Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

Mary: Mediatrix of Mercy 179 dictated by love for man, for all that is human and which, accord­ ing to the intuitions of many o f our contemporaries, is threatened by an immense danger.... The mystery o f C h r is t ... also obliges me to proclaim mercy as God's merciful love.... It likewise obliges me to have recourse to that mercy and to beg for it in this difficult, crit­ ical phase o f the history o f the Church and o f the world, as we approach the end o f the second millennium {Dives in Misericordia, no. 15). This, o f course, is where we historically find ourselves in the final year of the second millennium. What then constitutes the relationship between the Triumph of Divine Mercy and the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary? The Triumph of the Immaculate Heart o f Mary has as its primary goal the mission to open hearts to the gift o f Divine Mercy, and therefore the Triumph o f the Immaculate Heart o f Mary, properly understood, coincides with the Triumph o f Divine Mercy. The Triumph o f the Immaculate Heart o f Mary essentially serves the Triumph o f Divine Mercy, as the Triumph o f the Immaculate Heart serves to open, prepare and sustain human hearts to and with the gift o f Divine Mercy from the Sacred and Merciful Heart o f our Lord. This will lead us to the “Era of peace,” the Eucharistic Reign o f the Sacred Heart, a time when the Mercy o f the Heart of Jesus is in fact accepted by the human heart, the awaited and promised “New Springtime for the Church.” It is Mary, Mediatrix o f Mercy, who will, through the Triumph o f her Immaculate Heart mediate to the world the graces of Divine Mercy and the Reign o f the Sacred Heart upon the earth. The Triumph o f Divine Mercy and the Triumph o f the Immaculate Heart o f Mary seek this self-same goal. What then is the key to unlock the inestimable graces o f the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart o f Mary, which leads to the Triumph o f Divine Mercy in the hearts o f humanity? Many Marian cardinals, bishops, priests and lay leaders worldwide believe, as I do, that it will be the papal proclamation o f the whole truth o f Our Lady in her role as the Mother o f all Peoples, the Co-redemptrix, the Mediatrix o f Grace and Mercy, and the Advocate. Critical to understanding the necessity of this papal definition o f our Lady's maternal Mediation is understanding the basic principle of God's providence with regard to respect for human freedom. Why would a