ST John Paul II has been called the “mercy pope” for good reason.
As Pope, he beatified and then canonised St Faustina Kowalska, who received the message of divine mercy that later spread throughout the world.
Long before that, when it seemed the writings about divine mercy would never see the public light, it was Pope John Paul II who stepped in to move the process along.
He spoke and wrote about divine mercy and made the Second Sunday of Easter Divine Mercy Sunday for the entire Church.
And he died on the Vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday.
The Polish Pope had much to say about divine mercy throughout his pontificate and even wrote an encyclical, Dives in Misericordia, about God’s mercy.
Divine Mercy Sunday — which is always the first Sunday after Easter Sunday — is a perfect time to remember some of his many words about this great gift of God.
1. Three years after being elected Pope, John Paul II said on the feast of Christ the King:
“Right from the beginning of my ministry in St Peter’s See in Rome, I considered this message my special task. Providence has assigned it to me in the present situation of man, the Church, and the world. It could be said that precisely this situation assigned that message to me as my task before God.”
2. When he was in Poland on August 17, 2002, for the dedication of the Divine Mercy Shrine in Krakow-Lagiewniki, Pope John Paul II said in his homily:
“Like St Faustina, we wish to proclaim that apart from the mercy of God there is no other source of hope for mankind. We desire to repeat with faith – Jesus, I trust in you.”
3. Emphasising that divine mercy is not just for one place, he said:
“May the binding promise of the Lord Jesus be fulfilled – from here there must go forth “‘”the spark which will prepare the world for his final coming” (‘Diary,’ 1732). This spark needs to be lighted by the grace of God. This fire of mercy needs to be passed on to the world. In the mercy of God the world will find peace and mankind will find happiness.”
4. On April 18, 1993, on Divine Mercy Sunday, tens of thousands attending the beatification of St Faustina listened as John Paul II told them during Mass:
“It is truly marvellous how her devotion to the merciful Jesus is spreading in our contemporary world and gaining so many human hearts. This is doubtlessly a sign of the times — a sign of our 20th century. The balance of this century, which is now ending, in addition to the advances which have often surpassed those of preceding eras, presents a deep restlessness and fear of the future. Where, if not in the divine mercy, can the world find refuge and the light of hope? Believers understand that perfectly.”
5. Seven years later on another Divine Mercy Sunday, April 30, 2000, the first of the new millennium, John Paul II canonised Sr Faustina, “the great apostle of Divine Mercy.” The Pope said:
“Divine mercy reaches human beings through the heart of Christ crucified: ‘My daughter, say that I am love and mercy personified,” Jesus will ask Sister Faustina (‘Diary,’ 1074). Christ pours out this mercy on humanity though the sending of the Spirit who … is love. And is not mercy love’s ‘second name’ (Dives in Misericordia, 7), understood in its deepest and most tender aspect, in its ability to take upon itself the burden of any need and, especially, in its immense capacity for forgiveness?”
6. In Dives in Misericordia, written in 1980, three years after being elected Pope, John Paul II focused on God’s mercy especially shown through Jesus Christ, writing:
“Christ confers on the whole of the Old Testament tradition about God’s mercy a definitive meaning. Not only does he speak of it and explain it by the use of comparisons and parables, but above all he himself makes it incarnate and personifies it. He himself, in a certain sense, is mercy. To the person who sees it in him — and finds it in him — God becomes ‘visible’ in a particular way as the Father who is rich in mercy.”
