The Message
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The following is the homily given by The Most Rev. Edward Ozorowski, Archbishop of Bialystok, Poland, on Divine Mercy Sunday at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy, April 19, 2009:
For His mercy endures for ever (Ps 136,1).
"I love you, O Lord, my strength,
O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
My God is the rock where I take refuge;
My shield, my salvation's certainty, my stronghold" (Ps 18,3).
Your Excellency, Dear Brothers and Sisters!
These words were spoken by David when the Lord snatched him from the hands of persecutors. How many other people, saved from death, sent these same words up to God! They are those who believed and who persist in faith in spite of all the misfortunes falling upon them. They put to shame those who cast God aside and hold His goodness in disdain.
God is Love (1 Jn 4, 8.16). Out of love He created the world and human beings. He did not stop loving them in spite of the fact that they turned away from Him. His love became mercy — love that stretches itself over the whole of humankind and upon the life of every human being. "What is man that you should keep him in mind, mortal man, that you care for him?" (Ps 8,5).
Mercy does not begin there where love comes to an end. Mercy prolongs love and makes it even more beautiful. Mercy cannot be taken lightly. God is ever Father, and every, even every prodigal son, is to love Him, trust in Him, and keep returning to Him. This teaching comes to us without interruption from the pages of the Bible.
And not only the teaching — it is God Himself who comes to the people. He sent His Son down to help people come up to Him. And although "He came to what was His own, and His own people did not accept Him" (Jn 1,11), "to all who did accept Him, He gave power to become children of God" (Jn 1,12).
In the Twentieth Century, the century in which evil overflowed — two world wars, godless revolutions, gulags, and concentration camps — Jesus reminded the world that God is Mercy. He did this through Sr. Faustina Kowalska and her confessor, the Rev. Father Michael Sopocko. Sister Faustina was the one who received Christ's revelations, and Fr. Michael did everything to verify what this simple religious sister related to him. He commanded her to set down in writing what she saw and heard. From this there arose the Diary, which today is already read by people the world over.
Who was Fr. Michael Sopocko? He lived between the years 1888 and 1975. He was born, grew up and worked in Poland, on territories which, after World War II, found themselves in Lithuania, Belarus, and Poland. He was a professor at the University of Vilnius and at the Major Seminary in Bialystok. It was in this latter place that I got to know him and was his student. The memory I hold of him is as of a person chosen by God to proclaim His mercy, and as of one totally devoted to that work.
To the end of his life, Fr. Michael spoke and wrote about Divine Mercy. He was a wise, hard-working, and pious person. He met up with opposition on the part of those who found it hard to believe what he was propagating. But he never became discouraged. He persevered to the end. Sister Faustina recorded these words of our Lord about him:
He is a priest after My own Heart; his efforts are pleasing to Me. You see, My daughter, that My will must be done, and that, which I had promised you, I shall do. Through him I am spreading comfort to souls that are suffering and worn out by grief and worry. Through him it pleased Me to proclaim the worship of My Mercy. And through this work of mercy more souls will come close to Me than otherwise would have, even if he had kept giving absolution day and night for the rest of his life; because by so doing, he would have labored only for as long as he lived; whereas, thanks to this work of mercy, he will be working until the end of the world" (Diary, 1256).
On September the twenty-eighth, in the year 2008, Fr. Michael Sopocko was solemnly beatified in the city where he last labored — in Bialystok.
It's absolutely necessary to mention also the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II, for it was he who approved The Divine Mercy Devotion in the forms presented from St. Faustina by Fr. Michael. It was he who declared the Second Sunday of Easter to be the Sunday of Divine Mercy; it was he, who approved The Divine Mercy Chaplet, and the image of the Merciful Jesus signed with the words, "Jesus, I trust in You!" It can be boldly asserted that Sr. Faustina, Fr. Michael Sopocko and Pope John Paul II are the proclaimers of The Divine Mercy in our times. Sister Faustina is already inscribed on the List of Saints, and Fr. Michael, on the List of the Blessed.
I knew John Paul II personally. I am the first Polish bishop to have been appointed by him. I met with him many times during his pontificate, and, with all certainty, I can attest that he was a holy person — a providential one, given by God to mankind, in order to keep indicating the way of salvation. I believe that he will shortly be solemnly elevated to the honors of the altar.
The Gospel of Divine Mercy, calling upon us to trust, at the same time exhorts us to exercise mercy. It is "the Gospel of God's love toward mankind, the Gospel of the dignity of the person, the Gospel of life" (EV, 2). Let us keep on responding with love to God's love! Let us respect our dignity! Let's not kill one another, especially the innocent — the unborn! Pope John Paul declared: "The nations that kill their own children have no future." Saint Paul exhorts us in his Letter to the Ephesians (4,31-32): "All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven us in Christ."
Divine Mercy doesn't end there, where justice begins. God is just, because He is Love and Mercy. There is no justice without mercy. Take away love, and justice becomes cruelty. But, if God is merciful, we, too, must be merciful. For Christ declared: "Become merciful, just as also your Father is merciful" (Lk 6,36). And St. James added: "So speak and act as people who will be judged by the law of freedom. For judgment is merciless to one who has not exercised mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment" (Jas 2,12-13).
God of might, God of justice, God of Life! For the sake of the sorrowful Passion of Your Son, have mercy on us, and on the whole world! Amen.
Be a part of the discussion. Add a comment now!
Becky Trojcak — Apr 19, 2009 - 14:57 EDT
Wonderful words of comfort, faith and hope in these trying times. Thank God for your faith and strength.
May God send blessings to you.
andrew philip — Apr 19, 2009 - 16:08 EDT
Rev Archbishop Ozorowski, thank you for your beautiful words on the divine mercy. You have increased my devotion to the divine mercy to a greater level. May the merciful God bless you and your works.
Fances — Apr 19, 2009 - 17:36 EDT
Beautiful day; beautiful event...wonderful to be able to watch on the television as I am not able to get way out there from the Midwest area. God bless you MIS's and all clergy and lay who worked on this...I will look forward to the 50th God Willing! Frances
Agazit Seyoum — Apr 25, 2009 - 6:55 EDT
I was blessed some times in tears for the Day truly represented the message of Divine Message, the will of our Lord Jesus Christ and wish of my personal Friend Saint Faustina. I am wish the Diary will be translated in to the many remaining languages which is the fast means for the Blessing to be shared will be shared by the rest of the Eastern Globs as my nation Eritera.