Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, a day on which Jesus has promised to open the floodgates of his mercy. In order to receive the graces he has promised, we are to make a good Confession and receive Holy Communion. But that poses a problem for most American Catholics, as public masses have been suspended across the country.
The promise is “the complete wiping your slate clean of everything you’ve ever done, not only your sins but all the punishment that you are owed due to your sin,” explains Fr. Chris Alar of the Fathers of Mercy. That’s a huge deal! But how can we partake if we aren’t able to receive the sacraments during the COVID-19 pandemic?
You might have access to Confession in your diocese, but if not, Fr. Alar says you still can go to Confession by making an Act of Contrition. Catechism 1451-1452 says, “Contrition is ‘sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again.’ When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called ‘perfect’. Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.”
So, in order to prepare for this great feast of Divine Mercy and the graces available to us on this day, you should either go to Confession and receive Holy Communion, or if the sacraments are unavailable to you this year, make a good Act of Contrition and a Spiritual Communion (find both prayers on the Relevant Radio app!).
Did you know that the Divine Mercy Chaplet was once called the Corona of Mercy? In the 1940s, the prayer we know today was referred to by the name corona, the Latin word for crown. What a strange and beautiful connection that reminds us it’s more crucial than ever to invoke this powerful prayer against the Coronavirus pandemic.
“Only Jesus, Christ the King, wears the true crown. The problem is we have been making gods out of everything else in our modern world: money, sports, entertainment. And right now, God is taking those things temporarily away. The money—stock market crashing, economy crashing—it’s fickle; it’s not eternal. Sports—they’re being cancelled. Entertainment—restaurants and bars and theatres are being closed down,” said Fr. Chris Alar.
Only Christ. Only he is the true crown in our lives. Let’s turn to his mercy today and every day, offering up our prayers, works, joys, and sufferings and uniting them to his cross. Jesus, we trust in you.
Tune in to Relevant Radio® at 3pm CT on Divine Mercy Sunday—Sunday, April 19—for a very special broadcast. Fr. Rocky and Drew Mariani will lead adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, a reflection on Divine Mercy, and will pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Watch the video broadcast here.
The Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayed daily at 3pm CT on The Drew Mariani ShowTM on Relevant Radio.
