The happiest day of my life

Posted by Adrienne

Take just a moment.  Scan through your memories.  What would you say is the happiest day of your life? 

Your graduation from college?  The day you were married?  The birth of your first child?  An important promotion at work?  So many grace-filled moments to look back on!

Now, imagine how the question would be answered by…Pope John Paul II. 

You might think it’s the day he became a priest, or perhaps the day World War II ended or probably the day he became Pope.

Nope. None of the above.

The happiest day of his life was April 20, 2000 when he canonized Sister Faustina, the first saint of the new millennium, and declared the Second Sunday of Easter from then on as the Feast of Divine Mercy Sunday.  When the Pope passed away in 2005, it was on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday.  And on Divine Mercy Sunday 2011, John Paul II will be Beatified. 

Wow, makes you want to know a little bit more about Divine Mercy, huh?

I have to admit that although I had heard of Divine Mercy, until recently, I really hadn’t taken the time to understand this wonderful devotion.   What a blessing for me to have learned more through my friend, Marian Frentz.

Marian is the director of the Taste Catholic women's program and each week brings the most wonderful priests to speak and share their faith.  Marian hosted Father Michael Gaitley of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary who shared his personal experience with the Divine Mercy of Jesus Christ.

Father Michael is a young priest who prayed to Jesus for a ‘super abundance’ of grace in order to respond to his priestly vocation.  While still in college, Father Michael prayed the Divine Mercy novena between Good Friday and Divine Mercy Sunday and was amazed and thankful when his own father returned to the Catholic church. 

The ‘super abundance’ of grace that Jesus gave Father Michael continues to bear fruit for many more of us.  Father Michael wrote a wonderful book about Divine Mercy called Consoling the Heart of Jesus in which he describes that our trust in Jesus is a consolation to His suffering on the cross.  Father also brought Divine Mercy to the next generation via a free iphone application that is overflowing with content – the biography of St. Faustina, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Stations of the Cross, Divine Mercy images and more. 

So the devotion that caused Pope John Paul II to have the happiest day in his life can now fit in your pocket!

I wish I had my own Divine Mercy story like Father Michael, but for now, I can offer this -   my little daughter Olivia still wakes up most nights to come into our room saying ‘Mommy, I wanna sleep wif you’.  I used to look at the clock and think, arrgh, its 3 o’clock in the morning!  After learning about Divine Mercy and how 3 o’clock (in the afternoon) is known as the ‘hour of mercy’ of Christ’s death, I now hear Olivia and think about Divine Mercy and think ‘for whom does Jesus want me to pray?’ 

A friend, Roxanna, gave me her copy of The Chaplet Of Divine Mercy In Song; the tune is very peaceful and also very easy to get stuck in your head!  As Olivia settles into the pile of pillows and blankets on the floor next to our bed, I can hear the Chaplet playing in my head as I pray myself back to sleep, trusting in Jesus.

"There is nothing that man needs more than Divine Mercy." 

Pope John Paul II

"Devotion to Divine Mercy is not a secondary devotion,

but an integral dimension of a Christian’s faith and prayer." 

Pope Benedict XVI

photo credits:  Father Gaitley by Marians.org, sleeping child (who actually does look like Olivia) by My Aim is True