Invitation to Divine Mercy Sunday celebration

Friday, Mar. 27, 2015

By Greg Werking

Special to the Intermountain Catholic 

Are you like Jonah? Do you run the other way when asked to share your faith?  

Jonah was commanded to preach to the Ninevites to repent. Ninevites (Assyrians) were the longtime arch-enemies of the Hebrews. Jonah boarded a boat going the opposite direction to Tarshish. During the voyage God provided a great storm to get Jonah back on mission. We all know the rest of the story.

Like Jonah, all Catholics have been tasked to evangelize. Pope Francis’ Joy of the Gospel issues this call. “The New Evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization.” (120) 

“Besides sacramental liturgy and sacramentals, catechesis must take into account the forms of piety and popular devotions among the faithful” (CCC, 1674). 

Likely, each of us knows of family or friends whom we pray will find their way back to the faith. The faith journey is different for each person, but often devotional practices help people to reclaim their Catholic identity. A Catholic devotion that has attracted many is the Rosary-based Divine Mercy. Devotees have an opportunity for evangelization on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 12. To appreciate the draw of this devotion, it is helpful to review a bit of recent history.

In the 1930s in Poland, the mystic Saint Faustina recorded many personal exchanges with Jesus (private revelation), including the following:

Our Lord Jesus said, “The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet…Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.”– (Saint Faustina, Diary, 699)

In 2002 Pope John Paul II offered a plenary indulgence on Divine Mercy Sunday with the usual conditions: One must receive Holy Communion, make a good Confession within a suggested 20 days, pray for the Holy Father’s intentions and strive to become fully detached from all sins.

It is the last requirement of being fully detached from all sins that makes the plenary indulgence so very difficult to attain. This is why some scholars deem the “Divine Mercy” promise even greater and more generous than a normal plenary indulgence due to the absence of the requirement to be fully detached from all sins. Just imagine making a good confession and receiving Holy Communion and receiving full remission of all temporal punishment. We appeal to you to ask a friend or family member who no longer attends weekly Mass to come back and reset his or her faith life. Share the extraordinary “special graces” offered. Invite friends and family to any Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 12, or celebrate with them at the annual 2015 Area-wide Prayer Service at Saint Thomas More Parish. Last year, four priests heard confessions for 75 of the 300 attending the 2014 Divine Mercy Prayer Service. We encourage all to reach out, trust in God, and let the Holy Spirit work.

Greg Werking is a parishioner at Saint Thomas More Parish.