From Our Pastor…

DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY

Private revelations and apparitions which have been authenticated by the Church do not add anything new to the fullness of revelation already given to us by Jesus. But they can remind us that we have not been paying enough attention to Jesus, the fullness of revelation. They can be a wake-up call to be ever more sincere in turning away from sin and growing in faith in and love of Jesus.

This Feast of Divine Mercy arises out of a series of apparitions which a Polish Religious of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy received from Christ from 1925 until her death on October 5, 1938. When St. John Paul II celebrated the Canonization of Sister Faustina in the year 2000, the Pope stated, “it was between the First and Second World Wars that Christ entrusted His message of mercy to her. Those who lived at this time were witnesses and participants in the events of those years and the horrible sufferings they caused for millions of people. They knew then, as we know now, “How necessary, was this message of Divine Mercy!”

Jesus promised that those who go to confession and receive Holy Communion will receive not only forgiveness of their sins, but the total remission of all temporal punishment for their sins. It is like a second Baptism, all sin and punishment is wiped out. The words of Jesus to St. Faustina, “Let no one fear to draw near to Me, even though their sins be as scarlet. My Mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity.”

JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU!

Christ’s message of Mercy can be called to mind simply by remembering A-B-C.

ASK FOR HIS MERCY - God wants us to be with God in prayer constantly.

BE MERCIFUL - God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others.

COMPLETELY TRUST IN JESUS - God wants us to know the Graces of His Mercy are dependent on our trust.