Who Doesn’t Need Divine Mercy?

The years following the death of St. Faustina Kowalska on October 5, 1938 were turbulent ones for the world and especially Europe. The Nazi invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 unleashed a tsunami of violence and hatred on the Polish people and the surrounding countries. Throughout that part of the world small pamphlets with the image of the Merciful Jesus and the Divine Mercy message began to circulate. Little pieces of paper gave hope to people with little reason to have hope. It was the message of God’s mercy to a merciless world.

Unbelievably, today the world bears an uncanny resemblance to the early 1940’s. A brutal war is raging against the Ukrainian people. Innocent men, women and children have been murdered by aggressive invaders. Millions of Ukrainians have become refugees, fleeing form violence and bloodshed. Families have been separated by death or flight. Heartache has afflicted millions.
           
Violations of human dignity unfold in other nations across the globe. Ethnic groups have been imprisoned in China. Christians are persecuted in Africa. In our own nation distrust and hostility separate people. The unborn continue to be killed because people cannot see that these innocents are children of God who have the right to be born. Abandonment of a civilization of love for a society of division and confusion has become the standard of our day.
           
So the question is posed, “Who doesn’t need Divine Mercy?” Everyone does! As during the dark days of the Second World War and the years that followed, small pamphlets and pictures of the Merciful Jesus continue to be distributed not only in Eastern Europe but throughout the world. Churches, convents, monasteries and private homes have been opened to Ukrainian refugees in Poland, Slovakia and neighboring countries. People are given food to eat, safe places to stay, and hope—hope in the goodness and mercy of God who loves them. In the part of the world where Jesus revealed His mercy to St. Faustina, a humble and holy Polish nun, mercy again triumphs in the midst of the chaos of hatred and bloodshed.
           
From the land of Divine Mercy, the message of the Merciful Jesus has spread throughout the whole world. In so many Catholic churches around the world the beautiful image of the Merciful Jesus welcomes people and assures them of His presence with them.  In our own country, lives have been transformed by the message of Divine Mercy. Hearts have turned back to prayer and the Blessed Sacrament and Confession. Deeds of mercy are performed for the poor and the homeless. The hungry are fed in soup kitchens. Those who need the basic necessities of life are welcomed. All this has been inspired by the Divine Mercy devotion, which emphasizes the message of the Gospel that calls for love and mercy for all.
           
In a world of aggression, brutality, murder of the innocent, and denial of the truth, the Merciful Jesus triumphs by His love.
           
Jesus said to St. Faustina, “From all My wounds, like from streams, mercy flows for souls, but the wound in My Heart is the fountain of unfathomable mercy. From this fountain spring all graces for souls. The flames of compassion burn Me. I desire greatly to pour them out upon souls. Speak to the whole world about My mercy” (Divine Mercy in My Soul, 1190).
           
Who doesn’t need His Divine Mercy that heals, restores and gives hope? We all need it, and He pours it out upon us and on the whole world.

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh