St. Francis Borgia parishioners continue to spread Jesus’ message of mercy through yard sign ministry

Jesus used a special image to ask St. Faustina Kowalska to spread the message of His Divine Mercy.

Nearly a century after His private revelations to the young Polish nun, a group of parishioners at St. Francis Borgia in Washington have taken Jesus’ message to heart through a ministry dedicated to sharing His image and message with others.

Ten years ago, yard signs depicting the Divine Mercy image began popping up on front lawns around Washington. People began requesting smaller signs to place on loved ones’ gravesites. Some asked for a larger version of the image so they could plaster it on the side of their barn or along a road. The signs have spread beyond Washington.

Over the past decade, members of the parish-based Divine Mercy Ministries have created more than 28,000 signs, which are now on display in 37 states, five countries in Europe and two countries in Africa.

“We got two of the best marketing people out there: Jesus and Faustina,” said one of the group’s founders, Kenn Obermark. “They just point us in the direction we need to go.”

More than 10 years ago, a group of parishioners met to discuss the writings of Father Michael Gaitley, a priest of the Marians of Immaculate Conception. The religious community is known for promoting the Divine Mercy devotion from Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

“At the end of one of (Father Gaitley’s books), it said ‘Go out and do something now,’” Obermark said. “I had seen these political signs and thought, why not put the Divine Mercy image out there?”

To spread Jesus’ message, the group started sending printed materials and copies of the image to other parishes in the Washington Deanery.

Word spread around town. Who was behind the signs? Articles about the group were published locally, regionally and nationwide. Yard signs appeared in surrounding counties and crept into the St. Louis area. The group worked with the Marian Fathers to obtain permission to reproduce the image so they could widely share it.

Borgia parishioner Alan Jean was leaving work one day and had a sudden feeling that he should stop and get gas. At the station, he met a couple from Sullivan who had long been looking for a yard sign and couldn’t figure out where to buy one.

“A guy gets out of the car, and he was filling gas on the other side,” Jean said. “Somehow I got to talking to him about Divine Mercy and he says to me, ‘I’ve been looking to buy a Divine Mercy sign, and I’ve been all over town.’ … I said, ‘Sir, we make them. When you get done with gas, follow me, and I’ll bring you down there and get one.’ His wife gets out of the car, and she says, ‘This is divine intervention!’”

In addition to the yard signs, the ministry includes a cenacle prayer group and, this year, expanded to include a parish mission team dedicated to teaching others about the Divine Mercy devotion, including the writings from St. Faustina’s diary and Jesus’ message of mercy.

Bill Gegg had been doing some spiritual reading when he started feeling that God was calling him to something beyond helping assemble yard signs. He began going to daily adoration and there, he got a clear direction from God: Form a mission team.

“He said, ‘I think it’s time to go out and proclaim this ministry. I want you to go out and explain what’s behind these images.’” Gegg recruited two others in the cenacle group, Barb Reis and Anita Frey, to help him.

The trio held their first mission earlier this year on Divine Mercy Sunday at an event center in Bourbon. They’ve since booked missions at several other parishes.

Reis presents the meaning behind the Divine Mercy image, which features rays of red and white streaming from Jesus’ heart, representing the sacraments of the Eucharist (blood) and baptism (water).

“A lot of people have seen the image, but they don’t know much about what it means,” she said. “There’s so much hidden meaning there — even the position of Jesus’ hands and His feet, it all means something.”

The group said that personal stories have resonated with others, and they’ve evidenced that through others sharing their stories with them, too. They’ve received notes from people all over about the impact the signs have had on their lives.

Gegg once received a note from a woman who spotted a Divine Mercy sign along Highway 100 in Washington. The woman said that she was in tears as she pulled over her car, but she stopped crying when suddenly she felt rays of warmth along her back.

“Whoever put this sign there, I want you to know you saved my life,” Gegg recalled from the woman’s note. “I was on my way to commit suicide. I had it all planned out, and somehow I saw this sign, and I pulled over and felt these rays.”

The group has received requests for signs from people of other Christian denominations, which goes to show that the Divine Mercy image is for all believers in Christ, Obermark said.

“Jesus told St. Faustina that the image was to be venerated throughout the world,” he said.

Divine Mercy Ministries

A yard sign order form is available at www.borgiaparish.org

Facebook: DivineMercyWashMo

Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/DivineMercyWashMo

Divine Mercy Ministries also offers parish missions to teach others about the devotion. The next mission will take place from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, July 20, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows (Starkenburg), 197 State Hwy P in Rhineland, Missouri.

To schedule a parish mission, contact Bill Gegg at (636) 667-7867 or bill.gegg@att.net.

Feast of Divine Mercy

The feast of Divine Mercy celebrates the fullness of Christ’s resurrection and His mercy. The feast, which is celebrated the Sunday after Easter, was initiated by St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, a young Polish nun who kept a diary in the 1930s of Christ’s revelations to her. In His revelations, He shared a message of mercy and told her to share His image and message with the world.

St. Faustina saw the first vision of Jesus on Feb. 22, 1931, and wrote about the encounter in her diary:

“In the evening, when I was in my cell, I saw the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in the gesture of blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From beneath the garment, slightly drawn aside at the breast, there were emanating two large rays, one red, the other pale. In silence I kept my gaze fixed on the Lord; my soul was struck with awe, but also with great joy. After a while, Jesus said to me, Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world” (Diary of St. Faustina, 47).

St. Faustina also wrote in her diary that Jesus encourages the faithful to trust in His mercy and turn to Him for that mercy:

“My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy” (Diary of St. Faustina, 699).