WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - There has been so much confusion and discussion about Divine Mercy Sunday and how it all relates to Easter and it is about time that all of the misunderstandings get cleared up quickly.

Though it started out from a revelation that was made by Jesus to Saint Faustina, it is now an official feast in the Catholic Church. Divine Mercy Sunday is not to be considered part of a private devotion. There are still some things that are considered devotional that are associated with “Divine Mercy”, like the Chaplet and the Novena, but these devotionals should not be confused with what the Church has set in place for the observance of Divine Mercy Sunday.

Many have added to the confusion by suggesting that priests must provide special devotional services for Divine Mercy Sunday. This had caused many priests to shy away. Mercy Sunday is not a “party for devotees”, but it is in all truthfulness an astonishing “refuge for sinners.” It is an outstanding, timely gift from God. Make no doubt about it, the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit has fulfilled every request that Jesus made, but only because it had seen the hand of God.

The Church has not added anything new by naming this new feast, but just sort of re-energized what was always celebrated as a great feast in the early Church. Over the years, the Church had lost some of the fervor for the Octave of Easter. Octaves have always been associated with the celebration of great feasts. Some of the Jewish feasts in the Old Testament, such as the Feast of Tabernacles, were celebrated for a full 8 days and the very last day was always the greatest one.

The Gospel of John recalls the observance of the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles in the 7th chapter (John 7:37-39) and Saint John calls it the greatest day: “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me; let him drink who believes in Me. Scripture has it: ‘From within him rivers of living water shall flow’”. It is important that every word in these passages is taken to heart and analyzed very thoroughly.

The first day of an octave and the last day are considered as the same day, in fact, every day in between the first and last are part of the feast. Just look at the days of the week between Easter and the Octave of Easter: from Monday thru Saturday, they are all called “Easter” and each and every one of these days is the highest form of celebration called a solemnity. On each of those days, the Gloria and the Creed are recited, just like on Sundays. Each is considered a Sunday.

Don’t forget that the Gospel that has always been read on that Octave Sunday after Easter (John 20:19-31) covers the time from the evening of the Resurrection up until the following Sunday, an eight day octave. The first part of that Gospel narrates Jesus bestowing on the Apostles the power to forgive sins by breathing on them and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” The second part of that Gospel is what happens on the very next Sunday, the octave, when Thomas finally sees Jesus in that same Upper Room as the rest of the Apostles had seen Him, just that very Sunday before.

Now recall the words of Jesus on the last and greatest (octave) day of that Feast of Tabernacles, “let him drink who (believes) in Me….” Now what did Jesus say to St. Thomas? “Blessed are those who have not seen and have (believed)”. Souls must believe to be blessed. The complete scenario of these two events has very great meaning. The Lord is showing us the importance of (believing) and trusting in Him in order to receive His (blessings) or, in other words, His grace.

He is also showing us the great importance of octaves. It was no accident that Saint Thomas wasn’t present on that first Easter. That scenario was ordained by God to get us to understand the importance of trusting (believing) in Jesus in order to obtain grace. It was also ordained by God that the very first act that Jesus performed after His Resurrection was none other than the institution of the sacrament of Confession. These two events play a crucial role in salvation.

On Easter Sunday, and all throughout the week, we celebrate the creation of grace that Jesus has obtained for us by His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. On the following Sunday, the Octave of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) we celebrate the fulfillment of what Easter is all about and we receive a big outpouring of a whole ocean of graces. The obtainment of these graces is brought about by trusting in Jesus and by approaching His ministers and going to Confession.

Mercy Sunday is really designed to get souls back to the practice of their faith. That is why the Catholic Church has attached a special plenary indulgence to this ...