One of the most infamous people during World War II was Rudolf Hoss. Rudolf was born in 1900 into a Catholic family in Germany and his parents desired their son would become a priest. Upon his father’s death, Rudolf decided to join the German Military. He renounced his Catholic faith and joined the Nazi party soon after hearing Adolph Hitler speak He was assigned to run the Auschwitz concentration camp which was the largest death camp in the world where millions of people lost their lives. During his command, Rudolf had an encounter with a Catholic priest that would later have a profound impact on him.
Fr.
Wladyslaw Lohn was a member of a Jesuit community who lived in Warsaw, Poland. While he
was away from his community one day the German military police arrested all the
other Jesuit priests living with him taking them to Auschwitz. When Fr. Lohn
returned to the community and found it empty, he feared the worst: that all his
friends had been taken to Auschwitz. In
solidarity with his community, he went to Auschwitz and snuck into the
concentration camp. The guards found Fr. Lohn and took him to Rudolf to decide
his fate. Rudolf was impressed by his bravery but refused to allow Fr. Lohn to
stay in the camp and sent him away unharmed.
When the war ended Rudolf was imprisoned and sentenced to death for the
merciless crimes committed under his command. In the eyes of the world, Rudolf
is certainly someone who did not deserve to receive mercy from anyone.
Today we end the Eight-day celebration of Easter with
Divine Mercy Sunday. In the Gospel we
hear of the disciples’ first encounter with Jesus after the resurrection. They
were hiding in fear for their own lives after what happened to Jesus. When Jesus
appears to them, they were probably quite afraid of seeing Him risen from the
dead. All of them except John had abandoned Jesus and they must have felt guilty
for his death. They probably expected Jesus to be angry, but he greets them with:
“Peace be with you”, offering his forgiveness with love. They really needed to hear this. Then Jesus breathes
on them saying: “Who sins you forgive
are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained”. Jesus
gives them the power to breathe new life into those who are deadened by sin.
Jesus comes to us as well extending His mercy through
the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If we
come to Jesus with contrite hearts and confess our sins to the priest, we can receive
forgiveness too. The priest in the person of Christ extends His Mercy to us by
saying, “I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Go in Peace.” We receive peace just like the disciples,
the kind of peace which only Jesus can give by forgiving our sins.
It’s fitting that on Divine Mercy Sunday we hear about Jesus giving his disciples the
power to extend His mercy. Saint John Paul II decreed in May of 2000 that the Second Sunday of Easter be known as Divine Mercy Sunday. He lived during the early 1920’s when the evils of Nazism, communism, and a deep disrespect for the dignity of life were occurring in Poland and throughout Europe. During this time, Jesus chose a humble Polish nun, St. Faustina, to receive private revelations about Divine Mercy. In these private revelations, Jesus requested that Divine Mercy Sunday be observed. As recorded in St. Faustina’s Diary Jesus tell her: “The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. … Let no soul fear to draw near to Me. … It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy. (Diary, no. 699)
Jesus also revealed the Divine Mercy image to St.
Faustina which is located in front of the altar. In the image, Jesus’ right hand is raised in a
blessing and his left touching his garment above his heart where red and white
rays emanate, with the words “Jesus, I trust in You”, inscribed below.
This
image symbolizes the blood and water that was poured out for our
salvation. Jesus requested that this image be venerated
around the world with the promise, “that the soul that will venerate this image
will not perish” (Diary, no. 48).
The prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet was also given to St. Faustina
with this promise: “Whoever will recite
it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. … Even if there was a sinner
most hardened if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy.
I desire that the whole world know My infinite mercy” (Diary, no.
687).
During Rudolf Hoss’s time in prison awaiting
execution, he experienced what human kindness was, which he would have never
expected after all he had done. He was
deeply ashamed of what he had done and finally repented stating: “I have
inflicted terrible wounds on humanity. I have caused unspeakable suffering for
the Polish people in particular. I am to pay for this with my life. May the
Lord God forgive one day what I have done.” On Good Friday Rudolf
asked to see a Catholic priest, although there were none available who spoke
German. Rudolf recalled the name of Fr. Lohn and asked the authorities to search
for him. They found him praying at the
Shrine of Divine Mercy where St. Faustina was laid to rest. He heard Rudolf’s
confession and then offered him Holy Communion the next day. Rudolf then
returned to his cell and wept. Those who witnessed his death a few days later
said that he appeared completely calm right up to the very end.
We may know someone who feels they have committed a sin that is unforgivable and is afraid to ask for Jesus’ mercy. This is a lie of what the devil wants us to think. Jesus died for each of us taking on all our sins and rose from the dead to show us that sin has no power over us if we just ask for his mercy. Invite them to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, as any sin can be forgiven. If they haven’t received this Sacrament, Jesus offers great hope by what he said to St. Faustina about the prayer of Divine Mercy, “Call upon My mercy on behalf of sinners; I desire their salvation. When you say this prayer, with a contrite heart and with faith on behalf of some sinner, I will give him the grace of conversion.” This prayer is: O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I Trust in You. The Divine Mercy prayer can be offered for those who need of Jesus’ infinite mercy to forgive their sins, especially those who are dying. Please share this message of Divine Mercy, and pray the Divine Mercy chaplet often, for all who are in need to receive the Mercy of Christ.
If you would like to explore more about Divine Mercy, I’d recommend looking into the Marians of the Immaculate Conception Divine Mercy web site, http://thedivinemercy.org/. If you want to pray the Divine Mercy devotion, take it with you on the go and download an app to you Smartphone. http://thedivinemercy.org/apps/
