Divine Mercy Sunday
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Papal Homilies
Pope Francis
March 13, 2013 – Present
APRIL 28, 2021
Peace, Joy, and Apostolic Mission
Jesus appears to his disciples … bearing three gifts: peace, joy, the apostolic mission.
The first words he says are: “Peace be with you” (v. 21). The Risen One brings authentic peace, because through his sacrifice on the Cross he achieved reconciliation between God and humanity, and he conquered sin and death… Touch Jesus’ wounds. Mercy flows from those wounds. That is why today is the Sunday of Mercy. A saint used to say that Jesus’ crucified body is like a bundle of mercy, which reaches each of us through his wounds. All of us need mercy, as we know. Let us draw near to Jesus and touch his wounds in our suffering brothers and sisters…
The second gift that the Risen Jesus brings to his disciples is joy. The evangelist recounts that “the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord” (v. 20)…
Jesus also brings the gift of mission to the disciples. He says to them: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (v. 21). Jesus’ Resurrection is the beginning of a new dynamism of love, capable of transforming the world with the presence of the Holy Spirit…
SOURCE: The Holy See Archive at the Vatican Website © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
APRIL 3, 2016
Pray for Peace in Ukraine
For those who remain in lands shocked by the hostilities which have already caused thousands of deaths
On this day, which is like the heart of the Holy Year of Mercy, my thought goes to all the populations who thirst for reconciliation and peace. I think in particular, here in Europe, of the tragedy of those who are suffering the consequences of violence in Ukraine: of those who remain in lands shocked by the hostilities which have already caused thousands of deaths, and of those — over a million — forced to flee from the grave situation which is ongoing. It involves above all elderly people and children.
Besides accompanying them with my constant thoughts and with my prayers, I have decided to promote humanitarian support in their favour. For this purpose, a special collection will be taken up in all Catholic Churches in Europe on Sunday, 24 April. I invite the faithful to join in this initiative with a generous contribution. This act of charity, in addition to alleviating material suffering, seeks to express my personal closeness and solidarity and that of the entire Church. I sincerely hope that it may help to promote, without further delay, peace and respect for law in that land so afflicted.
SOURCE: The Holy See Archive at the Vatican Website © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
April 7, 2017
The Beatitude of Faith
Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed
Jesus said: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (v. 29); and who were those who believed without seeing? Other disciples, other men and women of Jerusalem, who, on the testimony of the Apostles and the women, believed, even though they had not met the Risen Jesus. This is a very important word about faith, we can call it the beatitude of faith. Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed: this is the beatitude of faith! In every epoch and in every place blessed are those who, on the strength of the word of God proclaimed in the Church and witnessed by Christians, believe that Jesus Christ is the love of God incarnate, Mercy incarnate. And this applies for each one of us!
SOURCE: The Holy See Archive at the Vatican Website © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Divine Mercy Sunday
Pope Benedict XVI
April 19, 2005 – February 28, 2013
April 11, 2010
In Albis
The white vestments the neophytes put on for their Baptism on Easter night and took off eight days later
This Sunday concludes the Octave of Easter. It is a unique day “made by the Lord”, distinguished by the outstanding event of the Resurrection and the joy of the disciples at seeing Jesus. Since antiquity this Sunday has been called in albis from the Latin name, alba, which was given to the white vestments the neophytes put on for their Baptism on Easter night and took off eight days later, that is, today. Venerable John Paul II entitled this same Sunday “Divine Mercy Sunday” on the occasion of the canonization of Sr Mary Faustina Kowalska on 30 April 2000.
SOURCE: The Holy See Archive at the Vatican Website © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
April 15, 2007
The First Fruits of a New Humanity
This world renewal can be summed up in a single phrase… “Peace be with you!”
The Creator Spirit, infusing new and eternal life in the buried body of Jesus of Nazareth, carried to completion the work of creation, giving origin to a “firstfruits”: the firstfruits of a new humanity, which at the same time is a firstfruits of a new world and a new era.
This world renewal can be summed up in a single phrase, the same one that the Risen Jesus spoke to his disciples as a greeting and even more, as an announcement of his victory: “Peace be with you!” (Lk 24: 36; Jn 20: 19, 21, 26).
Peace is the gift that Christ left his friends (cf. Jn 14: 27) as a blessing destined for all men and women and all peoples. It is not a peace according to a “worldly” mentality, as an equilibrium of forces, but a new reality, fruit of God’s Love, of his Mercy. It is the peace that Jesus Christ earned by the price of his Blood and communicates to those who trust in him.
“Jesus, I trust in you”: these words summarize the faith of the Christian, which is faith in the omnipotence of God’s merciful Love.
Divine Mercy Sunday
Pope Saint John Paul II
October 16, 1978 – April 2, 2005
April 18, 2004
Perfect Manifestation of Divine Mercy
Jesus is our peace, because he is the perfect manifestation of Divine Mercy. .
“This same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord . . . throughout every generation” (cf. Ex 12:42). Peace is the gift par excellence of the crucified and Risen Christ, the result of the victory of his love over sin and death. In offering himself as an immaculate victim of expiation on the altar of the Cross, he poured out on humanity the beneficial flow of Divine Mercy. Jesus, therefore, is our peace, because he is the perfect manifestation of Divine Mercy. In the human heart, which is an abyss always exposed to the temptation of evil, he infuses God’s merciful love.
Today, the Second Sunday of Easter, we are celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday. The Lord is also sending us out to bring to everyone his peace, which is founded on pardon and the forgiveness of sins. This is an extraordinary gift, which he desired to link with the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. How deeply humanity needs to experience the effectiveness of God’s mercy in these times marked by growing uncertainty and violent conflicts!
SOURCE: The Holy See Archive at the Vatican Website © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
April 22, 2001
Mater Misericordiae
Mary is “Mother of mercy”, because she is the Mother of Jesus in whom God revealed to the world his “heart” overflowing with love.
God’s compassion for man is communicated to the world precisely through the Virgin Mary’s motherhood. Mary’s motherhood, which began in Nazareth through the work of the Holy Spirit, was fulfilled in the Easter mystery, when she was closely associated with the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the divine Son. At the foot of the Cross Our Lady became mother of the disciples of Christ, mother of the Church and of all humanity. “Mater misericordiae”.
I greet the pilgrims who have come here from Poland, and all who have a special devotion to God’s mercy and have taken part in this Holy Mass by radio and television. In a special way I have joined in spirit the Cardinal of Kraków and the vast number of Bishops, religious and faithful who have gathered today at the Shrine of Divine Mercy in £agiewniki. During this celebration together with you I thanked God who almost a year ago granted me the grace to canonize Sr Faustina Kowalska, the chosen apostle of the merciful Christ, and to proclaim the Second Sunday of Easter as the feast of Divine Mercy for the entire Church.
SOURCE: The Holy See Archive at the Vatican Website © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
April 19, 1998
The Signs of Mercy
The Lord’s merciful love precedes and accompanies every act of evangelization
Blessed are those who open their hearts to divine mercy! The Lord’s merciful love precedes and accompanies every act of evangelization and enriches it with extraordinary fruits of conversion and spiritual renewal. In every corner of the world the way of the Christian people is marked by the constant action of divine mercy. This happened in the early communities and likewise in the Church’s later developments on the various continents. Today our attention is focused in particular on the signs of mercy which God worked and continues to work in Asia. In fact this morning’s solemn Eucharistic celebration in St Peter’s Basilica opened the Special Assembly for Asia of the Synod of Bishops.
SOURCE: The Holy See Archive at the Vatican Website © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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