Parishioners and guests celebrated the Feast of Divine Mercy at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Homewood on April 12 during a Holy Hour with Father Kevin Bazzel, parish administrator, and Parochial Vicar Father Manoj Karippai Urmese. The 3 p.m. prayer service included a Eucharistic procession and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, a homily, hymns, prayers from St. Faustina Kowalska’s diary including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and Benediction. In his homily, Father Bazzel said it was a great privilege to gather to thank God for His greatest attribute: mercy. He said that while there may be war and chaos on a global scale, each person can make God’s mercy known by living forgiveness in daily life. He urged everyone to plant the seeds of mercy that can spread because the Lord is still in the world – not symbolically but actually and substantially.

Worshippers also had the chance to privately pray before the Divine Mercy image and three relics of St. Faustina. The holy hour ended with congregants adding fresh flowers to a cross framing the image of Divine Mercy outside as a witness to the community.

In 1931, Jesus appeared to Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun who kept a diary of her revelations. In one, Jesus appeared in a white garment with His right hand raised in blessing, His left hand near His heart, and two rays, one red, and one white, coming from His heart. The red ray represents blood, and the white ray represents water. St. Faustina said Our Lord told her to have the image painted for veneration. The words “Jesus, I trust in You” were to be part of the painting.

St. Faustina was canonized, and Divine Mercy Sunday was instituted, in 2000 by Pope St. John Paul II. The parish has observed Divine Mercy Sunday since 1997.