Dear Friends,
This Sunday, April 23, we joyfully celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, the Second Sunday of the Easter season. It was named by Pope John Paul II at the canonization of St. Maria Faustina on April 30, 2000, and then officially decreed by the Vatican.
Divine Mercy Sunday can be seen as the convergence of all the mysteries and graces of Holy Week and Easter Week. It is like a multi-exposure photograph of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Week. Or, we can think of it as a converging lens that focuses the light of the Risen Christ into a radiant beam of merciful love and grace for the whole world.
In fact, Jesus revealed in various revelations to St. Faustina that it was His desire that we celebrate this special feast.
The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy. (Diary of St. Faustina, 699)
This year, we are happy to have Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston and Bishop Timothy McDonnell of Springfield join us at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massuchusetts to concelebrate Holy Mass in the Northeast's largest Divine Mercy celebration.
If you are not able to visit the National Shine in person, you can join us in our celebration as the day's events and Holy Mass will be brodcast on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) starting at 12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
I pray that you will take the time to attend Holy Mass in your local parish this Sunday to celebrate this great Feast of Divine Mercy, and invite you to join us in our celebration on EWTN.
For more information about Divine Mercy Sunday, or The Divine Mercy message and devotion, visit our Divine Mercy Web site at www.thedivinemercy.org.
May the Risen Christ bless you!
Fr. Joseph, MIC
Director, Association of Marian Helpers
Eden Hill
Stockbridge, MA 01263
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