Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

Saint Luke: The Gospel of Divine Mercy 33 repent.This statement in Luke is most important for two reasons. Here are the verses: Then he came to his senses and said, “How many o f my father's hired men have all the food they want and more, and here am I dying o f hunger! I will leave this place and go to my fa ther and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one o f your hired men.” So he left the place and went back to his father. (Luke 15: 17-19). The verse, ‘7 will leave this place and go to my Father’’ is important in our study o f Divine Mercy because it states that our destination is not a place, heaven, but a person, God the Father. Once we realize this, our response to the Good News becomes overwhelmingly personal. Jesus emphasizes this in Diary, entry no. 1486: Jesus: What joy fills My Heart when you return to Me. Because you are weak, I take you in My arms and carry you to the home o f My Father.35 During the whole time the son is gone, the Father waits and longs for his return, eager to get him back. That personal love and longing with thorough respect for the free will o f the son is mirrored in Diary, entry no. 1728. Jesus says to Sr. Faustina: Tell sinners that I am always waiting f o r them, that I listen intently to the beating o f their heart. When will it beat for Me? Write, that I am speaking to them through their remorse o f con­ science, through their failures and sufferings, through thun­ derstorms, through the voice o f the Church.36 Jesus seeks, waits, cajoles, encourages, and even turns our failures and sufferings into messages from Him to get us to return, repent and receive His Mercy. And it is all a personal, loving, compassion that caus­ es Him to act the way He does. We forget that the Trinity is Three Persons, and we need to understand that the concept o f person is really a Christian concept. Pagan philosophers never developed a concept of person. But the early Fathers alluded to the concept and the Scholastics developed a very rich doctrine with many positions.37 One o f the most important things about a human person is that he or