Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

128 Divine Mercy: The Heart Of The Gospel Doesn’t this constitute that mystery o f Christ , in which, through the liturgy the Savior communicates the fulness o f His divine life to souls, reproduces His mystery in them, draws them into His mystery, and now, we can add, confirms them in it forever? Applying the principle of the two perfections to the Christian vision of history, we can boldly state that just as the first creation is the first, sub­ lime and wonderful act o f God’s Mercy (for, according to St. Thomas, Mercy is the first cause o f all of creation, and St. Bernard declares that Mercy is the cause causissima causarum omnium ), so the “second cre­ ation,” of which the Fathers speak, by means of which, after the fall, through the Savior’s Resurrection, God brings His people to the perfect bliss of the blessed in the age to come (as St. Thomas says it, but by means of which God deifies His people, according to the early Fathers), is surely an incomparably greater Mercy manifested to creatures. This, therefore, in my estimation, is why to no other liturgical day except to the “Eighth Day,” to the “Octave Day” pa r excellence , that is, of Easter, which carries all these important, instructive symbols, does the title of Feast of The Divine Mercy belong. For, let us recall what was stated much earlier, that the liturgy, in fact, is nothing but a certain way in which Christ communicates the fulness o f His divine life to souls, reproduces His mystery in them (in this case it would be the mystery of His Mercy), and draws them into His mystery (enabling them to become merciful as their heavenly Father is merciful). Is not that what Our Lord wants accomplished by the celebration of the Feast o f Mercy according to His instructions? How is it, then, that the Church is ignorant of something our Lord claims already exists? Did He really mean what Bl. Faustina recorded in her Diary , namely, I desire that this image be displayed in public on the first Sunday after Easter. That Sunday is the Feast o f Mercy ? This problem calls to my mind the prophetic text Bl. Faustina record­ ed for her spiritual guide, namely: There will come a time when this work, which God is demanding so very much, will be as though utterly undone. And then God will act with great power, which will give evidence o f its authenticity. It will be a new splendor for the Church, although it has been dormant (inactive) in it from long ago {Diary, 378).