Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

74 Divine Mercy: The Heart Of The Gospel In fact, Jesus taught Sr. Faustina that the Feast itself is a gift to the Church from His Merciful Heart. Fr. George Kosicki in his book Special Urgency o f Mercy shows that just like the rays o f Mercy in the Image, the Feast too flows from the Merciful Heart of Jesus: The Merciful Heart of Jesus as a unifying element of the devo­ tion to the Divine Mercy has a fascinating relationship to the requested Feast o f Divine Mercy. Our Lord told Sister Faustina: “This feast emerged from my most tender pity and it is con­ firmed in the depths o f my mercy” (Diary 699). The Polish word, translated by “depths” is literally the “Innerds or organs, or viscera.” This is the same word that is used by our Lord to describe the source of the rays o f His mercy that come from His pierced Heart: “These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross” (Diary 299). The source o f the feast of mercy and the rays of mercy are the sam e- the pierced Heart of Jesus, the depths of His mercy.43 There would seem to be a great need in the liturgical calendar for the Feast o f Mercy. It would be, as St. Augustine put it, “a compendium... of mercy:” a feast that celebrates not just one particular event in the story of our redemption (e.g. Christmas, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, or Pentecost) but the merciful love o f Jesus Christ lying behind them all, and expressed in them all. If our Lord intends the Feast of Mercy to be this kind of “compendium” or summary, a celebration of the merciful love behind all o f His saving acts, then it is no wonder that He promised the most extraordinary spiritual benefits to those who pre­ pare for it by making a good confession, and who receive Him with true devotion on that day. As He said to Blessed Faustina: This Feast emerged from the very depths of My mercy...44 It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter... I desire that the Feast o f Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths o f My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean o f graces upon those souls who approach the fountain o f My m ercy ...45 Whoever approaches the Fountain o f Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness o f sins and punishment.46