Divine Mercy

Introduction to Divine Mercy Home Retreat

 This Divine Mercy Home Retreat will start two weeks after Ash Wednesday. 

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We all need Divine Mercy. As we enter more deeply into these critical and difficult times, the need to ask Our Lord to protect us and sustain our hope becomes more apparent. The purpose of this prayer blog is to help you understand the richness of Divine Mercy and to bring you into a deeper union with God through being merciful to others by action, word, and prayer, and by forgiving those who have hurt you. As you pray, and not just read, this blog, you will discover different spiritual realities that apply to your life.

 

This blog is a treasure. A serviceman stationed in Afghanistan, Dr. Clyde Redmond, had written to us explaining what a treasure the earlier edition of the Divine Mercy prayer book had been to him. He had read it every night and gained confidence that God would protect him.

This Divine Mercy blog is organized into 40 daily readings that focus on Pope John Paul II’s encyclical, Rich in Mercy. It also includes other meditations on Divine Mercy that draw you deeper into this devotion.

Pope John Paul II said many times during his 26-year pontificate that Rich in Mercy was the most important encyclical he had written. In this encyclical he explains “that man cannot be manifested in the full dignity of his nature without reference...to God. Man and man’s lofty calling are revealed in Christ through the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love.” To really get to know Pope John Paul II, enter into the meditations in this book.

As you proceed through the daily meditations, do not feel obliged to finish all of the specified readings for every day. If your heart is moved to remain on one part of the day’s reading, then focus your meditation on that part and talk to God about it, trusting that it is all He wants you to read that day.

To help you grasp and apply what you read in the daily meditations, you may want to watch, once a week, a series of videos that go along with this blog. On these video programs, Fr. George Kociski, explains the Rich in Mercy encyclical.

Drawing Down Divine Mercy can be read any time during the year, but it is most powerful when used in preparation for the Feast of Divine Mercy, the first Sunday after Easter and an official feast day of the Church. Therefore, I encourage you to read the daily meditations, beginning two weeks after Ash Wednesday. Then, for forty days, take the journey in plumbing the depths of Pope John Paul II’s spirit. The last nine days include the Divine Mercy Novena, which begins on Good Friday and leads up to Divine Mercy Sunday.

Our Lord told Saint Faustina, who later recorded this in her Diary (#699):

“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, 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.”

“I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is the Feast of My Mercy.” (Diary, 965).

As our Lord explained to Saint Faustina, Divine Mercy Sunday is a very special day of grace. On this day, to receive these special graces from God, you need to receive Holy Communion, go to Confession on or up to eight days before or after this day, and honor the image of Divine Mercy (see section 20e.3). Also, please do all you can to be an instrument of Mercy by sharing this blog with your friends. Tell them about the good news of Divine Mercy!

Using the daily mediations on this blog starting two weeks after Ash Wednesday makes a great Lenten practice. A companion to this blog is our Preparation for Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary for Families prayer book. We recommend that families use this latter book each year, beginning November 5, in preparation for consecrating their families to the Holy Family on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, ending six days later on December 14. (This would make a good Advent practice.) Please note, however, that you can start this consecration on other dates as specified in the book.

We believe that once enough people have made their consecration and have abandoned themselves to Divine Mercy by being merciful to others, there will be a tremendous miracle of grace in our society—the Era of Peace that Our Lady of Fatima promised to the world, with the Holy Family of Fatima as our model.

Please also avail yourselves of the many other resources that will help consecrate your family in the truth by visiting www.familyland.org and by accessing our Interactive Family Catechism at www.familycatechism.com.

Day 1: Introduction to Rich in Mercy

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

INTRODUCTION TO RICH IN MERCY

by Fr. George Kociski

Why a fresh translation of the encyclical “Rich in Mercy”?

The message of the encyclical on Divine Mercy needs to be made clear and strong. It needs to continue to reach those it should. The message is so important and the needs of the times are so urgent that the message must be broadcast again and again in the fullness of its power.

The original Polish text, written in longhand by Pope John Paul II in his native tongue, flows ever so smoothly, using words that are delicately and specifically chosen. The Latin and English translations, which had to be done quickly and immediately for the Vatican Polygot Press, do not convey the full strength and beauty of the original text.

The intention of this translation, using the original Polish as well as the English and Latin Vatican Polygot Press translations as a basis, is to convey the spiritual power of the message. There are a number of factors that would need to be combined to do this with the greatest force: a knowledge of Polish, an ease with the existential philosophical mode of thinking of John Paul II, a thorough grasp of his message of mercy and the origins of his concern about mercy, and a knowledge of the English language. The author cannot claim expertise in all of the above needed factors, but is very much aware of the urgency of the message of mercy and the origins of the concern of Pope John Paul. May his inadequacy in Polish and English, and his weakness in existential philosophy, be overcome by his burning desire to convey the Holy Father’s message of mercy.

The origins of the knowledge and concern of Pope John Paul II for the message of Divine Mercy come from his personal involvement with the messages of Divine Mercy revealed to Saint Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938) in his home archdiocese of Cracow, Poland. During the 1930’s Sister Faustina received revelations from Our Lord telling her of His infinite mercy for mankind. He asked that His mercy be made known to everyone now, “while it still is the time for mercy.” As Archbishop of Cracow, the then Karol Wojtyla introduced Sister Faustina’s cause for canonization. He was instrumental in conscripting the leading Polish theologian, the Reverend Professor Ignacy Rozycki, to prepare a definitive study of her writings and the heroicity of her life. After ten years of exhaustive study, Professor Rozycki submitted a highly favorable document of support for the cause of her canonization.

Now is the time to proclaim God’s great mercy, while it is still the time of His mercy. Today is the day of His mercy, before the day of His judgment. In regard to the translation itself, the author tried to bring out the force of the Pope’s message by using the English phrases and words that seemed to be as strong as his words. The changes made most often were an addition of the phrase or word referred to in a reflexive pronoun. Often, the sentences or paragraphs were so long that the “it” became ambiguous and the sentence lost its force. This repeating of the subject makes the sentences clear and strong. In some chapters, sentences were divided in order to convey the full impact of the message.

Three kinds of summaries of the encyclical are presented as aids to understanding the message:

• An Abstract which gives the sequence of the topics and the flow of the main concepts;
• A Schematic Summary which gathers the key points in sweeping statements that can be used to teach, preach, and help to remember this message of mercy; and
• A Sense-line Summary which stresses the main points of each section in short phrases, conveying the strength of the message.

A Trilogy of Encyclicals

The three encyclicals of Pope John Paul II form a trilogy, as he himself expressed in the third letter. The first letter, Redeemer of Man, points out Jesus Christ as “the center of history and the universe” who reveals to each and every person their identity and dignity. He further points out that the Church is the link and the way to Christ for every person, no matter what the problems. The second letter of the trilogy is this one, Rich in Mercy, in which John Paul II points out the Father as rich in mercy. The Father’s mercy is shown to be revealed in Christ Jesus, mercy incarnate, as the answer to the lack of peace in the world. In the third letter of the trilogy, Lord and Giver of Life, John Paul II shows that the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts us of our greatest sin, namely, the practical atheism of the world. At the same time, he shows that the Holy Spirit brings our sins to the cross to be washed in the blood of Jesus, so that we might receive His saving love and mercy for eternal life.

This trilogy is a clear response to the greatest problems of our day. Sin is the issue of our day, and mercy is the answer.

Reflect on the “Introduction” to Divine Mercy (#20) and pray the Entrustment Prayer (#20d).

Day 1 - audio file

Day 2: Introduction to 'Rich in Mercy' (continued)

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

INTRODUCTION TO RICH IN MERCY

by Fr. George Kociski (continued)

Abstract

The theme of the encyclical letter Dives in Misericordia is Divine Mercy. Pope John Paul II develops the thesis that to practice, proclaim, and pray for mercy is the mission of the Church and the whole world. The letter is divided into eight chapters with fifteen subtopics.

Day 3: He Who Sees Me Sees The Father

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

Venerable Brothers and dear sons and daughters, greetings and apostolic blessings! 

I. HE WHO SEES ME SEES THE FATHER (cf. John 14:9)

1. The Revelation of Mercy

“God who is rich in mercy” (Eph. 2:4) is the one whom Jesus Christ revealed to us as Father. It is his very own Son who revealed Him and made Him visible in Himself. How memorable that moment when Philip, one of the twelve Apostles, turning to Christ said: “Lord, show us the Father and we shall be satisfied”; and Jesus gave the following reply, “Have I been with you so long and yet you do not know me...? He who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn. 14:8–9). 

Day 4: He Who Sees Me Sees The Father

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

 

 

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

 

2. The Incarnation of Mercy

Although God “dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Tm. 6:16), at the same time He speaks to man in the language of the entire universe: “ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made” (Rom. 1:20). 

Day 5: He Who Sees Me Sees the Father

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

 

 

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

 

(2) The situation of the contemporary world not only displays transformations that give grounds for hope in a better future for man on earth, but also reveals threats of many kinds far surpassing those known up until now. Without ceasing to point out these threats on various occasions (such as in addresses to the UNO, to the UNESCO, to the FAO and elsewhere), the Church must at the same time examine them in the light of the truth received from God.

 

Day 6: The Messianic Proclamation

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

II. THE MESSIANIC PROCLAMATION

3. When Christ Began to Do and Teach

In the presence of His own townspeople, living in Nazareth, Christ recalls the words of the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Lk. 4:18–19).

Day 7: The Messianic Proclamation

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(3) Especially by His life-style and His actions, Jesus showed that love is present in the world in which we live. This love is an effective love, a love that turns to man and embraces everything that makes up his humanity. This love is especially recognized in contact with suffering, injustice and poverty encompassing the whole historical “human condition,” which in various ways shows man’s limitation and frailty, both physical and moral. It is exactly in this way and with this scope that love is revealed and called “mercy” in the language of the bible.

Day 8: The Old Testament

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

 

 

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

 

III. THE OLD TESTAMENT

 

4. The concept of “mercy” in the Old Testament has a long and rich history. We have to refer back to it in order that the mercy revealed by Christ may shine forth more clearly. By revealing mercy both through his actions and His teaching, Christ addressed Himself to people who, not only knew the concept of mercy, but who also, as the people of God of the Old Covenant, had drawn from their age-long history a special experience of the mercy of God. This experience was social and communal, as well as individual and interior.

 

Day 9: The Old Testament

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(4) At the root of this many-sided conviction, which is both communal and personal and which is proven by the whole of the Old Testament down through the centuries, is the basic experience of the chosen people at the Exodus. The Lord saw the affliction of His people reduced to slavery, heard their cry, knew their oppression, and decided to deliver them (cf. Ex. 3:7f.). In this act of salvation by the Lord, the prophet perceived His love and compassion (cf. Is. 63:9). This is precisely the ground upon which the people and each of its members based their certainty of the mercy of God, which can be invoked in all tragic circumstances.

Day 10: The Old Testament

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(4) The Old Testament proclaims the mercy of the Lord by the use of many terms with related meanings; they are differentiated by their particular content, but it could be said that they all converge from different directions on one single fundamental concept to express its surpassing richness and at the same time bring it close to man under its different aspects.

Day 11: The Parable of the Prodigal Son

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

IV. THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON

5. An Analogy

At the threshold of the New Testament, two voices resound in St. Luke’s Gospel in unique harmony about the mercy of God, a harmony which forcefully echoes the whole Old Testament tradition. They express the semantic elements linked to the differentiated terminology of the Ancient Books.

Day 12: The Parable of the Prodigal Son

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

6. Special Focus on Human Dignity

This precise picture of the state of the soul of the Prodigal Son allows us to understand with similar precision what the mercy of God really is. There is no doubt that this simple yet penetrating parable reveals to us God who is Father.

Day 13: The Paschal Mystery

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

V. THE PASCHAL MYSTERY

7. Mercy Revaled in the Cross and Resurrection

The messianic message of Christ and His entire activity among people end with the Cross and the Resurrection. We have to penetrate deeply into this final event which especially in the language of the Council is defined as the Paschal mystery if we wish to express in depth the truth about mercy as it has been revealed to the utmost in the history of our salvation.

Day 14: The Paschal Mystery

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(7) The Paschal mystery is the culmination of this revealing and effecting mercy, which is able to justify man, to restore justice in the sense of that salvific order which God willed from the beginning in man and, through man, in the world. The suffering Christ speaks in a special way to man, and not just to the believer!

Day 15: The Paschal Mystery

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

8. Love More Powerful than Death, more Powerful than Sin

The Cross of Christ on Calvary is also a witness to the strength of evil against the very Son of God. The Son of God who alone among all the Sons of men was by His nature absolutely innocent and free from sin, and whose coming into the world was untainted by the disobedience of Adam and the inheritance of original sin. And here, precisely in Him, in Christ, justice is done to sin at the price of His sacrifice, of His obedience “even to death” (Phil. 2:8).

Day 16: The Paschal Mystery

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(8) The Cross is the deepest condescension of God toward man and to what man, especially in difficult and painful moments, looks as his unhappy lot. The Cross is like a touch of eternal love upon the painful wounds of man’s earthly existence; it is the total fulfillment of the messianic program that Christ once formulated in the synagogue at Nazareth (cf. Lk. 4:18–21) and then repeated to the messengers sent by John the Baptist (cf. Lk. 7:20–23).

Day 17: The Paschal Mystery

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(8) In the final (eschatological) fulfillment, mercy will be revealed as love; while in the temporal phase, in human history, which is at the same time the history of sin and death, love must be revealed as mercy and must also be fulfilled as mercy.

Day 18: The Paschal Mystery

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(8) Christ, precisely as the Crucified One, is the Word that does not pass away (cf. Mt. 24:35), and He is the one who stands at the door and knocks at the heart of every man (cf. Rev. 3:20), without restricting his freedom, but instead, seeking to draw from this very freedom love, which is not only an act of solidarity with the suffering Son of Man, but also a kind of “mercy” shown by each one of us to the Son of the eternal Father.

Day 19: The Paschal Mystery

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(8) Do not the words of the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy” (Mt. 5:7), constitute in a certain sense, a synthesis of the whole of the Good News, of the whole of the “wonderful exchange” (admirable commercium) contained therein?

Day 20: The Paschal Mystery

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

 

 

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

 

(8) The Paschal Mystery is Christ at the summit of the revelation of the inscrutable mystery of God. It is precisely then that the words pronounced in the Upper Room are completely fulfilled: “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9). In fact, Christ, whom the Father “did not spare” (Rom. 8:32) for the sake of man and who in His passion and in the torment of the Cross did not obtain human mercy, has revealed in His Resurrection the fullness of the love that the Father has for Him and, in Him for all people.

Day 21: The Paschal Mystery

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

 

 

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

 

(8) Here is the Son of God who in His Resurrection experienced in a radical way mercy shown to Himself, that is to say, the love of the Father which is more powerful than death. And it is also the same Christ the Son of God, who at the end of His messianic mission and in a certain sense, even beyond the end, reveals Himself as the inexhaustible source of mercy (like a well that cannot be emptied), of the same love that, in a subsequent perspective of the history of salvation in the Church, is to be everlastingly confirmed as more powerful than sin.

Day 22: The Paschal Mystery

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

9. Mother of Mercy

These words of the Church at Easter: “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever,” re-echo the full prophetic content of the words Mary uttered during her visit to Elizabeth, the wife of Zechariah: “His mercy is from generation to generation.” At the very moment of the Incarnation, these words open up a new perspective of salvation history.

Day 23: The Paschal Mystery

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(9) Mary shared precisely in this “Merciful” love, which proves itself above all in contact with moral and physical evil. She shared singularly and exceptionally by her heart as the Mother of the Crucified and Risen One. This “merciful” love does not cease to be revealed in her and through her in the history of the Church and all mankind.

Day 24: Mercy from Generation to Generation

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

VI. “MERCY FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION"

10. An Image of Our Generation

We have every right to believe that our generation too is included in the words of the God-bearer when Mary glorified that mercy shared in “from generation to generation” by those who are guided by the fear of the Lord.

Day 25: Mercy from Generation to Generation

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

[Note: In this section (#11) and in other places, Pope John Paul II uses the word “Niepokoj” in the Polish text, literally meaning “non-peace” or better “non-shalom.” It is a rich word carrying the meaning of a lack of shalom, the lack of right order with God and man and the good associated with such a life.

Day 26: Mercy from Generation to Generation

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(11) Then, alongside the awareness of biological threat, there is a growing awareness of yet another threat, even more destructive of what is essentially human, what is intimately bound up with the dignity of the person and their right to truth and freedom.

Day 27: Mercy from Generation to Generation

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

12. Is Justice Enough?

It is not difficult to see that in the modern world the sense of justice has been re-awakening on a vast scale. Without doubt, this sense of justice emphasizes that which goes against justice in relationship between individuals, social groups and “classes,” between individual peoples and states, and finally between whole political systems; indeed, between what are called “worlds.” This deep and multiple trend, at the basis of which the contemporary conscience has placed justice, gives proof of the ethical character of the tensions and struggles pervading the world.

Day 28: Mercy from Generation to Generation

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(12) Christ did not challenge His listeners in vain, faithful to the doctrine of the Old Testament, for their attitude which was manifested in the words: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Mt 38). This was the form of distortion of justice at that time.

Day 29: The Mercy of God in the Mission of the Church

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

VII. THE MERCY OF GOD IN THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

In connection with this picture of our generation, a picture which must awake a deep lack of peace, there come to mind once more those words which, by reason of the Incarnation of the Son of God, resounded in Mary’s Magnificat, and which sing of “mercy from generation to generation.”

Day 30: The Mercy of God in the Mission of the Church

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

13. The Church Professes the Mercy of God and Proclaims it.

The Church must profess and proclaim God’s mercy in all its truth, as it has been handed down to us by revelation. We have sought, in the foregoing pages of the present document, to sketch at least an outline of this truth, which finds such rich expression in the whole of Sacred Scripture and in Sacred Tradition.

Day 31: The Mercy of God in the Mission of the Church

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(13) It is precisely because sin exists in the world, which “God so loved that He gave His only Son” (Jn. 3:16), that God who “is love” (Jn. 4:8), cannot reveal Himself otherwise than as mercy. This mercy declares not only the deepest truth about love, the love which is God and is God’s, but this mercy also declares the inner truth of man and the world, which is man’s temporary homeland.

Day 32: The Mercy of God in the Mission of the Church

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

14.The Church Seeks to Put Mercy into Practice

Jesus Christ taught that mankind not only receives and experiences the mercy of God, but that it is also called “to practice mercy” toward others: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Mt. 5:7).

Day 33: The Mercy of God in the Mission of the Church

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

 

 

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

 

(14) Equalizing mercy that is truly Christian is also in a certain sense the most perfect incarnation of “equalizing” between people, and therefore, also the most perfect incarnation of justice as well, insofar as justice aims at the same result in its own sphere. However, the “equalization” brought about by justice is limited to the realm of objective and extrinsic goods, while love and mercy bring about that people meet one another in that value which is man himself, with the dignity that is proper to him.

Day 34: The Mercy of God in the Mission of the Church

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(14) This human world can become “even more human” only when we introduce into all the mutual relationships which form its moral aspect, the moment of forgiveness, which is so much of the essence of the Gospel. Forgiveness demonstrates the presence in the world of the love which is more powerful than sin.

Day 35: The Mercy of God in the Mission of the Church

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(14) Christ emphasizes so insistently the need to forgive others that when Peter asked Him how many times he should forgive his neighbor, He answered with the symbolic number of “seventy times seven” (Mt. 18:22), meaning that he must be able to forgive everyone every time. It is obvious that such a generous requirement of forgiveness does not cancel out the objective requirements of justice.

Day 36: The Prayer of the Church in Our Times

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

 

 

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

VIII. THE PRAYER OF THE CHURCH IN OUR TIMES

15. The Church Appeals to the Mercy of God

The Church proclaims the truth about God’s mercy which is made known in the crucified and risen Christ and she makes it known in various ways. The Church also tries to be merciful to people through people because she considers this to be an indispensable condition for a better, “more human” world, today and tomorrow.

 

Day 37: The Prayer of the Church in Our Times

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(15) The more the human conscience succumbs to secularization and loses its sense of the very meaning of the word “mercy,” the more it moves away from God and the mystery of mercy. Therefore the Church has all the more the right and the duty to appeal to God’s mercy with “loud cries” (Heb. 5:7).

Day 38: The Prayer of the Church in Our Times

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(15) It is necessary that everything that I have said in this present letter on mercy be continuously changed and transformed into an ardent prayer, into a cry for mercy on the people of the modern world with all their needs and threats. May this cry be filled with that truth about mercy which has found such rich expression in the Sacred Scriptures, in Tradition, and in the authentic life of faith of countless generations of the People of God.

Day 39: The Prayer of the Church in Our Times

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(15) This cry for mercy is at the same time love for all of mankind. Mercy is love for all peoples without exception or division: without difference of race, culture, language, or world-view, without distinction between friends and enemies. This cry for mercy is love for all people.

Day 40: The Prayer of the Church in Our Times

Come Holy Spirit, help us to discover God’s merciful plan for our lives by being merciful to those you place in our path. Help us to trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, in union with St. Joseph, an instrument of mercy.

RICH IN MERCY

by Pope John Paul II

(15) The same mystery of Christ, which reveals to us the great vocations of mankind, which obliged me to proclaim in the Encyclical Redemptor Hominis mankind’s incomparable dignity, also obliges me to announce mercy as God’s merciful love revealed in that same mystery of Christ. This mystery of Christ also obliges me to appeal to this mercy and implore this mercy on our difficult and critical times of the Church and of the world as we approach the end of the second millennium.