heal the wounds of sin and division and raise us to become living icons of mercy.
JP2
What a remarkable joy it is to celebrate this Feast in concert with the beatification of now-Blessed John Paul II, who was to the very end an exemplary icon of that mercy.
Magnus.
Blessed JP2, we love you.
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St. Joseph Educational Center (SJEC)
Together seeking the Face of God
About Me
- Thomas J. Neal, Ph.D.
- West Des Moines, IA, United States
- I am the Director of St. Joseph Educational Center, a Catholic regional adult faith formation resource center for the parishes of the Des Moines region.
What a joy to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday!
ReplyDeleteAs always, I found myself ever reflective on the Octave of Easter – which I refer to as “Thomas Sunday”. Thomas the Apostle is my Confirmation Saint, and I relate to his refusal to take the witness of the other disciples alone regarding the Risen Lord. When Jesus sees Thomas, he offers his hands and side as the tangible evidence Thomas needs in order to believe. A divine favor – an act of compassion which will bring peace – in other words, he offers mercy. No stern lecture,- no ‘take it or leave it” attitude from Jesus – just an offering to draw Thomas into an increased faith.
Having been baptized in a Fundamentalist Protestant tradition, the concept of mercy was not spoken of often in my recollection. Jesus dying was more to hold back the tide of God’s pending wrath – never an offering of loving mercy. The image of St. Faustina’s divine mercy states – Jesus, I trust in You! John Paul shows that trust in his exalted phrase “Throw Open Wide the Door to Christ”. Merciful love flows through the open door and offers the opportunity to increased faith as did the visible wounds of Christ for Thomas.
May we too say “My Lord and my God!” at each Eucharistic offering – opening ourselves up to merciful love.
I love the way you wove Thomas into Mercy Sunday! And especially the insight you have grown into from your faith upbringing; which we have spoken of many a time. Thank you for sharing it with all - people who live these things out are the most powerful and credible spokespersons for the transformative power of Christian faith!
ReplyDeleteAs the 80's would say -
ReplyDeleteThomas is like - totally awesome!