Greensburg Diocese to broadcast, stream Divine Mercy service

Bishop Edward C. Malesic of the Greensburg Diocese will lead a Divine Mercy service that will be broadcast and streamed Sunday in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Faith During Crisis: Lord, Have Mercy!” will be aired at 2 p.m. on WTAE-TV and will be available immediately afterward on the diocese’s website and at TheAccentOnline.org.

During the hour-long service, Malesic will lead the praying of the Divine Mercy chaplet, which involves the use of rosary beads, and will reflect on the meaning of Divine Mercy.

Malesic praised the courage of medical staff and other essential workers who are performing vital tasks during the covid-19 crisis. Citing the Navy hospital ships, Comfort and Mercy, that are providing assistance, Malesic said in a press statement, “We need comfort and mercy, too.

“We must be the stewards of mercy and compassion, like the doctors, nurses and others in our hospitals today. Share the healing. Share the mercy. Share the love.”

Families from around the diocese will offer prayers and reflections about what Divine Mercy means to them during the outbreak — including the families of Joe and Ashley Weishaar of St. Barbara Parish, Harrison City; James and Michelle Parrish of Holy Trinity Parish, Ligonier; and Drs. Christopher and Amanda Vaglia of St. Thomas More University Parish, Indiana.

Also featured will be Christopher Wu, a violinist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Tom Franzak, a composer and performer; Tom Octave, the diocesan director of sacred music; and Christopher Pardini, director of liturgy and music at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral Parish in Greensburg.

Additional reflections will be offered by Msgr. Raymond Riffle, rector, Blessed Sacrament Cathedral Parish; Father Tyler Bandura, director, Office for Priestly Vocations; and Father Daniel Ulishney, pastor, St. John Baptist de La Salle Parish, Delmont, and St. Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Export.

On April 30, 2000, Pope John Paul II proclaimed that the Sunday after Easter would be Divine Mercy Sunday to celebrate the image and message Jesus presented to St. Faustina in 1931 and to reflect on his mercy.

St. Faustina was born in 1905 to a poor peasant family in Poland. She joined the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw in 1925, where she took the name Sister Maria Faustina. She continued to face trials and struggles and died of tuberculosis in 1938.