Sunday Reflection – 19 April – Low Sunday the Octave Day of Easter and the 20th Divine Mercy Sunday
The Blessed Sacrament is the Throne of Mercy, Jesus told Sister Faustina.
“O Blessed Host,
in Whom is contained the fountain of living water
which springs from infinite mercy for us
and especially for poor sinners.”
St Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938)
The Eucharist is central to devotion to The Divine Mercy and many of the elements of the devotion are essentially Eucharistic–especially the image, the chaplet and the Feast of Mercy. The image, with its red and pale rays, presents the Eucharistic Lord Jesus, whose Heart has been pierced and now pours forth blood and water as a fountain of mercy for us. It is the image of God’s sacrificial gift of mercy made present in every Mass.
Several times in her Diary, Blessed Faustina writes of seeing the red and pale rays coming, not from the image but from the Sacred Host and once, as the Priest exposed the Blessed Sacrament, she saw the rays from the image pierce the Host and spread out from it all over the world (see 441). So too, with the eyes of faith, we should see in every Host the merciful Saviour pouring Himself out as a fountain of mercy for us.
The concept of the Eucharist as a fountain of grace and mercy is not only found in the Diary but also in Church teaching . The Church clearly teaches that all the other Sacraments are directed towards the Eucharist and draw their power from it.
In the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (#10), for example, we read: “Especially from the Eucharist, grace is poured forth upon us as from a fountain.” And, in a note in the Catechism of the Council of Trent, pastors are urged to “compare the Eucharist to a fountain and the other Sacraments to rivulets. For the Holy Eucharist is truly and necessarily the fountain of all graces, containing, as it does, after an admirable manner, the fountain itself of celestial gifts and graces, the Author of all the Sacraments, Christ our Lord, from whom, as from its source, is derived whatever of goodness and perfection the other Sacraments possess.”
No wonder, then, that Saint Faustina was so devoted to the Eucharist and wrote so powerfully about it in her Diary:
“O what awesome mysteries take place during Mass! … One day we will know what God is doing for us in each Mass and what sort of gift He is preparing in it for us. Only His divine love could permit that such a gift be provided for us … this fountain of life gushing forth with such sweetness and power” (914) …
“All the good that is in me is due to Holy Communion (1392) … Herein lies the whole secret of my sanctity (1489) … one thing alone sustains me and that is Holy Communion. From it I draw all my strength, in it is all my comfort … Jesus concealed in the Host, is everything to me … I would not know how to give glory to God, if I did not have the Eucharist in my heart” (1037) …
“O living Host, my one and only strength, fountain of love and mercy, embrace the whole world, fortify faint souls. Oh, blessed be the instant and the moment when Jesus left us His most merciful Heart!” (223).
(From the booklet “The Divine Mercy Message and Devotion”, by Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC and Vinny Flynn)
Let us Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet today,
for the OPENING OF OUR CHURCHES AND THE RETURN OF DAILY MASS!
AnaStpaul 