Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

62 Divine Mercy: The Heart Of The Gospel My daughter, know that My Heart is mercy itself. From this sea of mercy graces flow out upon the whole world. No soul that has approached Me has ever gone away unconsoled. All misery gets buried in the depths o f My mercy, and every saving and sanctifying grace flows from this fountain.12 In another passage in her diary, Bl. Faustina poured out her soul in adoration of the living Heart o f Jesus in the Eucharist: O living Host, my one and only strength, fountain of love and mercy, embrace the whole world, and fortify faint souls. Oh, blessed be the instant and the moment when Jesus left us His most merciful Heart.13 Clearly, for Bl. Faustina, the center o f her life, her f irs t love, was the Merciful Heart o f Jesus. Her devotion was to the Sacred Heart, but focused on the merciful love that flows to us from His Heart. Much like the traditional devotion to the Sacred Heart, our Lord gave to Bl. Faustina new forms in which His Merciful Heart was to be hon­ ored, and new vessels for a fresh outpouring o f His grace: the Image of The Divine Mercy, new prayers such as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the prayers for the three o ’clock Hour o f Mercy, and, o f course, a new feast for the universal Church (the Feast of Mercy, intended for the Sunday after Easter). In fact, all of this received the explicit endorse­ ment and encouragement of Pope John Paul II in his address at the tomb o f Bl. Faustina in Cracow in the summer o f 1997.14His remarks on that occasion largely echoed the words he spoke at the beatification o f Sr. Faustina in Rome on April 18, 1993: Her mission continues, and is yielding astonishing fruit. It is truly marvelous how her devotion to the merciful Jesus is spread­ ing in our contemporary world and gaining so many human hearts! This is doubtless a sign of the times - a sign o f our 20th century. The balance o f this century which is now ending... presents a deep restlessness and fear o f the future. Where, if not in the Divine Mercy, can the world find refuge and the light of hope? Believers understand that perfectly. Now, all o f this leads to an obvious question: what is the proper rela­ tionship between these two devotions, these two streams of Heart-spir-