willing to hear their confessions (within several days, about 20, before or after the feast). On Divine Mercy Sunday, after celebrating Masses, they should all lead the recitation of the prayers for the indulgences, which are the Our Father, Apostles Creed, a prayer for the Pope (that could be a Hail Mary) and also add a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus, such as "Merciful Jesus, I trust in you!"

It is important that we pay attention to the words in that decree, particularly to the words "in the most suitable manner" as pertains to telling everyone about the plenary indulgence. What good would it do, to wait until Mercy Sunday to get the word out? The whole idea is to get the word out to everyone before, especially to all of the Easter-only and Fallen-away Catholics that are in mortal sin. There are many reasons why Jesus wanted this Feast of Mercy on the Sunday after Easter, and getting the Easter-only Catholics back must be a primary one. How else can we get these people back? The promise of the total forgiveness of sins and punishment is an enticement of major proportions and we should get serious about preaching about this on Easter while we have them sitting there right under our noses. We can´t let them perish into Hell for eternity!

The Easter-only and Fallen-away Catholics may be acting like everything is fine, but deep within; they do not have peace or any hope. Only through reconciliation with the Lord, will they find that peace and hope. Jesus has given us everything that we need in this feast to make it all better. He has given us this tremendous promise of the total forgiveness of sins and punishment and He has given us His image, not only to get us to approach the confessional with trust, but also to give us great hope for the future. What could give us more hope, than a direct pass straight to Heaven?

What should we do? Follow the Lord´s instruction. Get a Divine Mercy image installed in your parish. Tell everyone about Divine Mercy Sunday, especially all of the Easter-only Catholics. Put articles in the newspaper to reach all of the other Luke-warm and Fallen-away Catholics. Do everything that you possibly can, including on radio and TV. Don´t let anyone perish into Hell for eternity. Jesus did tell Saint Faustina that the loss of each soul plunges Him into mortal sadness.

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 R. Allard, Director, Apostles of Divine Mercy, has been promoting the celebration of Mercy Sunday since 1996. He has recently appeared on EWTN TV and Radio, has given many talks and has arranged conferences and retreats for bishops, priests, and seminarians.