Celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday on April 19, Catholics are reminded that the Church has verified the authenticity of the private revelations Sister Faustina Kowalska received directly from Jesus in the 1930s.

We also recall that Pope John Paul II canonized Faustina, the “Secretary of Divine Mercy” and the first saint of the third millennium, on April 30, 2000 — the same day he designated the Sunday after Easter Divine Mercy Sunday.

Today, the Church continues to stress that devotion to the Divine Mercy isn’t a once-a-year occasion. It can — and should — be lived out throughout the year.

“We have to let the devotion transform us,” explains Dr. Brian Thatcher, the medical doctor who founded Eucharistic Apostles of The Divine Mercy, an apostolate of the Marians at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy (TheDivineMercy.org/eadm). “We have to understand the need to trust in God, forgive others, and be merciful people — and let the rays of blood and water cover us, then radiate the mercy and love of God out to others.”

Forgiveness “opens the door of Divine Mercy,” says Thatcher, author of Divine Mercy as a Way of Life (Marian Press, 2000), adding that the rays of blood and water emanating from Jesus’ heart in the famous image of Divine Mercy “can’t penetrate our hearts unless we realize we have to forgive others and ourselves.”

Someone giving you a hard time? Pray for that person, says Father Kazimierz Chwalek, director of evangelization and development for the Marians of the Immaculate Conception. We can be patient with each other, he says, because we know that person also lives surrounded by the Lord, who cares for him like he cares for us.

“That would be living the message of mercy,” the priest points out. “The quality of mercy — hesed, Hebrew for “loving-kindness” — is the heart of the message of mercy.”

Father Chwalek says living Divine Mercy means deepening our understanding of who God is, based on divine revelation. It’s not for nothing, for example, that God became man at a particular moment in history and becomes really present to all generations in the Eucharist: He wants us to be in communion with him.

“We trust because we know how he is,” says Father Chwalek. “From that perspective, it’s so much easier to trust him because he is loving-kindness.”

As Jesus told St. Faustina, as recounted in Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul: “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, No. 1074).

Fear, anxiety and discouragement cannot peacefully coexist with trust in God, notes Thatcher; we have to stay focused on the all-important words of Divine Mercy: “Jesus, I trust in you.”

Divine Demand

Jesus didn’t ask Faustina to do works of mercy. He said, “I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out of love for me” (Diary, No. 742).

Thatcher says this means, among other things, that we’re not to worry if we don’t have material means to carry out an act of mercy. Jesus told Faustina, “Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul” (Diary, No. 1317).

Jesus gave the guidelines: “I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first — by deed, the second — by word, the third — by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for me” (Diary, No. 742).

There are countless ways we can be kind to people, Thatcher points out. Asked for a quick example, he cites loneliness among the elderly. So many, he says, are longing for human touch in their lives.

Mercy is as close as home, too. In Winter Haven, Fla., Bill Andrew began the Divine Mercy devotion when his wife, Carol, who died last year, was engaged in a 10-year battle with Alzheimer’s.

“We ended up finding that the Divine Mercy was really part of our lives,” says Andrew. “As we went along, I don’t think I could have survived the 24/7 caregiving activities. Without the Divine Mercy, it would have been many times harder.”

“You always have the forgiveness, because forgiveness is the essential component of patience,” Andrew continues. “If someone asks you what time it is and two minutes later asks again …” he says, trailing off, as he refers to the forgetfulness that marks Alzheimer’s. “You’re constantly forgiving because of impatience. You clean house, cook, do all the caregiving things” for someone who isn’t able to appreciate your sacrifice.

The result for the spiritually attuned? “You learn how to place all your trust in God.”

During this trying time, Andrew prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet daily with Carol. It’s a practice he continues, along with the Rosary and Mass, to this day. In 2000, working with some other couples, they even organized the first Divine Mercy conference in their Orlando Diocese with Bishop Norbert Dorsey.

“Looking back, those were the best years of our married life,” says Andrew. “You’re living your marriage vows totally.” Shortly before Carol died peacefully, Bill prayed the chaplet at her bedside.

“Praying with the Divine Mercy is so comforting to the caregiver,” he says. “Until you run into these things, you don’t realize what the value and benefit can be.”

Constant Conversion

One of the works of mercy Thatcher’s apostolate promotes is praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for those dying at that very hour. Our Lord said those people need the most trust and often have the least, he notes.

“We can pray the chaplet and trust because Jesus said he would be there as the merciful savior,” Thatcher reminds. “Everyone can pray it, even the feeble, the elderly and the disabled.”

Father Chwalek points out the importance of meditating on Christ’s passion, death and resurrection every day of our lives.

When we pause to meditate at 3 o’clock, Christ promises that great spiritual gifts are ours to receive (See Diary, No. 1572).

We can pray for conversions, and God will grant the grace of conversions of hearts, adds the priest.

“The message of Divine Mercy is a profound source of renewal for our Church, for its understanding for living an incredibly rich spiritual life,” concludes Father Chwalek. “It should be lived continuously.”

Staff writer Joseph Pronechen

is based in Trumbull, Connecticut.

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