For centuries in the liturgy, the Church has proclaimed the mercy of God through the Word of God and the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. The tables of Word and Sacrament are heaped with the promises of Divine Mercy and its grand effect in the lives of millions. It is this great blessing of mercy received that must be shared, must be proclaimed, must be given away to other sinners that they might come to know and experience the love of the Risen Lord.
Pope John Paul II shared, proclaimed, and gave away to sinners the beautiful gift of Divine Mercy. Our Holy Father's second encyclical to the Church examined some of the “major anxieties of our time” and said that God’s mercy is what is needed in the world “at this hour of history.” In the year 2000 at the canonization of St. Faustina Pope John Paul proclaimed to the world that the second Sunday of Easter will be called Divine Mercy Sunday. Some 70 years ago St. Faustina was directed to paint this particular image. The icon depicts the Risen Lord with red and white rays coming forth from His heart symbolizing the sacramental life in the Church, showing to us His Mercy, it simply says: Jesus, I trust in You. 
Finally, in an amazing story of mercy captured on the cover of Time Magazine in January 1984 is a picture of Pope John Paul and his would be assassin with the title - Why Forgive? Our Holy Father put the message of Mercy into practice when he embraced his enemy and pardoned him. What joy there is in our Church this day that this lover of Divine Mercy would take a step closer to sainthood by being declared in the city of Rome -
Blessed John Paul.
Let us be like Blessed John Paul and share the Divine Mercy of God with all thepeople that we meet each and every day.
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