Divine Mercy: Then & Now

Alleluia, it’s the Easter season- where we see the redemption that comes from suffering! We see the hope, we see life, we see the other side of the coin. Suffering has an important role, but it’s never the end of the story. Easter comes and reminds us that the point of suffering is to participate in the redemption with God- wow. And in the Easter Octave, we celebrate the second Sunday of Easter with Divine Mercy Sunday!

Divine Mercy Sunday is one of my favorites, as I’ve had a special devotion to Divine Mercy for many years now. Jesus, I trust in You. I’ve written about my connection to Divine Mercy before, but my devotion began when one of the Sister Servants of Mary who was helping to care for my dad introduced him to the Divine Mercy Chaplet 15 years ago near the end of his life. My dad developed a love for the chaplet and would look forward to praying it with Sister. The night my dad passed, he was no longer conscious, but he took his last breath after we said “amen” at the end of saying the chaplet together with Sister. If that isn’t amazing, I don’t know what is! Sister wasn’t even supposed to be there the night that my dad passed, but she had asked to swap nights that week due to a specific need of another family- how providential.

I always longed for a letter from my dad to remember him by after he passed, but I did not find a letter in any of the places I thought he might have left one. Then, going on 6 years after his death, my mom unexpectedly found the letter while looking for something else …on Divine Mercy Sunday! Talk about a God moment- there was no way that was coincidental. I was overcome with emotion and so happy to receive the letter, especially considering how difficult those years were in my life being housebound. I also found myself wishing that I had found the letter sooner though, as it could have comforted me during some very dark years. I shared about finding the letter on Divine Mercy Sunday on social media, hoping the story might encourage even just one other person. I was shocked by the responses from countless people who told me how grateful they were to hear this story, as it was some much-needed encouragement for them on their spiritual journeys.

One evening a few weeks ago during Lent, I was praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I was really struggling with the amount of physical pain I’m in and some hefty medical decisions on my shoulders. Even though I’ve grown so much spiritually, sometimes I still really grapple with the severity of my medical issues and how long this is perpetuating, as it feels frustrating and unfair.

I was thinking about how I felt like God “pulled back the curtain” to let me have the tiniest peek at what He was up to years ago when I saw how it was only because of the gap of time between my dad’s passing and my receiving the letter he had written me, on Divine Mercy Sunday nonetheless, that the story was able to touch other people and strengthen their faith. If I had found the letter from my dad immediately after his passing, the story would not have positively affected people in the same way. That nearly 6-year gap of time, along with the specific Divine Mercy Sunday connection, made all the difference in terms of how God used it to reach others. My waiting, even though it seemed so pointless at the time, actually led to God’s greater glory in the end.

As I was praying the chaplet just a few weeks ago, it hit me. Isn’t this gap of time where I have not received the health solution that I long for very similar to the gap of time where I didn’t have the letter from my dad that I desired? Isn’t the same thing happening now, where God is using the “in between” time with my health situation to reach others in a way this story couldn’t do otherwise? He is using the waiting. I’m growing more spiritually, and my testimony is stronger because the waiting is purifying my intentions and drawing me closer to God for who He is, not just for what He can do for me. I’m able to relate to others in a variety of situations that I couldn’t have understood prior to this. My faith testimony is stronger today than it was even just one or two years ago, which is very convicting for me to realize. Not that God has prolonged my situation, but because it has perpetuated due to the laws of nature and the free will of others involved in my case, He’s using that at every moment to increase my understanding of Him and to pull me in, so that He can draw others closer to Him through this as well. He’s having mercy on me and on others in the process.

His mercy is greater than any feeling of despair. There’s just something so captivating about those rays coming from Jesus in the image of Divine Mercy. I imagine those rays penetrating every ounce of my being, removing every sin, pain, sadness, and struggle. Those rays overcome everything I lack and all my failures and instead fill me with the gifts of mercy, warmth, love, and comfort.

Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for us, we don’t have to get what we deserve. That’s incredible news! Divine Mercy is freely given to us, and Jesus is longing for us to accept it. The Divine Mercy Chaplet is a beautiful thing to pray, and it even helped me grow in my understanding of the Mass. When we say “Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world” in the chaplet, we are offering the sacrifice of the Son to the Father, as we do in Mass. Jesus took our place. He bore what we deserved, and now we offer that sacrifice of His to the Father in atonement of our sins.

The optional closing prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet is one of my favorites:

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.

Diary of St. Faustina Kowalska, 950

The reminder that His holy will is always Love and Mercy is such a treasure, as that can be easy for me to forget in moments of distress. I also like how this closing prayer teaches me to submit to Him in order to prevent me from despairing in difficult moments. He’s not asking me to refrain from despair on my own, though I’ve often felt like I had to do it on my own. He wants me to rely on His grace and turn to Him to help me avoid such a trap. He’s giving us the gift of His mercy, and what He is asking of us is our trust.

“Jesus, I trust in You” remains one of my favorite prayers to say throughout the day. It’s as powerful as it is short and always brings my attention back to Jesus (and Divine Mercy), despite how I’m feeling. It’s nice when I can feel His comfort, but that short prayer reminds me to make a choice of the will to trust Him even when I don’t feel that comfort. Sometimes in particularly tough moments, that short prayer is the only prayer I can muster, but it surely does the trick to shift my focus back to where it belongs, and He extends mercy to me for all the times I haven’t trusted.

On this second Sunday of Easter, I’m grateful to be able to reflect on the parallel between the years of my current medical waiting and the years of my waiting before I received the letter my dad wrote me. It’s a great reminder that He is always up to something good, whether or not we can see it. Happy Divine Mercy Sunday, everyone! Jesus, I trust in You!

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