Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

Saint Luke: The Gospel of Divine Mercy 17 Saint Luke: The Gospel of Divine Mercy Our Supreme Pontiff, John Paul II, writing about the Mercy o f God in his encyclical, Dives in Misericordia, makes this momentous state­ ment concerning God’s Mercy as one o f the principal themes o f Jesus’ Messianic message: The Gospel writer who particularly treats o f these themes in Christ’s teaching is Luke, whose Gospel has earned the title o f The Gospel o f Mercy.1 This statement by the Vicar of Christ, the chief teacher o f the magis- terium, who is guided by the same Holy Spirit who inspired the Scripture writers, demands we study the Gospel o f Luke with a new focus. Although his statement should be a sufficient reason for us to re­ study the Gospel o f Luke, it receives additional emphasis when we understand that Blessed Faustina as Secretary to the King o f Mercy2 records these words of Jesus in her Diary, entry no. 83: “Write this: before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy. ”3And again in her Diary, entry no. 429: “You will prepare the world for My final com ing,”4 and, finally, in Diary, entry no. 1588: “My hand is reluctant to take hold o f the sword o f justice. Before the Day o f Justice I am sending the Day o f Mercy. ”5 As we approach the Third Millennium, I am not espousing that the End Times are imminent. However, since I am approaching my 65th birthday, 1 clearly see my Day o f Mercy as now, and my Day of Judgment approaching quickly. Therefore, I offer in this paper a part of my study of the Gospel of Luke as the Gospel o f Mercy. As one reads the four Gospels it becomes readily apparent that Matthew, Mark and Luke resemble each other while the Gospel of John does not resemble the other three. The similarities o f the three are known as the “Synoptic Problem.” The similarities are so striking that when you read each o f the three gospels it appeal's as if you are looking at the three with a one-eye focus. In a sense, nothing could be further from the truth. Just trying to make a synopsis of the three gospels as one gospel gives us more problems than it solves. One attempt that seems more helpful than others is the work by Burton H. Throckmorton, Jr., Gospel Parallels: A Synopsis o f the First