Excerpt taken from ‘A Gift of Divine Mercy’ by David Came, executive editor of Marian Helper magazine To read in full please go to: www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/gift-divine-mercy The Pope then continues in a more personal vein: “Two years ago now, after the First Vespers of this Feast, John Paul II ended his earthly life. In dying, he entered the light of Divine Mercy, of which, beyond death and starting from God, he now speaks to us in a new way. 3 Have faith, he tells us, in Divine Mercy! Become day after day men and women of God's mercy. Mercy is the garment of light which the Lord has given to us in Baptism. We must not allow this light to be extinguished; on the contrary, it must grow within us every day and thus bring to the world God's glad tidings. In these days illumined in particular by the light of Divine Mercy, a coincidence occurs that is significant to me: I can look back on over 80 years of life.” I have always considered it a great gift of Divine Mercy to have been granted birth and rebirth, so to speak, on the same day, in the sign of the beginning of Easter. Thus, I was born as a member of my own family and of the great family of God on the same day. As Benedict celebrates the gift of Divine Mercy in his own rebirth through Baptism, observe in particular how he speaks of mercy as "the garment of light which the Lord has given to us in Baptism." He is saying that the great dignity we have all been given in Baptism as children of God is a result of God's great mercy in saving us from our sins. He encourages all of us who are baptized to let this light of mercy from our Baptism "grow within us every day." Pope Benedict develops this theme further for all of us later in his homily when he sums up, "Birth and rebirth, an earthly family and the great family of God: this is the great gift of God's multiple mercies, the foundation of which supports us." But he doesn't end there. No, he encourages us to be aware of "God's multiple mercies" every day of our life. "God's mercy accompanies us daily," he says. "To be able to perceive his mercy it suffices to have a heart that is alert. We are excessively inclined to notice only the daily effort that has been imposed upon as children of Adam." Here, the Holy Father is reminding us that as children of the light who now live in Christ, we need to grow in daily awareness of "God's multiple mercies." We must ask for spiritual sight to recognize the mercies of the Lord and express our gratitude to God for them every day. All of us - as baptized children of God - have received "a great gift of Divine Mercy." In that light, our Holy Father is inviting us to open the eyes of our heart in order to receive it. It is expressed daily in "God's multiple mercies" toward us. But if we don't keep our eyes on the Lord and His mercies, we become weighed down by our sinful tendencies as children of Adam. As a result, our spiritual vision becomes clouded, and we miss the blessing - the sense of gratitude and joy - that God intended for us. On April 20, 2005, in his first message as Pope, Benedict XVI spoke with remarkable candor about his apprehension upon being elected. It's telling that in the midst of what he called "contrasting emotions," he expressed "deep gratitude for a gift of Divine Mercy." Baptism of The Lord January 9th
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