The Divine Mercy of Jesus, or simply known as the Divine Mercy, is a well-known Roman Catholic devotion to Jesus Christ. It is based on the written accounts of Saint Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun chosen by the Lord for a mission to spread the message of His Divine Mercy all over the world beginning in the 1930s. Saint Faustina received the revelations about God’s Mercy from Jesus Himself in His Apparitions to her. She compiled them in her diary of about six hundred pages as instructed by Blessed Fr. Michael Sopocko, who not only became her confessor and spiritual director, but also a very faithful devotee and tireless worker of the Divine Mercy devotion.
As popular as the devotion is the image itself of the Divine Mercy which Our Lord asked of Saint Faustina to be painted and venerated throughout the world. The Lord said that He is offering it to people as “a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You (Diary, 327).” The image shows Jesus standing with one hand outstretched in blessing and the other hand pointing to His chest from which two-colored beams of light, red and blue, are radiating. They represent the blood and water, which flowed from His side wounded by the spear.
The three other main forms of the Divine Mercy devotion are the celebration of its Feast, designated throughout the Church as the Divine Mercy Sunday, which is on the Sunday after Easter; the recitation of the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy; and the Three O’clock prayer that may be said with the Chaplet every three in the afternoon. The Lord said of it, “At three o’clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy. In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion (Diary, 1320).”
Before I continue, I just want to share a simple fond memory I had with the Divine Mercy of Jesus when I was a very small child. Do you still recall those days here in the Philippines during Holy Week that TV networks didn’t have any other programs but mostly religious ones or shows regarding lessons in life? There was a foreign program about the dramatization of how Sister Faustina first saw Jesus in an apparition. A young beggar man, dressed in rags and dirt, was knocking on her convent’s gate or door one day. He was shivering from the cold weather. Being so compassionate, Sister Faustina rushed into letting him in, and fed him right away, which up to this day, I could imagine as pork and beans from the can (though most likely it was a stew). The young man ate fast from severe hunger. Sister Faustina watched him eat happily. Then he looked at her with a beautiful smile, and suddenly, he transformed into his real self, who was Jesus! I was deeply touched with that scene, that it has never left my mind. That just imprinted in my memory forever. A few times I saw that program again in the later years. That’s among the most memorable religious things for me ever. It just brings me joy right now remembering that.
My Reflection
Here are the key messages of the Divine Mercy of Jesus:
1. God’s mercy is greater than our sins
Some people are so blessed with good Catholic parents that they were taught in childhood how to live the Catholic life as it should be, such as frequently receiving the Sacraments, and at the same time, putting their religiosity into action and consistent practice. But some only start to discover the Catholic faith during young adulthood or further still, only get converted in middle or older age. For those people who have lived in sin for so long, or those who habitually fall into temptations, they may feel as though repentance and full reconciliation with the Lord is not possible.
But the Divine Mercy tells us that the mercy of God is greater than our sins. It is the Will of God, out of His love and mercy for us that we live in Heaven with Him, with Our Blessed Mother, and with all the Saints and Angels in Heaven for all eternity. That is why we should “harden not our hearts” when we hear the voice of God speaking to us in our inner being. We must obey and follow it right away towards our conversion to holiness.
How do we know when God is reaching to us? In the Diary, Jesus says that when we feel guilt from sin through “remorse of conscience,” or when we have “failures and sufferings, through thunderstorms,” or “through the voice of the Church,” it is He speaking to sinners like us. Let us not cast God aside with a cold heart and receive His merciful grace in vain because those who do will have to face His Justice. For Jesus clearly said, “There are souls who despіse My graces as well as all the proofs of My love. They do not wіsh to hear My call, but proceed іnto the abyss of hell. The loss of these souls plunges Me іnto deadly sorrow. God though I am, I cannot help such a soul because іt scorns Me; havіng a free wіll, іt can spurn Me or love Me (Diary, 580).” “Tell sіnners that no one shall escape My Hand; іf they run away from My mercіful Heart, they wіll fall іnto My Just Hands (Diary, 1728).”
I recall a quotation of Saint John Mary Vianney that says, “The Saints did not all begin well but they all ended well.” Some of the Saints raised in our altars were even the worst of sinners, like Saint Augustine of Hippo. But God bestowed upon them so much grace that their conversion and path to holiness were instant. This only shows that with God’s mercy, no matter how much submerged we are in sins, He will not let us spiritually die into sin for as long as we seek Him, repent, and do penance. For many of us ordinary people, our true conversion can actually take up to several years. But God always patiently awaits us to return to Him, in spite of how sinful we are. We must not be discouraged to do so each and every time. The Lord said to Saint Faustina, “Oh, іf sіnners knew My mercy, they would not perіsh іn such great numbers. Tell sіnful souls not to be afraid to approach Me; speak to them of My great mercy (Diary, 1396).”
These verses from Scripture remind us that God has redeemed us from our sins and He desires our salvation:
“But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted. Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.”
- Romans 6:17-18
“If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.”
- 1 John 1:9
“Hence, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
- Romans 8:1
2. Ask for God’s mercy
God is always willing to dispense His Mercy upon us, but let us be childlike in asking and recognizing that we need it in our lives. As Pope Francis said, we know that without God’s mercy, many of us are deserving of Hell: “How many of us should perhaps go to hell? And the condemnation would be just … but He forgives and goes beyond. How? With this mercy! Mercy goes beyond in such a way that sin is put to the side. It is like heaven. We look at the sky, there are many, many stars; but when the sun rises in the morning, the light is such that we can’t see the stars. God’s mercy is like that: a great light of love and tenderness. God forgives us, not with a decree, but with His love, healing the wounds of sin.”
Sin creates wounds and divisions. But we remain hopeful in God that if we continue to strive to live righteously in Him, in His time, our brokenness created by sins will be healed. The virtue of humility is what’s necessary for all these to happen. We must be humble to beg God for His Divine Mercy to overflow from His Heart and fill our lives with such grace.
Our Blessed Virgin Mary, in her many Catholic Church-approved Apparitions, says that she wishes to gather as many souls as possible to enter Heaven. As we ask for God’s mercy, let us also ask for her constant intercession. Her motherly love is mercy as well, because she is the Queen of Mercy.
3. Be merciful to other people just as God is merciful to you
Remember my brothers and sisters in Christ that just as we ask for God’s mercy, we ourselves should also show and extend mercy to other people, like the poor and the sick, and even to the ones who have hurt and sin against us; even to our enemies.
In our daily life, arguments or fights with our loved ones at times are unavoidable, especially when you are just provoked. When you feel hurt, the usual thing that happens is that you want to ‘get back’ at him or her and to take revenge somehow by throwing to the other person equally hurtful words that express anger or dislike of the situation. Let me humbly say that I recently realized my mistakes of this nature and since then, I have grown in holiness in this particular area — to return hurt with respect and mercy for the person who we think hurt us. It fosters not only peace, but love. We must not tolerate sin itself but we should return a wrongful deed to us with kindness and patience. If you do that, this gives the other person a chance to realize and an inspiration to improve themselves to be kinder and more patient to you as well. I got enlightened that causing hurt for the hurt you received would make you sin against God, lose peace and happiness, regret your actions, and cause the other person pain. To forgive and repay with kindness is an act of showing mercy, just as God has shown you mercy throughout your life.
I’m glad that the “The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant” from the Bible comes to my mind as an example to demonstrate how God wants us to show mercy to other people as He is merciful:
Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
- Matthew 18:21-35
We clearly see that mercy goes together with forgiveness as well as compassion. God has done so many good things in our lives because of His compassion. The Unmerciful Servant doesn’t deserve the mercy of his Master for not being responsible in paying his debt to him. But because of the virtue of compassion of the Master, he lets him, along with his family, to get away from his debt.
God has given us countless blessings from the start of our lives. Some of us here have been given many chances by God in various ways, like when He saved us from death during illnesses and critical times, or saved us from traps of immorality or vices. He has forgiven our sinfulness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, all because of His Divine Mercy. But at times, like the ungrateful and Unmerciful Servant, we don’t show the same mercy and compassion to those who have wronged us. Being Catholics, we know that we can do better next time and show our gratefulness to God by extending mercy to other people who need it, such as the poorest of the poor and the sick who need caring, our enemies who need forgiveness, and our loved ones who need understanding when at times they upset us, or need compassion when they too are heartbroken, because “… Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
Jesus reminds us not to take the matter in our own hands in times when people have done grave sins against us. It is God’s justice that will deal with them accordingly either while they are alive on earth or in the next life.
In the Diary, Jesus tells Saint Faustina, “If a soul does not exercise mercy in one way or another, it will not obtain My mercy on the Day of Judgment (1317).” Thus, in calling ourselves Catholics, we should always try our hardest to show mercy, compassion, and forgiveness in word, in deed, and in prayer. God will also give us the grace to be forgiven, and be shown mercy and compassion by Him.
4. Give your complete trust in God
When it seems that we carry the weight of the world with our personal problems, and things are going against us no matter how hard we try, the Divine Mercy tells us that we should give our full trust in God; that He is with us during these trials and tribulations. I know that this is hard to do when life is not going well and you feel worried, lonely, tired, disheartened, abandoned or unloved. We should entrust our future to Jesus. This is when trust in the Divine Mercy uplifts our spirits.
This is how I express my total surrender in God:
“I kneel before You Jesus, humbly asking You for a resolution to this life concern I’m presenting You. The only thing I can do is to entrust this situation to You, since I can only carry this heavy Cross with You. Your will be done, and not my will. Only You know what’s truly right for my life. I place this worry on Your Merciful Hands. It’s You, Lord, Who is in charge of my life, even when I’m tempted to think that I’m in control, or that I know better. I accept whatever it is that You will. As I wait for as long as I have to for Your answer, show me the areas of myself that I need to improve on to make my life more pleasing to You. I’m sorry for my sins, and I accept the penance You may give me. Amen.”
Jesus states, “I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls (Diary, 1074).”
Remember to trust in God and His plans for you. You might have learned your lessons the hard way, but you must know that God has allowed things to happen because for sure, He wants to tell you something. It could be a shortcoming of yours that He wants you to realize, or a call from Him to grow much more in virtues. Only in His time that His plans may be revealed to You, but know that He is enabling you to be as much a holy person as you can be during the process, if You just remain in Him.
Some of us experience faith crisis as we are tested by God. But we should always strive harder to pass these tests of faith, because the love and mercy of God is always bigger than our problems. Trusting God’s will is another way for us show our love for God, when life is rough than when life is easier. As we pray, we should wait patiently for God’s help, putting our trust in Him with all of our hearts.
Tests of faith will always be a part of living. But we have our trust in God as our armor. Pray now that you may receive the grace of trust in God. He is not bound by time; God is already building our future. Now is the time to show our faith in God than later. Soften your heart, let go of pride or doubt, and listen to Him, so as not to miss out any blessing He is giving you, or words He is telling you right this moment.
***
The Message of the Divine Mercy is a consolation to all of us, wherever you are and whatever you are going through in this life. Whether we are facing difficulties, healing from brokenness, or bearing the weight of sins, Jesus is offering to us His Mercy and Love. We must recognize it and let Him be with us always.
The 3 O’clock Prayer
You died, Jesus, but the source of life flowed out for souls and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world.
O Fountain of Life, immeasurable Divine Mercy, cover the whole world and empty yourself out upon us.
O Blood and Water which flowed out from the heart of Jesus as a Fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and the whole world. (3 times)
Jesus, King of Mercy, we trust in You!
Jesus, I trust in You.
Mama Mary, pray for us!
Amen.
She graduated cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas, the country's Pontifical and Catholic university, with an AB in Legal Management and minor units in Theology.
As an unmarried woman, prayer holds a central place in her daily life, with a focus on the Rosary and the Divine Office. Embodying her faith, she emphasizes the growth of her inner spiritual life, guided by the wisdom of Carmelite spirituality.
God manifested to her in a unique and radical manner, which made her know Who He truly is and led her to total surrender of her life to Him.
She has studied the Bible with her family, developing a particular fondness for the Old Testament.
Her adorable and intelligent toy poodle is a delightful companion in her daily life, bringing warmth and joy to her home.
Her hobbies include reading about everything, learning Japanese and German, listening to music and playing the flute.
In her leisure time, she enjoys gaming on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo 3DS, iOS and OS, and collecting things related to PlayStation and Nintendo.
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God bless you
Thank you so much, Fr. Ronald! Please pray for me, my family and our Website. Have a blessed and glorious Easter Sunday.