Fr. Valdemaras Širvinskis: “It is only thanks to God’s mercy that today I am alive, I am a priest, and I am happy.”

The Message of God’s Mercy in Word, Deeds, and Prayer

Vilnius is gifted with a special message of mercy. Its residents, touched by it, themselves become carriers of the message of mercy.

The faithful speak about the priest Valdemaras Širvinskis, who has been serving for four years at the Shrine of Divine Mercy, saying that when he proclaims the Word of God in his sermons, he speaks straight to the heart. Every day while serving in the Shrine, the priest meets people seeking consolation and hope, so the Word becomes a tool for witnessing God’s mercy. The priest shares about the visible fruits of the proclaimed word, because the Lord “very gently and sensitively bends down to people’s lives.”

In one of the sermons you gave, I heard that your priestly journey is inseparable from the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Vilnius. Could you share more broadly about the origins of your vocation?

This is a question about love, or more precisely — about the experience when, for the first time in my life, I felt that I am loved by God, and He is always waiting to meet me. The prophet Jeremiah describes this experience very accurately: “You have seduced me, O LORD, and I have let myself be seduced. You were stronger than I, and you have prevailed” (Jer 20:7).