God's Mercy Marked the Entire Pontificate of Saint John Paul II
Teaching about God's mercy marked the entire pontificate of John Paul II, and its culmination was the entrustment of the world to God's Mercy in 2002. John Paul II died on the vigil of the Feast of Divine Mercy.
Saint John Paul II Teaching about Mercy
Showing the world the merciful love of God resulted from a deep conviction that "nothing is as necessary for a man as God's mercy - this gracious and compassionate love, elevating man above his weakness to the infinite heights of God's holiness" (Sanctuary in Kraków-Łagiewniki, June 7, 1997). Showing this message is especially needed because of the realities in which modern man and the world live: enormous progress in civilization in the field of science and technology, and at the same time incredible existential and spiritual threats.
John Paul II wrote and spoke many times about how on all continents a cry for mercy rises from the depths of human suffering. "Where hatred and the thirst for revenge dominate, where war brings suffering and death to the innocent, there the grace of mercy is needed in order to settle human minds and hearts and to bring about peace. Wherever respect for life and human dignity are lacking, there is need of God’s merciful love, in whose light we see the inexpressible value of every human being. Mercy is needed in order to ensure that every injustice in the world will come to an end in the splendor of truth."(Łagiewniki, August 17, 2002).
John Paul II knew, however, that in showing to the world the mystery of Mercy is a very fundamental concept, the meaning of this word, which over the centuries has acquired various, sometimes pejorative meanings. For many people, mercy is associated with the abolition of justice, indulgence towards evil or the very feeling of pity (without a specific act of helping a person in need). That is why the Holy Father called us to discover the authentic beauty and richness of Mercy. He himself did it in the encyclical "Dives in misericordia", in which he not only quoted various biblical terms describing the extremely rich reality of divine and interpersonal mercy, but also tried to use the language of a theologian and pastor to define what belongs to its essence. He spoke of mercy as "the second name of love or bringing good out from under all layers of evil," lifting the fallen one.
He explained the relations that exist between truth and mercy, justice and mercy emotion and an act of mercy. " In no passage of the Gospel message does forgiveness, or mercy as its source, mean indulgence towards evil, towards scandals, towards injury or insult. In any case, reparation for evil and scandal, compensation for injury, and satisfaction for insult are conditions for forgiveness. " (DM 14). The fulfillment of the conditions of justice is indispensable for the affirmative love of man to come to the front. " In analyzing the parable of the prodigal son, we have already called attention to the fact that he who forgives and he who is forgiven encounter one another at an essential point, namely the dignity or essential value of the person, a point which cannot be lost and the affirmation of which, or its rediscovery, is a source of the greatest joy”.(DM 14). Mercy in interpersonal relations - he clearly wrote - comes only when the people who give it are deeply convinced that they experience it at the same time on the part of those to whom they provide some good.
" If this bilateral and reciprocal quality is absent, our actions are not yet true acts of mercy " (DM 14). John Paul II, together with Saint Sister Faustina, brings to the history of the Church a new model of Christian mercy - defined by theologians as a personalistic model, because in giving mercy, the person is first, the man with his unique dignity, and then his needs.
Karol Wojtyła began to discover this message of Mercy during the Second World War, when, as a worker in Solvay, he would come to the convent chapel of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Krakow-Łagiewniki, where the image of Merciful Jesus was venerated. After his ordination as a priest, he celebrated there solemn services in honor of the Divine Mercy. Then he had the opportunity to learn more about the mission of the Apostle of Divine Mercy. He was convinced of the need of this gift for the world. After making sure that the Notification of the Holy See forbidding the spread of the devotion to Divine Mercy in the forms passed on by Sister Faustina was already abolished, he began in the Archdiocese the beatification process aimed at elevating Faustina to the altars. The chapel, to which the mortal remains of the Apostle of Divine Mercy were transferred - already in 1968, he added into the list of shrines of the Archdiocese of Krakow.
God's Mercy Marked the Entire Pontificate of Saint John Paul II
“From the very beginning of my Petrine ministry in Rome - confessed John Paul II in 1981 - I believed that proclaiming this message was my special task. Providence assigned it to me in today's situation of man, the Church and the world (...) as my task before God" (Collevalenza, November 22, 1981). He beatified (April 18, 1993) and canonized (April 30, 2000) Sister Faustina. "Today my joy is truly great," he said in the canonization homily, presenting the life and witness of Sister Faustina Kowalska to the whole Church as “a gift of God for our time. Jesus said [to her]:" Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy.” (Diary 300). Through the work of the Polish religious, this message has become linked forever to the 20th Century, the last of the second millennium and the bridge to the third. It is not a new message but can be considered a gift of special enlightenment that helps us to relive the Gospel of Easter more intensely, to offer it as a ray of light to the men and women of our time”.
At the beginning of the Jubilee Year 2000, the Holy Father gave this message to the world for the third millennium, so that people would know better the true face of God and the true face of man, so that it would "lighten human paths" and be a source of hope. It is a message "of the unique dignity and value of every human being", a message that invites us to trust in God who first loved and to follow Him in mercy towards our neighbors. According to John Paul II, the Divine Mercy should "inspire contemporary man, modern humanity, to face the crisis of the meaning of life, to take up challenges related to various needs, and above all, to be able to fulfill the obligation to defend the dignity of every human person".
During the canonization ceremony, the Holy Father John Paul II established the second Easter Sunday as the Divine Mercy Sunday for the whole Church and thus fulfilled Christ's wish: "The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. (139) 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 699), Jesus said to Sister Faustina.
The beatification, canonization of Sister Faustina, papal pilgrimages to Łagiewniki, the annual celebration of the Feast of Mercy or the liturgical commemoration of the Apostle of Divine Mercy, as well as many other events in the Petrine ministry of John Paul II were an opportunity to show the world the model of holiness that God gave us in the life of Sister Faustina , and the gift of the message of Mercy. The day of his death and the date of his beatification and canonization also speak about it.
The call of the Church to proclaim the message of Mercy to the world, showing the world the gift of the message of Mercy went hand in hand with the call not only to get to know it, but to accept it and bring it to the world like a light and a "pledge of hope". In the Encyclical "Dives in misericordia", he not only showed the merciful love of God and the beauty of Christian mercy, but also called the Church to proclaim God's merciful love, to do mercy in interpersonal relations and to pray for mercy for the world in the face of multiple threats that it experiences. These tasks coincide with the message of Mercy recorded in Sister Faustina's "Diary". The Church from its very beginning (...) - John Paul II repeated once again at the Błonie Park in Krakow in 2002 - " had preached the mercy of God, a pledge of hope and a source of salvation for man. Nonetheless, it would appear that we today have been particularly called to proclaim this message before the world. We cannot neglect this mission, if God himself has called us to it through the testimony of Saint Faustina. "(Krakow, Błonia, August 18, 2002).
Entrusting the whole world to God's Mercy at the Sanctuary in Krakow-Łagiewniki, he said: "Today, therefore, in this Shine, I wish solemnly to entrust the world to Divine Mercy. I do so with the burning desire that the message of God’s merciful love, proclaimed here through Saint Faustina, may be made known to all the peoples of the earth and fill their hearts with hope. May this message radiate from this place to our beloved homeland and throughout the world. May the binding promise of the Lord Jesus be fulfilled: from here there must go forth "the spark which will prepare the world for his final coming" (cf. Diary 1732). This fire of mercy needs to be passed on to the world. In the mercy of God the world will find peace and mankind will find happiness!" He appealed to Christians many times: "May you be witnesses to mercy!"
"The mystery of God's merciful love was at the center of the pontificate of my venerable predecessor," said the Holy Father Benedict XVI. It was manifested not only in the teachings of John Paul II, but also in his lifestyle and apostolic service. His pontificate, from the first words after his election to the See of Peter - from the famous: "Do not be afraid to open the door to Christ" - to the moments of his departure to the Father's house, was a testimony of total entrustment to God, abandonment to His will. He became mercy itself for us.
The exploration of the mystery of God's mercy also led to showing the evangelical attitude of doing good to others, which should become not only a style of Christian life, but also the basic principle of social life. He appealed for a new imagination of mercy, which not only sees the needs of others, but is also able to deal with it in a disinterested way, with respect for human dignity and in the spirit of genuine love. "The hour has come when the message of Divine Mercy is able to fill hearts with hope and to become the spark of a new civilization: the civilization of love". (Krakow - Błonie, August 18, 2002).
Until Tomorrow
fr. george