Jesus, Mercy Incarnate

Saint Faustina and Devotion to the Christ Child As the dawn of the third millennium arrives some Catholics have begun to question how much cause there truly is for rejoic- ing. The first 2,000 years of the Catholic Church have left a trail of monumental achievements, but also tragic failures; there seems to be as much cause for repentance as there is for thanksgiving, and the Apostolic See today gazes out over a world in which 80 per cent of the human race still resists the light of her teaching and refuses her sacramental means of grace. The millennium celebration, however, is not primarily about the Church; it is about the Church’s Founder . It is supposed to be a great Jubilee in celebration of the first coming of the promised Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who came to rescue the world from sin and guilt, oppression and death. The words of the angel to St. Joseph, announcing the coming of Christ, are like a little summary of the Jubilee message (Mt.1:20-23): “Joseph, Son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. ” All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel ” (which means, God with us) . The Jubilee, therefore, is meant to be a celebration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, coming to the rescue to save the world from sin. To properly understand the Jubilee, however, we need to be even more precise. For this is not just a celebration of the com- ing of the divine Son into the world to save us. Rather, to be even