Every Sunday, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Click HERE for the readings.
In 1931, Jesus began appearing to Saint Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun, asking that a feast be established to honor His Divine Mercy. She faithfully recorded His request.
Years later, Pope John Paul II—who had a deep devotion to Divine Mercy—canonized her in 2000 and proclaimed that the Second Sunday of Easter would forever be known as Divine Mercy Sunday.
Remarkably, he died just five years later on the vigil of that very feast. Many see in that moment a beautiful sign of God’s tenderness toward a faithful servant.
Divine Mercy is not just a devotion—it is the story of our lives.
Sin is anything that separates us from God. We are born in the state of original sin. Through no fault of our own, we are brought into this world separated from God. Baptism washes away this original sin, this first separation from God, and unites us to Him and to the community of His Church. We are united to God when we are baptized, filled with his divine life, and made members of the body of believers that passes on the faith that saves to us.
Divine Mercy saves us from the very beginning of our lives as baptized Christians.
Still, we wander over time. We fall again and again. We sin in what we have done and in what we have failed to do.
But God never stops seeking us out to forgive us.
Like the “hound of heaven,” He pursues us—not to condemn, but to restore. Through the cross, Jesus pours out mercy again and again. His forgiveness has no limit.
When the risen Jesus appeared to His disciples, His first gift was peace—the peace that comes from reconciliation. Then He entrusted that mercy to the Church:
“Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them.”
Mercy received must become mercy shared.
For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Have a blessed week everyone.