Divine Mercy Sunday!

A preacher was forced, by the traffic police, to pull over for speeding.  As the cop was about to write the ticket, the priest said to him, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." The cop handed the preacher the ticket, and said, "Go, and sin no more."

The Second Sunday of Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday. Mercy is the foundation of the Easter Season. Today in the first part of the Gospel, Jesus said to his disciples, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." Jesus empowered the disciples to become the vehicle of his mercy.
God continues to pour his mercy in the world through the new Israel, the Church. In a dream, St. Theresa of Lisieux asked St. Faustina, apostle of Divine Mercy, to trust in Jesus and she will become a saint. Later St. Faustina wrote in her dairy, “God Said to me, in the old covenant I sent prophets willingly thunderbolts of my people. Today I am sending you with my mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching human kind, I desire to heal it…”

St. John Paul II had a great role in spreading the message of Divine Mercy. On the 30th of April, 2000, the Second Sunday of Easter, St. Pope John Paul II celebrated the Eucharist in Saint Peter’s Square and proceeded with the canonization of Blessed Sister Faustina. St. Faustina invites us by the witness of her life to keep our faith and hope fixed on God, the Father, rich in mercy, who has saved us by the precious blood of His Son. The Lord Jesus assigned St. Faustina three basic tasks during her short life: 1. to pray for souls, entrusting them to God's incomprehensible Mercy; 2. to tell the world about God's generous mercy; 3. to start a new movement in the Church focusing on God's Mercy. “The Lord of Divine Mercy” a drawing of Jesus based on the vision given to St. Faustina, which shows Jesus raising his right hand in a gesture of blessing, with  his left hand on his chest from which gush forth two rays, one red and one white. The picture contains the message "Jesus, I trust in You". The rays streaming out have symbolic meaning: red for the blood of Jesus, which is the life of souls, and white for the water which justifies souls. The whole image is symbolic of the mercy, forgiveness, and love of God. In the divine mercy chaplet, the novena starts on Good Friday and goes until the Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday. The Divine Mercy celebration invites us to receive God’s mercy, and at the same time, share one another. Our Lord said to St. Faustina, "Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy. I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it"

Pope Francis continues the message of Mercy. During the year of mercy, Pope Francis said in one of his homilies, “Dear brothers and sisters, I have often thought about how the Church might make clear its mission of being a witness to mercy. It is journey that begins with a spiritual conversion.”

Our Cluster will celebrate at St. Anthony on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. It includes Adoration, Divine Mercy Chaplet, and sacrament of reconciliation.