Celebrating God’s Mercy
Dear Parishioners,
The Feast of Divine Mercy, celebrated on the Octave of Easter (the Sunday after Easter), is a relatively recent addition to the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. This feast, centered on the Divine Mercy of Jesus Christ as revealed to Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, was extended to the universal Church by Pope John Paul II on April 30, 2000—the day he canonized Saint Faustina.
From the diary of this young Polish nun, a special devotion began to spread throughout the world in the 1930s. Though the message is not new, it serves as a powerful reminder of what the Church has always taught through Sacred Scripture and Tradition: that God is merciful and forgiving, and that we, too, are called to show mercy and forgiveness. In the Divine Mercy devotion, however, this message takes on a renewed depth, inviting people to a deeper understanding that God’s love is limitless and available to everyone—especially the greatest sinners.
The message of mercy is simple yet profound: God loves all of us, no matter how great our sins. He desires that we recognize His mercy as greater than our sins, so that we may turn to Him with trust, receive His mercy, and allow it to flow through us to others. In this way, all may come to share in His joy.
Devotion to Divine Mercy calls us to a total commitment to God, who is Mercy itself. It is a decision to trust completely in Him, to receive His mercy with gratitude, and to be merciful as He is merciful. This message can be easily remembered through the simple acronym, ABC:
A: Ask for His Mercy. God invites us to approach Him constantly in prayer, to repent of our sins, and to ask Him to pour out His mercy upon us and upon the whole world.
B: Be merciful. God calls us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others by extending love and forgiveness, just as He does for us.
C: Complete trust in Jesus. The graces of His mercy depend upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.
I invite you to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy daily, and your life will never be the same. God, who is rich in mercy, never ceases to open His doors to those who come to Him with sincere and humble hearts.
In His Mercy,
Fr. Vitalis Anyanike
Pastor
