Guest post by: Franci Revel Eckensberger

As often as you hear the clock strike the third hour, immerse yourself completely in My mercy, adoring and glorifying it; invoke its omnipotence for the whole world, and particularly for poor sinners; for at that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul. In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking; it was the hour of grace for the whole world — mercy triumphed over justice. (Diary of Faustina Kowalska, 1572)

After the Easter Octave, the Alleluias linger in our hearts. The Gospel draws our gaze once again to Christ—not only risen but wounded, and showing His wounds to His disciples. The marks of the Passion remain visible and integral to how He is known in His victory, His love, and His Mercy. The suffering that precedes the Resurrection is made radiant in His form.

Jesus as Divine Mercy

At the heart of the devotion entrusted to Faustina Kowalska and later instituted on Divine Mercy Sunday by Pope John Paul II, a gift to the Church at large, is the visceral image of this transformation—rays that stream from His heart, glowing pale and red, flowing from the place where His side was pierced as described in the Gospel of John. We understand these streams as the water of baptism and the Blood of the Eucharist, the sacramental life of the Church made visible in this outpouring from Our Lord.

As we exit the Easter Octave, we seek to carry the devotion to Jesus’ Mercy that we find on Divine Mercy Sunday through the Easter Season with greater care and deeper intention. One way we can do this is to renew our commitment to the sacraments we frequent most: to approach Confession as an opportunity to place our wounds in the hands of Him who was most wounded, and to receive the Eucharist with attentive appreciation and gratitude for His great sacrifice. 

Returning Daily to the Wounds of Christ

The tradition of the Hour of Mercy draws us back to that same sacrifice each day at three o’clock. We can use it as an opportunity to pause, remember, and turn our hearts to Him. We can train our attention and orient our day around this sacrifice throughout the Easter season, living in a way that leaves us open to being changed by Him in real time. And we can look to St. Gemma Galgani as a model, who returned again and again to the wounds of Christ, writing, I am the fruit of your passion, Jesus, born of your wounds. In return He said to Her:

My daughter, behold these wounds. They have all been opened for your sins. But now, be consoled, for they have all been closed by your sorrow. Do not offend Me any more. Love Me as I have always loved you.

Like Gemma, we are called to be close to Jesus in His sacrifice, to inhabit the depths of His wounds in order to know His mercy. 

Trusting Mercy in the Darkness

For the days during this season when we may lose our footing, when trust in Christ’s absolute love and mercy is a choice made in the dark, we can take heart in remembering that this is the terrain that the devotion of Divine Mercy is made for. When we declare “Jesus, I trust in You,” we do not declare certainty that we will be consoled or that we know He will grant our wishes. We declare instead that we will orient our will toward His.

Christ promises His mercy without a prerequisite of our adequacy. The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy, Faustina records Christ telling her. Mercy flows toward those of us most in need of Him. Be not afraid—step closer to the image and trust with the joy that is gifted to us in the Resurrection, a joy not governed by mood or circumstance.

Meeting Christ at Three O’Clock

The Hour of Mercy requires only our attention, what Simone Weil calls the highest form of love. It asks us to remember the moment that changed everything. Can we sit with it awhile every day this Easter season? Meet Him at three in the Adoration chapel, in a brief private prayer. Or devote yourself to the Divine Mercy Chaplet, prayed on ordinary rosary beads and taking perhaps fifteen minutes.

When we meet Christ in the middle of our day, it can shape everything that happens in the latter half—let’s let this meeting shape us in His image, our behavior and our perspective. We can be curious about what He wants for us, and let Him lead the way to inhabiting His wounds. May the Divine Mercy of Our Lord be felt by you throughout this Easter season.

About Our Guest Blogger

Franci Revel Eckensberger is Lead Editor of Paloma & Fig, a Catholic creative and communications agency that brings the beauty of our faith to modern media. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from Cornell University and a BA in Literature from Bennington College. She lives in Delaware with her husband and daughter. To learn more about Paloma & Fig and their new magazine, Resona, visit https://palomaandfig.com/submit.