Mercy: Unexpected, Unearned, Undeserved
2022년 4월 24일Mercy: Unexpected, Unearned, Undeserved
< Sunday of Divine Mercy >
Saint Pope John Paul II declared Sister Faustyna Kowalska a saint on April 30, 2000, making her the first canonized saint of the new millennium. In the 1930s, Sr. Faustyna claimed Jesus appeared to her, asking her to make his mercy and love known to our suffering world. The pope also designated the Sunday following Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday, extending the personal revelation to Sister Faustyna to the entire Universal (Catholic) Church and to the whole world. Catholics are free to accept devotion to the Divine Mercy as part of their spirituality—or not. The Church declared the apparitions to be authentic and belief in them as helpful to the faith, but they are not necessary to salvation.
This means if you feel belief in these “approved” apparitions helps you in your journey of faith, the Church encourages you to use them. But if you chose not to, that’s okay as well. However, we should still take God’s gift of mercy seriously. We do this by being merciful towards others, since God has been—and is— merciful to us. Mercy is a grace not expected, cannot be earned, and it’s something we don’t deserve. It’s a free gift! Share that gift with others: tell a friend you miss them, compliment a coworker or classmate, offer to help around the house without being asked! If you do this on a regular basis, you will feel better about yourself because you are honoring our most merciful God by imitating Jesus!