St. John Paul II designated this second Sunday of Easter as "Divine Mercy Sunday." But Pope John Paul II not only spoke of mercy, he showed it.
There was a priest from New York visiting in Rome. He was praying at a church & he noticed a beggar who looked familiar. He learned it was a fellow student with him in the seminary. As it turned out, this priest faced one crisis after another & so left the priesthood & ended up begging on the streets of Rome. The priest from New York was invited to meet the Pope & when he did, he asked the Pope to pray for this man, once a priest, who was now a beggar. Later that day this priest was invited to join the Pope for dinner & was told to bring the beggar with him. After the meal, John Paul II cleared the room so that he could be alone with the former priest. He then asked him to hear his confession. The beggar said he could not because he was no longer a priest. But the Pope said, "once a priest, always a priest" & then he made his confession. The beggar then asked the Pope to hear his confession. Later, the Pope reinstated the beggar to the priesthood & had him work at the same church where he used to beg, but to have a special ministry to the poor & to the beggars at that church.
Divine Mercy. We can speak of it. But it's much more powerful when we show it.