VATICAN - John Paul II and the message of Divine Mercy

Saturday, 2 April 2005

Vatican City (Fides Service) - Tomorrow, the second Sunday of Easter, we celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy. In the Year of the Eucharist the offering to God of the life of John Paul II takes on particular light. It can well be said that his Pontificate was set in the important message of Divine Mercy which the Lord Jesus confided to a simple nun, precisely from Krakow and who becamse world famous, Saint Faustina Kowalska, who died on 5 October 1938.
During the Jubilee of the Year 2000, Pope John Paul II canonised Sr Faustina Kowalska, and announced that for the universal Church the first Sunday after Easter Universal would be henceforth the Sunday of Divine Mercy to be celebrated throughout the world. In Poland a few years previously the Catholic Bishops declared the same Sunday Feast of Divine Mercy at the national level. How can we fail to recall in this regard what the Holy Father said in Krakow at the burial place of Sr Faustina in 1997: “I give thanks to Divine Providence that I have been able to fulfil the will of Christ by instituting the Feast of Divine Mercy.” (John Paul II, 7 June 1997) (See speech on other pages same link)
This message of Divine Mercy which Jesus entrusted to Sr Faustina, came between the two world wars of the 20th century and it is impossible to mention all the countless blessings it has brought to the Church and to humanity, spreading, as the Pope said, “in a miraculous manner” (cfr John Paul II, homily for the beatification of Sr Faustina Kowalska, 18 April 1993).
Our beloved Pope John Paul II said many times that this message was of great inspiration for him, in particular for his second Encyclical “Dives in Misericordia”, and he even went as far as to say “in a way it has shaped the image of this pontificate” (Giovanni Paolo II, 7 June 1997). It was from Krakow where the Pope was Archbishop that this message spread around the world through the humble life and witness of Sr Faustina, and above all through the now famous picture Merciful Jesus and the prayer “Jesus, in you I trust!”.
“The message Divine Mercy which Christ himself entrusted to Blessed Faustina went out from Krakow ... and the message can be read and understood by each and all.” (John Paul II, 7 June 1997).
Many times the Holy Father urged us to be “Apostles of Divine Mercy”, this is the task set by the Vicar of Christ for the Church, that she should take to heart this message as he himself did. And the prayer “Jesus in you I trust”, the Picture of Merciful Jesus, the Sunday of Divine Mercy, the little rosary of Divine Mercy, the Hour of Divine Mercy are the essential channels of this message. (L.A.) (Agenzia Fides 2/4/2005; righe 35, parole 465)


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