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An Interview
with Robert Stackpole
author of Divine Mercy: A Guide from
Genesis to Benedict XVI
Click
here to read “A Parable of Mercy,”
an excerpt from this title by Robert Stackpole, S.T.D.
Lay
Witness: Your broad historical
overview of the theme of Divine Mercy goes far beyond the
increasingly popular “devotion” to the Divine
Mercy associated with St. Faustina. Why did you decide to
write a book like this?
Robert
Stackpole: I wanted to write this book to show that
the Divine Mercy devotion is not so much about our devotion
to God; rather, it is primarily about His devotion
to us! It is about the story of His amazing, merciful
love for the human race: the message of that love proclaimed
in the Bible and pondered and put into practice by the greatest
saints of the Church.
In addition, I
wanted to show that this message of Divine Mercy is something
the Church has been unfolding and developing from age to age,
deepening our understanding and appreciation of this central
mystery of our faith. We are now the beneficiaries of all
these centuries of reflection by popes, scholars, and saints
alike.
LW:
You chose to highlight the thought of a number of
saints (and blesseds). Why these in particular? What does
this tell us about the development of Divine Mercy?
RS:
I chose these particular saints in part because they
are the ones who explicitly emphasized the message of God’s
merciful love in their writings—but also to show that
the message of Divine Mercy has permeated every age and many
Catholic nations and cultures. It is our common Catholic inheritance—not
just an idiosyncrasy of Poland or of St. Faustina.
LW:
What is the significance of the World Apostolic Congress on
Mercy this April? (Readers can visit www.worldapostoliccongressonmercy.org
to learn more about this event.)
RS:
The Congress will be the first time that the Universal
Church has gathered itself together (directly under the shepherding
of the Pope and the bishops) both to study together and to
celebrate this central mystery of our faith. It shows that
Divine Mercy is not just another “private devotion”
for those who happen to like that sort of thing. Rather, the
message of Divine Mercy is alive and well at the heart of
the life of the Church.
LW:
How is the message of Divine Mercy an antidote to the despair
evident in much of secular society?
RS:
The despair evident in our society today is the inevitable
result of the choice that Western, civilized peoples made
(from the time of the French Revolution onward) to try to
understand the universe, solve the world’s problems,
and build a humane social order without reference to Jesus
Christ. That whole program (the so-called “Enlightenment”
program) has led to the mess we are in now. Humanly speaking,
if all we have is our own human resources to draw upon, everyone
knows in their heart of hearts that our situation is hopeless.
Pope John Paul II summed up the only possible solution to
it in his homily at the beatification of Sister Faustina back
in 1993: “The balance of this century, which is now
ending . . . presents a deep restlessness and fear of the
future. Where, if not in the Divine Mercy, can the world find
refuge and the light of hope? Believers understand that perfectly.”
To
learn more about the Divine Mercy message from the Marians
of the Immaculate Conception, visit www.thedivinemercy.org.
To order Divine Mercy: A Guide from Genesis to Benedict
XVI, visit www.marian.org/giftshop.
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