Divine Mercy and other devotions

And be wary of the internet mystics

Apr 06, 2024

Good morning and happy Saturday and happy Easter. Christ is risen; he is risen indeed! Our week long solemnity of Easter continues today so I hope you are continuing to celebrate and feast in jubilation for our Lord’s sacrifice that he made for us.

Eidolon Paranormal Australia: The Stigmata: St Faustina — Pope John Paul II at the shrine of Divine Mercy in Krakow on June 7, 1997, in front of the tomb of Sr. Faustina Kowalska and the image of the Merciful Jesus.

Tomorrow is Divine Mercy Sunday. Pope St. John Paul II instituted this special Sunday in 2000 at the canonization of Sr. Faustina Kowalska. Pope St. John Paul II summed up the feast best in a homily from Divine Mercy Sunday in 2001:

Jesus said to St. Faustina one day: “Humanity will never find peace until it turns with trust to Divine Mercy.” Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ and offers to humanity.

At Mass we will hear readings from Acts 4:32-35'; Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24; 1 John 5:1-6; and John 20:19-31. You may also hear the Victimae paschali laudes read or sung but this is optional.

As a side note: No it is not just you. The calendar function for the daily readings appears to be broken on the USCCB website.

In the Liturgy of the Hours, the Psalms and Canticles from Sunday Week I will prayed tomorrow and on Tuesday we move into Psalter Week II. Monday is the Solemnity of the Annunication (it was moved because March 25 fell during Holy Week). Unlike in a normal year, however, Evening Prayer 1 is not said.

Here is a calendar for the rest of the week:

Monday, April 8 - Solemnity of the Annunication of the Lord
Thursday, April 11 - Memorial of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr (optional)
Saturday, April 13 - Memorial of Saint Martin I, Pope and Martyr (optional)

You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord;
Blessed are those who have not seen me, but still believe!

John 20:29

In the news:

As we celebrate the feast of Divine Mercy Sunday tomorrow, I wanted to share some thoughts on devotions and private revelation given that the devotion of Divine Mercy is based on private revelation to St. Faustina Kowalska.

I find that many of our brothers and sisters wrap their entire identities around one devotion or another.

Now this can be particularly laudable, I believe, if a person has chosen to devote themselves to one or two spiritualities and really focused on their spiritual benefit. This could be opposed to someone who feels the need to follow every thing that a Catholic mystic may have said.

For example, I and many other find great comfort in the Rosary; it is one of the most popular devotions of us Catholics. I would argue that, in my life, the Rosary has had some of the most benefit for me spiritually, just behind the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.

At the same time, however, I have little to no interest in the secrets of Fatima, Medjugorgie, or Divine Mercy. It isn’t to say that devotions to these revelations are bad or somehow inferior to what I prefer in any way, just that I have found what allows me speak with God more closely and I am going to devote myself to that.

I know others who are the opposite of me; they may have a great devotion to Divine Mercy or any of the other devotions that have come out of private revelation. It is one of the beautiful, rich attributes about our Church that I appreicate; there is variety available for everone to converse with our Creator.

What I caution people to stay away from is attempting to follow every single devotion.

It is sort of like those odd sports channels on cable television that show you four or five baseball games happening at once. Because your eyes are constantly switching between the different games that are happening on the screen, you aren’t really watching any of them.

A similar thing happens when you try to follow all of these devotions. If you’re doing every single one, are you really doing any of them?

With this topic, I want to talk a little on private revelation in general. As far as the approved revelations go, I accept every single one of them happened, but as I said above about the different devotions, most of them do not have a significant impact on my spirituality.

What does have an impact on my view of my brothers and sisters (though I try to always assume the best but I am in fact a sinner) is the seeming obsession with obscure, often internet popular mystics.

It is very important to keep in mind that authentic revelation is never going to be contrary to the public revelation that we have recieved and is present in scripture and the magesterium. Some of these internet mystics appear to be quite contraryian.

I can recall during the COVID-19 pandemic a surge of popularity of two supposed mystics that their local bishops had suppressed. One was a supposed revelation and gift of healing to a woman in Maryland in 2000 and the other was a Canadian priest who insisted the whole world was controlled by a Satan worshiping government.

Some decided that because these were suppressed, they must in fact be legitimate. Apperently, they don’t fully understand the reason why a bishop is call the shepherd of his flock.

Why are people attracted to these sorts of private revelations?

I, perhaps more than most people I know, am attracted to new things. They are typically shiny and often very different from whatever the previous thing was. I think many can fall into the same boat when they read about some new private revelation online (especially when it confirms whatever prior biases we already had).

Fr. Joe Krupp posted this meme on X this week which (while funny) is unfortunately the reality I see online:

The high of following doomsday mystics and others is, like any drug or sin, dangerous. In the moment, it may seem like the right thing to do; we might feel good and think that we are learning more about the “truth of the world” or whatever gnosticism that is being promoted.

It is so much safer and so much more comforting to focus on the scripture and Tradition of the Catholic Church.

That all being said, we all always need more of God’s mercy and I am glad that St. Faustina Kowalska heeded what God commanded her and wrote her diary. I know it has brought more people to a relationship with Jesus. And if you’re devoted to Divine Mercy Chaplet, keep on praying it; we always need more intercessory prayer.

St. Faustina Kowalska, pray for us!

Let me know if you agree or disagree with me in the comments or connect with me on X (@RadioHandley).

Divine Mercy and other devotions

And be wary of the internet mystics

In the news:

The United States

The Vatican

The World

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