By Father John Maria Devaney, O.P.
On April 30, 2000, during the last ordinary jubilee year the Church celebrated, Pope St. John Paul II canonized a young Polish religious sister named Sister Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament. Dying at the age of 33 on October 8, 1938, in relative obscurity in a convent of her religious congregation just outside the city of Krakow, Poland, St. Faustina had now become known and venerated throughout the world as “The Apostle of Mercy” and “The Secretary of Divine Mercy.” These titles were given to her based on what the Church has deemed authentic private revelations she experienced from Jesus during her life that were recorded in her diaries. The message that Jesus sent to the world through her was to remind mankind how merciful His love is for all and to turn back from our current ways. This has become now known as “The Message of Divine Mercy.” Christ also instructed that an image be painted based on his appearance to St. Faustina, which has become known as the “Divine Mercy Image,” as well the creation of prayers called the “Divine Mercy Chaplet” (often prayed at 3 p.m. to honor the hour of Christ’s death on Calvary) and the institution, at Jesus’ request, of the Second Sunday of Easter to become known as “Divine Mercy Sunday.” It is remarkable that God would use two Polish people who lived in the 20th century, one being a hidden religious sister who lived a rather short life on earth and the other a magnanimous Pope, the first ever from Poland, to state again His unfathomable love and desire to forgive the world from the sin we commit in our own free will.
St. Faustina and Pope St. John Paul II came out of the bloodiest century in human history from a nation that suffered untold devastation from the evils of Nazi Facism and Soviet Communism. Their lived experience would be seen through the lens of their own sufferings and that of their people but what could be a more fitting way for God’s Providence to deliver this message to mankind at the dawn of the Third Millennium of Christianity? You and I now stand a quarter century since the successor of St. Peter officially established Christ’s desire to proclaim again to the world his first public preaching, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” (Mark 1:15).
In the almost 80 years since the end of World War II, the nations of the earth have actually experienced one of the greatest stretches of peace between major world powers since the end of the Roman Empire. Yes, there have been small wars between nations and many other atrocities over this period and the headlines and leaders may seem to echo that we teeter on the brink of World War III, but the current conflict in our times is the war of sin within ourselves not with each other. Our modern times, technology and yes, unprecedented material prosperity (despite current economic worries) is a threat by miring us deep within personal sin that tears at life and the family versus the borders of nations and failed political philosophies. However, “Do not be afraid!” as Pope St. John Paul II called out to the world as he took to the balcony of St. Peter’s in 1979 for the first time. Jesus loves us deeply, wants us to turn back to his Divine Mercy, especially to the Sacrament of Penance, and heal the war within man. Pope Francis knows the gravity of these times as well and has carried on the call of Jesus from the last century by declaring the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2015-2016. Also, now you and I, with Pope Francis, a quarter century later celebrate this Ordinary Jubilee as Pilgrims of Hope, a “Hope that does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5) which entitles this Holy Year’s theme. This year, as we approach Divine Mercy Sunday let’s exercise this virtue of Hope, turn again and again to the Divine Mercy and with Jesus’ love fight the enemy within.
Father John Maria Devaney, O.P., is the pastor of St. Pius V Parish, Providence, and a Papal Missionary of Mercy.
