God’s love and joy flow from Divine Mercy

By Wendy Shaw

The unfathomable mercy of God was celebrated at Divine Mercy Sunday events around the state on the Sunday after Easter.

The feast of Divine Mercy was instituted by St John Paul II in 2000, in response to revelations received by Polish nun St Faustina Kowalska in the 1930s, in which Jesus requested the feast day be established.

Events were held at the Church of the Apostles, Launceston, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Devonport, St John’s Church, Glenorchy, and St Mary’s Cathedral, Hobart, on 24 April.

Launceston Parish Priest Fr Mark Freeman said that parishioners from around northern Tasmania gathered for ‘well-attended’ Divine Mercy devotions.

“Divine Mercy Sunday is important because the concept of mercy is a great expression of the love that God has for His people,” Fr Freeman said.

“The mercy of God gives life to us and enables us to share in the new life of Easter.”

Divine Mercy Sunday Launceston committee convenor Liz Linnemans, of Youngtown, said it was a welcome opportunity to focus on the “beautiful promise of the Lord’s divine mercy – a message that the world needs so much”.

“Since the beginning of the time, the world has needed divine mercy but in these uncertain and increasingly secular times …  we need divine mercy and that assurance of our blessed Lord’s love and mercy,” Mrs Linnemans said.

At Devonport, Mass was followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Divine Mercy Chaplet and veneration of the Divine Mercy image. Reconciliation was also available.

More than 140 people gathered at St Mary’s Cathedral in Hobart for the 2pm Blessing of the Divine Mercy Image, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, Reconciliation, and 3pm Mass presided over by Archbishop Julian.

“The Lord specifically asks people who observe this feast to go to confession,” Archbishop Julian said in his homily.

“Forgiveness of sins through the words of absolution by the priest becomes, as St John Paul II says, a moment of resurrection from our personal spiritual death. It is the way the Paschal Mystery directly touches our lives.”

Zofia Mimac, of Rosny, who helped to coordinate celebrations in the south, described the Feast of Divine Mercy Sunday as “one of the greatest gifts given to the faithful in the 20th Century”.

“We have been given the opportunity to have our sins and the purification that we must endure in purgatory for our failings completely nullified,” Mrs Mimac said.

“Each year we are given the gift of becoming as pure as a newly baptised child. It is no wonder that those that understand this gift observe this feast with such reverence, love and gratitude to Our Lord.”