Keys to the Message and Devotion Michael E. Gaitley, MIC
Introduction I’m writing this booklet to help people fully discover the amazing Divine Mercy message and devotion. And I do mean amazing. It’s been called “the greatest grassroots movement in the history of the Catholic Church”1 and has changed millions of lives. Mine is one of them. I first learned about Divine Mercy in college, and it touched my heart so deeply that I decided to dedicate my life to spreading the word. I remember saying to myself at the time, “Why haven’t I heard this before? This is incredible! People need to hear this!” Perhaps you yourself have already experienced something of this message and devotion. For instance, maybe you’ve seen the Image of Divine Mercy, which is reproduced on the cover. Or maybe you’ve prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, which has become popular in so many homes and parishes. Then again, maybe you haven’t had any experience with it, and you’re just curious as to what this “Divine Mercy” stuff is all about. Whatever your exposure to the message and devotion, this booklet is for you. It’s even for those who have been devoted to Divine Mercy for years. For instance, my friend Vinny Flynn, who has spent several decades in full-time Divine Mercy work, read Excerpt from Divine Mercy Explained. Click here to order
the rough draft of this manuscript and exclaimed, “Finally! A quick, clear, and easy way to understand Divine Mercy!” Then, he encouraged me to have it published, and so, here we are. Now, what exactly is this booklet going to do? Basically, it’s going to give you a brief and easy-tounderstand introduction toDivineMercy. Specifically, you’ll learn some of the history and context, all the essential elements of the devotion, and how to live the message. In short, it’s everything you need to know! It’s Divine Mercy explained. Finally, as a bonus, I’ve included two helpful appendices: One contains valuable prayers and the other has powerful statements about Divine Mercy from Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Alright, so let’s begin. But before we cover the message and devotion, let’s look at Divine Mercy in general. Divine Mercy in General Divine Mercy gets to the heart of Sacred Scripture. In fact, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God’s mercy to sinners.”2 Right there: That summarizes it. Divine Mercy is the Gospel. It’s the good news. And so, it gets to the very center of our faith. Moreover, Excerpt from Divine Mercy Explained. Click here to order
in the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “Divine Mercy is not a secondary devotion, but an integral dimension of Christian faith and prayer.”3 Benedict even goes so far as to say, “[M]ercy is the central nucleus of the Gospel message.”4 (See Appendix Two for more Divine Mercy quotes from Popes Benedict and John Paul.) Okay, so what is Divine Mercy? What is this thing that gets to the heart of Sacred Scripture and to the very center of our faith? To begin, mercy is “love’s second name.”5 It’s a particular kind of love, a particular mode of love when it encounters suffering, poverty, brokenness, and sin. Divine Mercy is when God’s love meets us and helps us in the midst of our suffering and sin. In fact, because this side of eternity we’re all sinners and because suffering is our lot in life, God’s love for us here always takes the form of mercy. It’s always the Lord stepping out in compassion to help us poor, weak, and broken sinners. From our perspective, then, every good we receive is an expression of Divine Mercy. The Message of Divine Mercy The message of Divine Mercy is something that’s most associated with a Polish nun who died in 1938, about a year before the start of World War II. She’s known today as St. Maria Faustina Kowalska. Now, St. Faustina was a mystic. In other words, she received Excerpt from Divine Mercy Explained. Click here to order
extraordinary experiences of the Lord Jesus in prayer. In fact, Jesus appeared to her and even spoke with her. Of course, Jesus didn’t reveal some new Gospel when he appeared to St. Faustina. I mean, he already revealed everything he needed to say 2,000 years ago to the Apostles and through Sacred Scripture. So, why did he do it? Why did he appear to Faustina? Actually, why does he appear to any mystic for that matter? God sometimes appears to mystics because he has a prophetic message for a particular time in history, and he uses particular men and women to share his message. Sometimes it’s to remind us of something that’s been forgotten. Sometimes it’s a warning. At other times, it’s a message of comfort. Or it may simply be a call to conversion. Whatever it is, it doesn’t change the Bible. Rather, it brings us back to it at a certain time in history. Okay, so what’s the particular and important message that God wants to give to us in our modern time through St. Faustina? Simple. He wants to remind us of the heart of Sacred Scripture, namely, his mercy for us sinners. In fact, he’s saying to us sinners, “Now is the time of mercy. Now is a time of extraordinary mercy! Now is a time when I want to give especially great graces to the human race. I want to pour out my mercy in a big way.” Why would God say this? Why would he want to give such great graces in our time? I think St. Excerpt from Divine Mercy Explained. Click here to order
John Paul II explained it best. First, he pointed out something we all know: namely, that there are all kinds of blessings in our contemporary society. For instance, modern technology has done so much to make life easier for us. Just think of e-mail, cell phones, smartphones, and air-conditioning. All these things are blessings. Yet, in the midst of these blessings and in some ways because of the very same advances in technology that brought them, John Paul would say that evil has a reach and power in our day like never before. Indeed, our time, sadly, is marked by unprecedented evil. Despite this, John Paul would also say, “Be not afraid.” Why should we not be afraid? Because of what St. Paul writes in Romans, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (5:20). In other words, God is not outdone by evil. So, in a time of great evil, God wants to give even greater graces, and in our time, the graces are huge, precisely because there’s so much sin. Basically, then, what I want to share in the remainder of this introduction to Divine Mercy, this Divine Mercy explained, is how we can tap into the extraordinary graces of our time. Which makes sense, right? I mean, if there are tons of graces available to us, why not gather them in? Excerpt from Divine Mercy Explained. Click here to order
Jesus, I Trust in You © © 2012 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.
Keys to the Message and Devotion Michael E. Gaitley, MIC To order, click here or visit ShopMercy.org/DMX
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