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Hearts of Jesus and Mary: Archbishop Raymond Burke |
The
Revelation of Divine Mercy
Cardinal Raymond L. Burke
Written during his time as Archbishop of St. Louis
Introduction
The
Sacred Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday
recalls the fullness of the revelation of God’s all-merciful love of
us in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ.These holiest of days in the Church Year mark the events by
which our Lord won our salvation, making us heirs, with Him, of
eternal life. They also make present for us, in a strong way, the
abundant gifts of God’s immeasurable love,the gifts of His grace won
for us by God the Son’s Suffering and Dying.
The
fifty days of Easter, beginning with the celebration of the
Resurrection of our Lord and concluding with His Sending of the Holy
Spirit onPentecost, are filled with the recognition of how God
continues to pour out His merciful love for us in His Son, our Lord,
risen from the dead and alive for us in the Church. In the events of
the Sacred Triduum, which culminate with the Resurrection, all time
finds its meaning and every person of every time and place is
embraced by the love of God. Christ, after he had risen from the
dead, ascended to the right hand of God the Father, so that He might
send the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and, through the Apostles,
upon the whole Church. Through the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit in
the Church, Christ is with us always, most especially in the
Sacraments, until His return in glory on the Last Day.
Public Revelation and Private Revelation
In the last century, our Lord Jesus granted a private
revelation to a Polish religious sister, Sister Maria Faustina
Kowalska of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. The purpose of the
private revelation was to draw us to the fullness of the public
revelation of the Father’s immeasurable love of us in His Incarnate
Son. As with all private revelations, the private revelation to
Sister Maria Faustina draws us to recognize the public revelation of
God’s love in the Redemptive Incarnation of God the Son.
In the
particular case of Sister Maria Faustina, the private revelation is
centered upon the mercy of God. Sister Maria Faustina kept a
meticulous record or diary of all that our Lord taught her about His
immeasurable mercy toward us. It is entitled Diary: Divine Mercy in
My Soul and is available through the religious order of men, the
Marians of the Immaculate Conception, who are in charge of the
National Shrine of the Divine Mercy at Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Having studied the Diary and having returned often to reread its
passages, I wholeheartedly urge you to obtain a copy for your daily
spiritual reading and meditation.
Why the Private Revelation of Divine Mercy?
The private revelation of the immeasurable mercy of God
toward us came at a time when many had lost hope. It was the time
between World War I and World War II, a time of great
disillusionment and suffering. It was also the time in which the
godless philosophies of Rationalism and Atheistic Materialism
(Marxism) had more and more insinuated themselves into the popular
culture, leaving many with a sense that there was nothing beyond
themselves and the material realities about them. The resulting
forgetfulness of God and of His plan for us and our world leaves
them without hope.
In
response to man’s loss of hope, our Lord, in His infinite love,
spoke to Sister Maria Faustina and revealed to her an image of
Himself to remind us of His unfailing mercy. In the image, two
streams of light, red and white in color, flow from the pierced
Heart of Jesus. These streams represent the blood and water which
flowed from the Heart of Jesus, when, after His death on the Cross,
it was pierced by theRoman soldier’s spear. They symbolize the
unceasing outpouring of divine grace from the glorious Heart of
Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father, especially in the
Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. Under the image are
inscribed the words: “Jesus, I trust in You.” These words are our
prayer when we look upon the image of our Lord, Divine Mercy
Incarnate.
Divine Mercy Chaplet and Divine Mercy Sunday
Through Sister Maria Faustina, our Lord asked that, each
day, we recite the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3 P.M., the hour of His
death for our salvation. He also asked that we celebrate the Second
Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday, preceding the celebration
with a novena to Divine Mercy, beginning on Good Friday. Those who
devoutly participate in these devotions can only be filled with hope
in God’s merciful love and strengthened against the temptations to
discouragement and despair.
The one
who most promoted the devotion to the Divine Mercy was our late and
most beloved Pope John Paul II, first as Archbishop of Cracow and
then as Roman Pontiff. Pope John Paul II beatified Sister Maria
Faustina on April 18, 1993, and he canonized her a saint on April
30, 2000, the Second Sunday of Easter. During the homily of the
Mass, he declared: “It is important that we accept the whole message
that comes to us from the Word of God on this Second Sunday of
Easter, which from now on throughout the Church will be called
‘Divine Mercy Sunday’.” Since April 30, 2000, the Second Sunday of
Easter also bears the name of Divine Mercy Sunday.
On
Divine Mercy Sunday, the image of the Divine Mercy, revealed to
Saint Faustina, is to be displayed in the church or chapel, and the
homily is to be a reflection on the immeasurable mercy of God toward
us. In order to participate fully in the celebration of Divine Mercy
Sunday, the faithful are asked to go to Confession and receive Holy
Communion, and to cultivate interiorly a great trust in the mercy of
God and to practice exteriorly acts of mercy, especially on behalf
of brothers and sisters in most need. We should go to Confession on
Divine Mercy Sunday itself or some days before Divine Mercy Sunday,
so that we will be rightly disposed, that is, free of any mortal sin
and from any attachment to sin, to receive Holy Communion on Divine
Mercy Sunday.
Conclusion
Regarding Divine Mercy Sunday, Saint Faustina records these
words of our Lord to her: My daughter, tell the whole world about My
inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge
and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that
day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole
ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of my mercy.
The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall
obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all
the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no
soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My
mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be
able to fathom it throughout all eternity.... The Feast of Mercy
emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it
be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind
will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy (Diary,
n. 699). Let us all draw near to the Fount of Divine Mercy in the
Sacraments of Confession and, above all, the Holy Eucharist. Let us
pray, in the coming days and especially during the Novena of Divine
Mercy that all souls which have drifted away from our Lord will
receive the grace of forgiveness and reconciliation with God and
neighbor.
May you
have a most blessed celebration of the Sacred Triduum. May the
celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday fill you with the peace which
comes from the forgiveness of our sins and the joy which comes from
the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.
On
December 2, 2003, Bishop Burke was named Archbishop of St. Louis,
succeeding Justin Cardinal Rigali. Archbishop Burke was installed in
St. Louis on January 26, 2004, the fifth anniversary of Pope John
Paul II's historic pastoral visit to the archdiocese. Pope John Paul
II invested Archbishop Burke with the pallium on June 29, 2004, at
the Basilica of St. Peter, in Rome.
On June 27, 2008 Pope
Benedict XVI appointed him to Rome where he now serves as Prefect of
the Apostolic Signatura and President of the Commission for
Advocates.
Link to More Homilies of Archbishop Burke>>>
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
