April 10, 1991

The Easter message of the merciful Christ, General Audience

Pope John Paul II spoke about Sister Faustina, showing his great respect for her, relating her to his encyclical, Rich in Mercy, and emphasizing her role in bringing the message of mercy to the world: (L’Osservatore Romano, April 15, 1991) 

1. In the name of Jesus Christ crucified and risen, in the spirit of his messianic mission, enduring in the history of humanity, we raise our voices and pray that the love which is in the Father may once again be revealed at this stage of history and that, through the work of the Son and Holy Spirit, it may be shown to be present in our modern world and to be more powerful than evil: more powerful than sin and death. 

"We pray for this through the intercession of her who does not cease to proclaim ‘mercy... from generation to generation,’ and also through the intercession of those for whom there have been completely fulfilled the words of the Sermon on the Mount: ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.’ (Dives in Misericordia, 15). 

2. Our Lady of Jasna Gora! The words of the encyclical on divine mercy (Dives in Misericordia) are particularly close to us. They recall the figure of the Servant of God, Sister Faustina Kowalska. This simple religious woman particularly brought the Easter message of the merciful Christ closer to Poland and the whole world. 

This happened before the Second World War and all its cruelty. In the face of all the organized contempt for the human person, the message of Christ who was tormented and rose again became for many people in Poland and beyond its borders, and even on other continents, a source of the hope and strength necessary for survival. 

3. And today? Is it perhaps not necessary also "in the contemporary world" in our homeland, in society, among the people who have entered into a new phase of our history, for love to reveal that it is stronger than hatred and selfishness?  Is it perhaps not necessary to translate into the language of today’s generations the words of the Gospel, "blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Mt 5:7)? 

O Mother, who announces divine mercy "from generation to generation" (Lk 1:50), help our generation to rise from the moral crisis. May Christ’s new commandment, "love one another" (Jn 13:34) be established ever more fully among us.