Fr. Wade Menezes on EWTN Open Line Tuesday 2022-04-19
Extraordinary Grace on Divine Mercy Sunday
Alistair’s comments: You all know about the Thief on the Cross. Jesus told him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” That means the Thief did not go to purgatory but went straight to Heaven.
So the question is, can we be like the Thief on the Cross? Can we bypass Purgatory and go straight to Heaven? Yes, we can, and that is what Divine Mercy Sunday is about.
When you violate one of the Ten Commandments, you have committed a mortal sin. Every mortal sin results in two punishments: Eternal punishment, which is Hell, and temporal punishment, which is penance for the pain and suffering you have caused here on earth.
When the priest gives you a penance after confession, it is for the temporal suffering you have caused on earth, not for the eternal punishment, which is Hell. When Christ hung on the cross, He paid the price for the eternal punishment so you don’t have to go to Hell. But you still have to pay a price for the pain and suffering you have caused here on earth. And the penance you get during confession is a reminder that you make amends on earth.
Here’s an example. In England a long time ago a Knight violated a young woman. He went to confession and was forgiven but he still had to make up for the pain and suffering he caused her. So he was told to go fight in the Crusades, which was a war between Christians and Muslims that occurred a thousand years ago. If he had died before he could join the Crusades, he would have had to spend time in purgatory.
So as you go through life, you end up accumulating temporal punishment. The Church has always said you can pay the price for this temporal punishment by using an indulgence.
What is an indulgence? When Christ hung on the Cross, He not only paid the price so you don’t have to Hell, He also paid the price so you don’t have to go to Purgatory. His sufferings to avoid Purgatory went into what is called the Treasury of Merit. The way you avoid Hell is to go to Confession. The way you avoid purgatory is to dip into the Treasury of Merit using an indulgence.
There are two types of indulgences: plenary and partial.
With a plenary indulgence you will bypass purgatory and go straight to heaven, a partial indulgence will reduce your suffering in purgatory.
In order to get a plenary indulgence you must be free of any attachment to sin, even venial sin. Ask yourself, are you Mother Teresa? Ask yourself, do you gossip? Do you eat too much, do you drink too much? If the answer is yes, you will get a partial indulgence instead of a plenary indulgence. So you will get a remission of punishment, but not a full remission of punishment.
It is advised that, whether you get a plenary indulgence or a partial indulgence, you pass it to a soul in purgatory. If a loved one has died recently and is in purgatory, a plenary indulgence will release him from purgatory. A partial indulgence will reduce the suffering he is undergoing.
How did Divine Mercy Sunday start? In 1931, and many years after, Jesus appeared to Sister Faustina in a convent in Poland and spoke to her of Divine Mercy. The Church investigated the apparitions and in the year 2000, seventy years later, it said that henceforth the Sunday after Easter Sunday would be Divine Mercy Sunday.
What is the advantage of Divine Mercy Sunday? It gives two graces: one is known as “Extraordinary Grace” and the other is a plenary indulgence.
On Divine Mercy Sunday, and only on Divine Mercy Sunday, you can say some prayers (see below) and, even if you have an attachment to gossip, to too much food, to too much alcohol, you will get a complete remission of the temporal punishment that is due to you. On any other day you must be free of any attachment to sin but only on Divine Mercy Sunday will you get a plenary indulgence even if you have an attachment to sin. You must also be in a state of grace. If you have committed a mortal sin you are not in a state of grace. So you must go to confession and then go to communion on Divine Mercy Sunday. The confession can be 20 days before Divine Mercy Sunday or 20 days after. The grace you will get is called “Extraordinary Grace” and you can only apply it to yourself, you cannot pass it on to a soul in purgatory.
Besides the “Extraordinary Grace”, you will also get a plenary indulgence and it is recommended that you pass the plenary indulgence on to the soul of a loved one in purgatory. If the loved one has gone to heaven, God will apply the plenary indulgence to a soul in purgatory who has no one to pray for them. It was revealed to Sister Faustina that Mary appeared to the souls in purgatory and comforted those who had no one to pray for them.
Since Jesus appeared to Sister Faustina, she knew what He looked like, so they asked her to describe Jesus’ appearance to a painter. You may have seen this painting. Jesus then told her to add “Jesus, I trust in you” to the bottom of the picture.
These are the prayers you have to pray on Divine Mercy Sunday after Mass or anytime during the day:
The Our Father
Apostles Creed (I believe in God the Father . . . )
Say a prayer for the Pope (perhaps a Hail Mary)
Add an invocation such as “Merciful Jesus, I trust in You”
Additional reading Matthew 5:26 and Matthew 18:21
The above comments are background to Fr. Wade Menezes’ commentary below.