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DIVINE MERCY: Sioux City to host conference

By Father LeRoy Seuntjens
           
I wrote this on Sunday, July 25, after watching 10,000 people on bicycles dip their back tires into the Missouri River to begin the RAGBRAI trek across Iowa to dip their front tires into the waters of the Mississippi River. I am reminded that in exactly two months, on Sept. 25 there will be a Conference of Divine Mercy when over 1,000 Catholics will convene in the Sioux City Convention Center to listen to four speakers from across the nation tell us of this marvelous gift of God for our day, to pray and deepen our understanding and devotion to divine mercy.

In the waning years of the last century, also the last of the second millennium, Pope John Paul II desired to lead mankind into the new millennium with renewed spirituality.

He chose to canonize St. Faustina Kowalska, a simple Polish Sister of Mercy, as the first saint of the new millennium on April 30, 2000. She is called the Secretary of the Lord as she recorded the message which Jesus and Mary wanted the world to know about God’s greatest attribute, his divine mercy, as well as her mystical experiences and reflections on mercy. Although having only three years of formal education, she penned a 600 page diary titled “Divine Mercy in My Soul.”

A first class relic consisting of a chip of bone from this saint’s wrist is in the Divine Mercy Chapel at Trinity Heights. She was told by the Lord shortly before the start of World War II, “I am sending you with y mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to my merciful heart. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to my merciful heart and I will fill it with peace” (Diary #1074). “Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to my mercy” (Diary #300).

St. Faustina died on Oct. 5, 1938, but message and devotion rapidly spread throughout Poland behind the Iron Curtain. A Polish priest refugee who fled to the United States brought the devotion to this country and it has since spread and grown even more popular.

During the canonization homily, Pope John Paul II called St. Faustina “a saint for our day” and the Divine Mercy devotion a “devotion for our time.” We invite and hope that many people from the Diocese of Sioux City will join us for an experience that many travel far to attend. We will deepen knowledge and appreciation for Divine Mercy, pray and open our hearts to the “oceans of mercy” that God has for sinners. The promises of Jesus as recorded by St. Faustina about the power of this devotion will enrich all – much more enriching and lasting than the economic enrichment provided by 10,000 bikers this past weekend. Plan now to attend and register by calling Queen of Peace or going online for a form.