POPE LEO XIV
Subscribe to our free daily newsletter
St. John Paul II was passionate about the Divine Mercy message that was communicated to St. Faustina over 90 years ago. It was not a new message, but a confirmation of God's loving care for all humanity.
The Polish pontiff spoke about it on a number of occasions, always stressing the importance of receiving God's Divine Mercy into our hearts.
The fire of Divine Mercy
In particular, he spoke about it during an apostolic visit to Poland in 2002 when he dedicated a shrine of Divine Mercy:
I do so with the burning desire that the message of God’s merciful love, proclaimed here through Saint Faustina, may be made known to all the peoples of the earth and fill their hearts with hope. May this message radiate from this place to our beloved homeland and throughout the world. May the binding promise of the Lord Jesus be fulfilled: from here there must go forth "the spark which will prepare the world for his final coming" (cf. Diary, 1732).
He then goes on to exhort, "This spark needs to be lighted by the grace of God. This fire of mercy needs to be passed on to the world. In the mercy of God the world will find peace and mankind will find happiness!"
In other words, he wants this "fire" of Divine Mercy to spread with great zeal and intensity.
Be witnesses
One particular role he saw as essential to the spreading of this message is to, "be witnesses to mercy!"
St. John Paul II wrote an entire encyclical about this role of the Church in Dives in Misericordia.
In it he stresses the need to proclaim God's mercy to others:
Authentic knowledge of the God of mercy, the God of tender love, is a constant and inexhaustible source of conversion, not only as a momentary interior act but also as a permanent attitude, as a state of mind. Those who come to know God in this way, who "see" Him in this way, can live only in a state of being continually converted to Him.
Our entire lives can change if we view God as a God of mercy, rather than an angry god who throws lightning bolts down upon us all.
How to communicate mercy
God is not an angry tyrant, but a loving and merciful Father.
Furthermore, we can communicate God's mercy by the way we act. This means acting in a merciful way, balancing the need to uphold justice, but also transmit mercy to those who have wronged us.
We can play our part in spreading the fire of Divine Mercy around the world, helping others see and feel the warmth of God's love.
