The Feast of Divine Mercy
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This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday – a day to receive very special graces for yourself or a deceased loved one.
Jesus said to St. Faustyna: “My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day are open all the divine floodgates through which graces flow. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate my love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy. Diary 699
If we go Confession (20 days before and up to 20 days after the Divine Mercy Sunday); receive Holy Communion; and pray for the Intentions of the Pope we receive the complete forgiveness of sins and punishment for ourselves or we may also receive it for a deceased person. This is the Divine Mercy Indulgence.
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There are three Levels of Damage we cause by our sin.
We look at our sin and ask: What damage have we done and how is it going to be fixed.
Well, there are three levels of damage caused by our sin:
I. By our venial sin we harm our relationship with God; by mortal sin we destroy that relationship.
II. By our sin we damage our soul.
a. Repeated bad actions become bad habits that we call vice such as pride, vanity, envy, sloth, anger, greed, gluttony, lust, resentments, selfishness, use…
b. Vice makes us vicious – it makes us vicious people and it destroys our happiness and that of everyone around us.
III. Our sin harms other people and causes a ripple effect that floods out into the world – affecting all humanity. It is like terrorism. We set off a bomb by our sin and its impossible to know where the damage will end. There is long term collateral damage caused by our sin and we can’t fix that.
Only God knows the damage I have caused others by my sin – especially in my pre-conversion years when I was sinning with a total disregard for the harm it did to others. I can’t go to any high school of college reunion because I’d have to spend the whole time apologizing. The worst part is not the shame. The worst part is that I can never undue the damage I’ve done to people. Once you throw the stone of sin into the water, you can’t reverse the ripple of harm.
The Divine Mercy Indulgence is not a “get out of jail free” card. That would make it superstitious.
In his Mercy God is giving us a way to help us fix the damage that has gone way beyond or ability to solve or heal.
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What the Divine Mercy Indulgence Does
By Confession God forgives all our sins and heals our relationship with Him.
Then, with God’s help, we must take care of what we can – the damage we have done to our soul by creating all kinds of vices. With God’s help we fix our vices by daily mental prayer, practicing a resolution, a daily examination of conscience, doing our daily duties and accepting everything we cannot change patiently – that means cheerfully.
But how do we fix the damage we done to others and the ripple of evil we caused in the world? We can’t
We say, “Lord, I know you can forgive me, and you have a lot more work to do in me; but please undue the damage I have done to others and to the world. Lord I can’t fix that. I can’t heal them.”
This is where God in Mercy says, “I will take care of the people you have hurt, and I won’t hold you responsible for them anymore.”
God will undue all the damage I have done, especially to those closest to me and to the whole world.
By the Divine Mercy Indulgence, God says to us, “I will take care the people you have harmed. I can handle that. You don’t have to worry about that any longer. I won’t hold you responsible for the ripple effect of evil any longer.
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The Catechism (1032) reminds us we can gain an indulgence not only for ourselves but for a deceased person.
The souls in purgatory are not able to do anything to help themselves be purified and like us, they can’t fix the damage they have done to others and the ripple of evil in the world.
But we can gain the Divine Mercy indulgence for them. This is a great act of Mercy on our part.
St Faustyna was taken by God to Purgatory to see the suffering of the souls there, and they often came and visited her because she did everything she could to help them through Purgatory and into heaven.
In her Diary (1723) she writes: When the soul of a certain young lady came to me one night, she made me aware of her presence, and made known to me that she needed my prayer. I prayed for a while, but her spirit did not leave me. Then I thought to myself, “If you are a good spirit, leave me in peace, and the indulgences I will gain tomorrow will be for you.” At that moment, the spirit left my room, and I recognized that she was in purgatory.
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Day Five of the Novena to Divine Mercy
Jesus said: Today bring to Me the souls who live apart from the Truth I revealed and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. During My bitter Passion they tore at My Body and Heart; that is, My Church. As they return to unity with the Church, My wounds heal, and in this way they alleviate My Passion.
Faustina replied: Most Merciful Jesus, Goodness Itself, You do not refuse light to those who seek it of You. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who knowingly or unknowingly live apart from Your Truth. Draw them by Your light into the unity of the Church, and do not let them escape from the abode of Your Most Compassionate heart; but bring it about that they, too, come to extol the generosity of Your mercy. Even for those who have torn the garment of Your unity, A fount of mercy flows from Your Heart. The omnipotence of Your mercy, Oh God, Can lead these souls also out of error.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of those who neither know nor follow the Truth of Jesus, who have squandered Your blessings and misused Your graces by obstinately persisting in their errors. Do not look upon their errors, but upon the love of Your own Son and upon His bitter Passion, which He underwent for their sake, since they, too, are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Bring it about that they also may glorify Your great mercy for endless ages. Amen.
Postscript
So this Sunday to receive the Divine Mercy Indulgence:
1. Place an image of the Divine Mercy where you can venerate it
2. Go to Confession 20 before or up to 20 days after the Feast
3. Pray for the intentions of the Pope while you pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet
In this way you will obtain the Divine Mercy Indulgence - the complete forgiveness and punishment due to sin