Episode Transcript  

One

This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday, a day to receive very special graces for yourself or a deceased loved one.

Jesus said to St. Faustyna, “My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day are open all the divine floodgates through which graces flow. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet…The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.” Diary 699

Wow, Jesus said that this Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, “The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day are open all the divine floodgates through which graces flow.”

Two

Understanding the Divine Mercy Indulgence

What is the Divine Mercy Indulgence? According to the Catechism, “an indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins, whose guilt has already been forgiven…”  The temporal punishment of sin means the bad consequences caused by our sins. 

Essentially, there are three bad consequences caused by our sin: First, by mortal sin we destroy our relationship with God and we lose His divine life dwelling within us. By venial sin, less serious sin, we harm our relationship with God. Second, by our sin, we damage our soul. Repeated bad actions become bad habits that we call vices, such as pride, vanity, envy, sloth, anger, greed, gluttony, lust, resentments, selfishness, use…to be full of vice makes us vicious people, and that destroys our happiness and that of everyone around us. 

Third, our sin harms other people and causes a ripple effect that floods out into the world, affecting all humanity. It is like terrorism. We set off a bomb by our sin and it’s impossible to know where the damage will end. There is long term collateral damage caused by our sin and we can’t fix that. Once you throw the stone of sin into the water, you can’t reverse the ripple of harm. 

The Divine Mercy Indulgence is not a “get out of jail free” card. That would make it superstitious. In His mercy, God offers us a way for the damage caused by our sins, both in ourselves and in the world, to be healed, even when the consequences extend far beyond anything we could repair by our own efforts.

Three

What the Divine Mercy Indulgence Does

The Divine Mercy Indulgence is not some medieval superstition. By the indulgence, God does something we can’t do on our own, that is, repair all the damage we have caused to ourselves and others. By Confession, God forgives the guilt of our sins and restores our relationship with Him. And with God’s help, we are called to repair the damage sin has done to our own soul. That is why penance must follow the sacrament of confession.

So, how do we repair the damage? By receiving Jesus frequently in the Eucharist, spending time each day in prayerful meditation, and making concrete resolutions that help us grow in virtue, especially in love. We also learn to accept, with patience and even cheerfulness, the things we cannot change. We must also try to repair the harm we’ve done to others by asking for forgiveness when needed and doing whatever we can to make things right.

Yet even after all this, there will still be things in us that no matter how hard or how long we try, we can’t get rid of, disordered attachments and vices we cannot fully heal. And we haven’t even considered the harm we’ve caused others, and that is way beyond our power to undo, and the ripple of evil we sent out into the world. 

By the Divine Mercy Indulgence, God says to us, “I will heal in you what you can’t fix; I will take care the people you have harmed, and I will undo the damage you have caused in the world. I can handle that. You don’t have to worry about that any longer. I won’t hold you responsible for the ripple effect of evil any longer.”

God will undo and heal all the damage I have done to myself, to those closest to me, and to the whole world. Now that is mercy!

Four

Obtaining an Indulgence for the dead 

The Catechism (1471) teaches that we can gain an indulgence for the faithful departed, that is, those who have died and are in purgatory.

Saint Faustyna recounts that God allowed her to see the suffering of souls in purgatory. These souls often came to her asking for help. She responded with great zeal, doing everything she could through prayer and sacrifice to assist them in reaching the joy of heaven.

In her Diary (1723) she writes: “When the soul of a certain young lady came to me one night, she made me aware of her presence, and made known to me that she needed my prayer. I prayed for a while, but her spirit did not leave me. Then I thought to myself, ‘If you are a good spirit, leave me in peace, and the indulgences I will gain tomorrow will be for you.’ At that moment, the spirit left my room, and I recognized that she was in purgatory.”

We can help our family and friends in purgatory with the Divine Mercy Indulgence – let us obtain it for them. This is a great act of charity and Mercy. 

Five

Day Five of the Novena to Divine Mercy

Jesus said: Today bring to Me the souls who live apart from the Truth I revealed and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy.  During My bitter Passion they tore at My Body and Heart; that is, My Church.  As they return to unity with the Church, My wounds heal, and in this way they alleviate My Passion.   

Faustina replied: Most Merciful Jesus, Goodness Itself, You do not refuse light to those who seek it of You.  Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who knowingly or unknowingly live apart from Your Truth.  Draw them by Your light into the unity of the Church, and do not let them escape from the abode of Your Most Compassionate heart; but bring it about that they, too, come to extol the generosity of Your mercy. Even for those who have torn the garment of Your unity, A fount of mercy flows from Your Heart. The omnipotence of Your mercy, Oh God, Can lead these souls also out of error. 

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of those who neither know nor follow the Truth of Jesus, who have squandered Your blessings and misused Your graces by obstinately persisting in their errors.  Do not look upon their errors, but upon the love of Your own Son and upon His bitter Passion, which He underwent for their sake, since they, too, are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus.  Bring it about that they also may glorify Your great mercy for endless ages.  Amen.

Postscript

All we need to do for the Divine Mercy Indulgence is 

Go Confession (20 days before and up to 20 days after the Divine Mercy Sunday); 

Receive Holy Communion; 

Pray for the Intentions of the Pope;

Venerate the Image of Divine Mercy
We may receive this for ourselves or for a deceased loved one or even for a stranger. This is the Divine Mercy Indulgence.

This Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church grants a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions to the faithful who:

Go to sacramental Confession (within 20 days before or after Divine Mercy Sunday),

Receive Holy Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday itself,

Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, and

Take part in devotions in honor of Divine Mercy, such as: Venerating the Divine Mercy image, Praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in a church or chapel, or participating in public devotions to the Divine Mercy.

When done with complete detachment from all sin, even venial sin, the indulgence is plenary—meaning it removes all temporal punishment due to sin, in addition to the forgiveness of guilt already given in confession.

In this way you will obtain the Divine Mercy Indulgence - the complete forgiveness and punishment due to sin

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