Easter 2nd Sunday, April 7, 2024

Today, the Church invites us to turn our attention to the mystery of Mercy based on a request made by Jesus himself to Sister Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun who died in 1938 at the age of 33. On January 10, 1934, during a retreat, Jesus said to Sister Faustine: “I want the first Sunday after Easter to be the Feast of the Divine Mercy.” Pope John Paul II established the Feast of the Divine Mercy for the entire Church in 2000. Pope Benedict XVI said that “the cult of Divine Mercy is not a secondary devotion but an integral dimension of Christian faith and prayer.”

Sister Faustine, to whom Jesus revealed the fountain of mercy that flows from His wounded heart, liked to repeat the following prayer: “Jesus, I have faith in You! ” May this prayer anchor us all in this certainty… “Each person is precious in God’s eyes; Christ gave his life for each one ” (John Paul II)

I am not a part of this parish of the Sanctuaire de la Miséricorde and yet… I feel so good with each of you that I say thank you to the God of Mercy for letting me experience what I have here. ‌I am rereading the texts for this 2^nd Sunday after Easter and, this year, I find it even more wonderful to read, to almost hear the voice of the Lord say: “Peace be with you. ” In these troubled times, when we see war, violence, killings almost live on our screens, we need to hear deep in our hearts this divine voice telling us “Peace be with you. ” Peace, true peace, not carelessness, not indifference but this wonderful gift that lives inside of us. Let us close our eyes and forget everything for a moment. Let us see ourselves alone before the Merciful Jesus as we see him in our St-Nazaire church. Let us see him blessing us and sending us rays of love from his heart. ‌He tells us that we are unique to Him, and His greatest desire is that, like Him, we know how to love with all our hearts, especially those who suffer most, and that, above all, we seek peace everywhere, in our hearts, in the hearts of our loved ones and all around the world.

With Saint Faustine, on this beautiful Sunday of Divine Mercy, we are gathered for a procession to celebrate with all hearts alongside Msgr. Christian Lépine, Father Dominic Richer and people from around the world. Let us renew our hearts and loudly proclaim:

“Jesus, I have faith in You.”