HAPPY EASTER - JESUS HAS RISEN...ALLEULUIA

Happy Easter with the Risen Jesus. 

May the Lord be Praised for ever and ever....

From the Diary of St. Faustina...

205 +The Resurrection. Today, during the [Mass of the] Resurrection, I saw the Lord Jesus in the midst of a great light. He approached me and said, Peace be to you, My children, and He lifted up His hand and gave His blessing. The wounds in His hands, feet and side were indelible and shining. When He looked at me with such kindness and love, my whole soul drowned itself in Him. And He said to me, You have taken a great part in My Passion;  therefore I now give you a great share in My joy and glory. The whole time of the Resurrection [Mass] seemed like only a minute to me. A wondrous recollection filled my soul and lasted throughout the whole festal season. The kindness of Jesus is so great that I cannot express it.

Divine Mercy Inspiration for All Souls Day...

St. Faustina writes, Diary 58

One night, a sister who had died two months previously came to me. I saw her in a terrible condition. I redoubled my prayers for her. ... The next night she came again, but I saw her in an even more horrible state, in the midst of flames which were even more intense, and despair was written all over her face. ... I asked, 'Haven't my prayers helped you?' She answered that my prayers had not helped her and that nothing would help her. I said to her, 'And the prayers which the whole community has offered for you, have they not been any help to you?' She said no, that these prayers have helped some other souls. I replied, 'If my prayers are not helping you, Sister, please stop coming to me.' She disappeared at once. Despite this, I kept on praying.

After some time she came back again to me during the night, but already her appearance had changed. There were no longer any flames, as there had been before, and her face was radiant, her eyes beaming with joy. She told me that I had a true love for my neighbor and that many other souls had profited from my prayers. She urged me not to cease praying for the souls in purgatory, and she added that she herself would not remain there much longer

Divine Mercy Inspiration for Today - 1st November

Diary No. 20   -  (Vision of Purgatory)

"One day I asked the Lord, ‘Lord, who else should I pray for?’ Jesus said that on the following night He would let me know for whom I should always pray for.

The following night, I saw my Guardian Angel who asked me to follow him. In a moment I was in a misty place full of fire in which there was a great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently, but to no avail, for themselves; only we can come to their aid. The flames which were burning them did not touch me at all. My Guardian Angel did not leave me for an instant. I asked these souls what their greatest suffering was. They answered me in one voice that their greatest torment was longing for God. I saw Our Lady visiting the souls in Purgatory. The souls call her ‘The Star of the Sea.’ She brings them refreshment. I wanted to talk with them some more, but my Guardian Angel beckoned me to leave. We went out of the prison of suffering. [I heard an interior voice] which said, My mercy does not want this, but justice demands it. Since that time, I am in closer communion with the suffering souls."

Divine Mercy Inspiration for Today Sunday 31st October

The most solemn moment of my life is the moment when I receive Holy Communion. I long for each Holy Communion, and for every Holy Communion I give thanks to the Most Holy Trinity.

If the angels were capable of envy, they would envy us for two things: one is the receiving of Holy Communion, and the other is suffering.  Diary 1804

Today, I am preparing myself for your coming as a bride does for the coming of her bridegroom. He is a great Lord, this bridegroom of mine. The heavens cannot contain Him. The Seraphim who stand closest to Him cover their faces and repeat unceasingly: Holy, Holy, Holy.   Diary 1805

Divine Mercy Inspiration for Today Saturday 30th October

"My great delight is to unite Myself with souls ... When I come to a human heart in Holy Communion, My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay any attention to Me; they leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with other things. Oh, how sad I am that souls do not recognize Love! They treat Me as a dead object" (St. Faustinas Diary 1385)

Reflection:  Lord Jesus help me to stay with You when I am often distracted.  Help me not to turn around and speak to others unnecessarily in Church directly after Holy Mass.  Help me Lord to have patience, strengthen my will to sit and stay with You.  I bring my thoughts, my cares for today, my family, my friends and those who I have difficulties with, I bring them to You Lord, help me in my daily life to stay with You in each moment but especially now when You are truly present in my heart.  Lord Jesus help me to go and Confess those sins that hinder my relationship with You.  Show me Lord those sins that hinder me on the way to holiness and with Your help and strength help me to overcome them. 

Commentary on Todays Gospel - St. Faustina Kowalska

Commentary of the day - Saint Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), Religious Sister
Diary, para. 1306

"My friend, move up to a higher position"

O humility, lovely flower, I see how few souls possess you. Is it because you are so beautiful and at the same time so difficult to attain? Oh yes, it is both the one and the other. Even God takes pleasure in her.

The floodgates of heaven are open to the humble soul and a sea of graces flows down on her. O how beautiful is a humble soul! From her heart, as from a censer, rises a varied and most pleasing fragrance, which breaks through the skies and reaches God himself, filling his most Sacred Heart with joy.

God refuses nothing to such a soul; she is all-powerful and influences the destiny of the whole world. God raises such a soul up to his very throne, and the more she humbles herself, the more God stoops down to her, pursuing her with his graces and accompanying her at every moment with his omnipotence. Such a soul is most deeply united to God.   O humility, strike deep roots in my whole being. O Virgin most pure, but also most humble, help me to attain deep humility. Now I understand why there are so few saints; it is because so few souls are deeply humble.

Divine Mercy Inspiration for Today

1396  Today I heard a voice in my soul: Oh, if sinners knew My mercy, they would not perish in such great numbers. Tell sinful souls not to be afraid to approach Me; speak to them of My great mercy.

1397   The Lord said to me, The loss of each soul plunges Me into mortal sadness. You always console Me when you pray for sinners. The prayer most pleasing to Me is prayer for the conversion of sinners. Know, My daughter, that this prayer is always heard and answered.

Divine Mercy Inspiration for Today...

Thanks For The Majesty Of God

Thank You, Jesus, for everything, because it is not the greatness of the works, but the greatness of the effort that will be rewarded. What is done out of love is not small, O my Jesus, for Your eyes see everything (Diary, 1310).

†  I want to plunge myself in thanksgiving before the Majesty of God and to continue in this prayer of thanksgiving for seven days and seven nights; and although I will outwardly carry out all my duties, my spirit will nonetheless stand continually before the Lord, and all my exercises will be imbued with the spirit of thanksgiving (Diary, 1367).

The Power of Praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Saint Faustina was born Helena Kowalska in the village of Glogowiec west of Lodz, Poland, on August 25, 1905. In 1935, St. Faustina received a vision of an angel sent by God to chastise a certain city. She began to pray for mercy, but her prayers were powerless. Suddenly she saw the Holy Trinity and felt the power of Jesus’ grace within her. At the same time she found herself pleading with God for mercy with words
she heard interiorly:

Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world; for the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us. (Diary, 475)

As she continued saying this inspired prayer, the angel became helpless and could not carry out the deserved punishment (see 474). The next day, as she was entering the chapel, she again heard this interior voice, instructing her how to recite the prayer that our Lord later called "the Chaplet." This time, after "have mercy on us" were added the words "and on the whole world" (476). From then on, she recited this form of prayer almost constantly, offering it especially for the dying.

The following morning, Sister Faustina heard these interior words: "Every time you enter the chapel, start reciting the prayer which I taught you yesterday" (476).

Our Brokenness and The Divine Mercy

The following is from a speech given by Fr. Benedict Groeschel given at the World Congress of Divine Mercy in Rome in 2008.   It speaks about how Pscychotherapy and Divine Mercy meet...

THE BROKENNESS OF THE HUMAN PERSON AND
THE HEALING POWER

OF DIVINE MERCY

In the 20th century much attention has been paid to the psychological brokenness, to the mental illness and dysfunction of human beings. Before that time attention was generally focused on physical illness, disease and circumstances that caused blindness, lameness and other severe bodily problems that often lead to death. Mentally ill patients were simply assigned to asylums, and often thought to be possessed. Gradually people with less severe psychological symptoms received therapy and assistance from the newly emerging psycharitic professions with varying results.

More and more people especially in the more affluent nations realized that they suffered from such problems as depression, anxiety, self hate, guilt and even scrupulosity. All of these symptoms lead to the breakdown of human relationships, the weakening of family life, an inability to do ones vocational work and general unhappiness, which seem to have been the root cause of the problems.

In a startling study done two years ago by the World Health Organization, and the Medical School at Harvard University, it was discovered that the most depressed land out of the 16 countries studied was the United States of America with 10% of Americans suffering from depression or bi-polar personality disorder.

The least depressed country of the 16 studied was Nigeria, a land racked by political turmoil and conflict and with a high level of poverty in many areas. While the United States had 10% of its people depressed, Nigeria had less than 1%. Italy was about 4%. This study was only about depression, but there are other forms of brokenness like substance abuse and alcoholism, and self destructive tendencies, such as acute anxiety disorder and many sexual disorders. All of these problems are less acute than what are generally called mental illnesses like schizophrenia. If you look within yourself you will probably recognize at least some of these less serious symptoms in yourself.

That great psychologist of human history, St. Augustine, rightly saw these problems as a direct result of original sin and often rooted in sinful tendencies. We Catholics usually don’t make much of the distinction between neurotic traits and the old list of the seven capital sins. The question now arises, is any one perfectly well balanced and sane?

It is my belief that there were only two perfectly well balanced people who ever lived and they both lived with St. Joseph who was reported to have apparently wisely said nothing.

The world into which St. Faustina was born was a simple and unsophisticated place where few people paid much attention to their neurotic tendencies. The poor in this sense are usually happier than the rich. When she entered religious life, St. Faustina became aware of the emphasis on self-knowledge and self-examination, and also of the challenges of community life where people’s psychological problems become more obvious. Life in a community is generally more of a challenge than simply living with your own family.

No one could foresee in the 1930s that Christians of all denominations , as well as a large number of Jews and Buddhists and non religious people , would be so interested in their mental health and psychological well being. It was only in the second half of this troubled century that human problems and the techniques for ameliorating this brokenness took up so much attention, proving the validity of an observation that psychologists often make that neurosis is the price of civilization. All of these influences were very far from the thinking of the humble Polish lay sister who would experience mystical encounters of Our Savior under the aspect of Divine Mercy. In a remarkable and even astonishing way, this humble visionary spoke of the mercy of Christ in response to human needs, especially psychological needs.

The very things that modern psychiatry has focused on: fear, guilt, anxiety, self-hate, hostility, distrust of others, would be themes that would be taken up by the revelations of Divine Mercy, which have had such an incredible impact on Catholic life in our times. Probably the most psychologically revealing passages in the Diary are in notebook five, beginning with the “conversations of the merciful Savior”. These conversations enlighten us about Christ’s relationship with various categories of people. The sinful, the despairing, the suffering souls are all encountered in these conversations , as are the souls striving for perfection and even those rare people who are in some sense perfect.

Looking at these “conversations” from the view point of psychology, we see that they are a profound response to what even secular psychology has come to see as the most consistent problems of human beings ; neurotic guilt, self-hate, feelings of frustration and hopelessness. These problems are described and directly confronted in the conversations with the Divine Mercy.

It is important to point out that it is only recently that the world of psychology has become aware of the importance of religious values and virtue. The new positive psychology which is sweeping through the United States at the present time, the psychology of virtue, dovetails very surprisingly with the Gospels and the spiritual life, and even with the revelations of St. Faustina. It has been well known in psychology for a long time that pathology may result from feelings of rejection, uselessness or even a conviction on the part of persons that they are bad or evil. A deep hopelessness, often unacknowledegable, is often the root of neurosis and other problems of personality adjustment. Often these destructive tendencies are the result of damaging relationships in early childhood, especially with parents

The whole message of Divine Mercy, including the image of Divine Mercy, communicates an acceptance on the part of God Himself of the individual. Not only an acceptance but a care, a love, and a great compassion are described. In the “conversations” given in the fifth notebook, particularly the conversation with the despairing soul, the message is communicated that God cares more about our salvation and our happiness than we ever could of ourselves. He counteracts the very negative and self-destructive aspects of the despairing person and the sinful person. He encourages and gives meaning to the sufferings of the person in pain.

We who are believers find it hard to adequately assess what such a message means to persons who have only superficial or mediocre faith. If they suddenly come to the realization even by a private revelation like Divine Mercy that God cares about them, it can transform their lives. 

It has long been recognized in the world of psychotherapy that the Catholic sacrament of reconciliation with confession of sins provides great help to the individual and often might make psychotherapy unnecessary. It seems to me that this also can be said of the message of Divine Mercy. To rebuild the inner convictions of an individual’s relationship with the loving God and the merciful Savior is one of the strongest, if not the strongest motivation for overcoming serious psychological problems of a neurotic sort and making a better adjustment in life.

As the new positive psychology focuses on the importance of virtue, including the moral, as well as the theological virtues, there is every reason to expect that the significance of the Divine Mercy revelation will be more and more recognized.

By Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR

Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli

At the World Apostolic Congress on Divine Mercy in Rome

3rd April 2008



The Need for Confession

Recently I was informed that at a pilgrimage site in Ireland, a Priest was heard to say that there was no need to confess one's sins when going to confession...no just go for a chat and get a blessing, he said.  It is very sad to hear that a Priest actually said this in a place where people go for penance and prayer.  It was also a lost opportunity for many if they did what he had said. 

Confession is a beautiful and very necessary Sacrament that restores us to Christ and rebuilds and breathes new life into a soul that is dead in sin.  It restores us to grace, refreshes and cleanses us again and brings healing to our souls and also to the whole body of Christ.    For someone to say we don't need to confess our sins when we go to Confession is an absolute lie, it is false and leads many down a dangerous path.  What is the Sacrament of Confession for but to confess our sins and be sorry for them ?  May the Lord have mercy on us and let us pray for our Priests. 

Here below is what our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI said on a reflection of the Gospel of Mark in 2009.  Sin is what puts distance between the believer and God, and it's the sacrament of confession that brings the two back together, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope said this in a Gospel reflection on Mark's account of the healed leper, which he delivered before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square. 

In the Gospel account, recalls the Pontiff, the leper "gets on his knees and says: 'If you wish, you can make me clean!' Jesus, moved, stretches out his hand, touches him and says: 'I do wish it. Be made clean!'"

"According to the ancient Jewish law," the Holy Father explained, "leprosy was not only considered a sickness but the gravest form of 'impurity.'"  He continued: "Leprosy thus constituted a kind of religious and civil death, and its healing was a kind of resurrection. We might see in leprosy a symbol of sin, which is the true impurity of heart, distancing us from God. "It is not, in effect, physical malady that distances us from him, as the ancient norms supposed, but sin, the spiritual and moral evil."

Benedict XVI reflected: "The sins we commit distance us from God, and, if they are not humbly confessed, trusting in the divine mercy, they will finally bring about the death of the soul. This miracle thus has powerful symbolic value.  "In the Sacrament of Penance Christ crucified and risen, through his ministers, purifies us with his infinite mercy, restores us to communion with the heavenly Father and our brothers, and makes a gift of his love, joy and peace to us."

"Dear brothers and sisters," he concluded, "let us invoke the Virgin Mary, whom God preserved from every stain of sin, that she help us to avoid sin and to have frequent recourse to the sacrament of confession, the sacrament of forgiveness, whose value and importance for our Christian life needs to be rediscovered today."

And From the Diary of St. Faustina, Jesus said
 

Come with faith to the feet of My representative...I myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest... I Myself act in your soul... Make your confession before Me. The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyse what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light...

Were a soul like a decaying corpse, so that from a human standpoint, there would be no hope of restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full... From this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity.

Pray for the Church and our Priests

We can see around us a great spiritual battle going on in the world...the forces of evil seem very strong but God is greater than all this.  The world is in a pretty awful state and the Church has been shaken to its foundations.  But we are called to pray and remember that Christ is victorious.  Through the Cross, Our Lord Jesus broke the chains of death.  He has given us the Church, the Sacraments, the Holy Eucharist and has called men out to minister to His people.  These men are human, are open to many temptations, they need our assistance and our prayers.

Again I cannot empahise more the need to pray for our Priests.  It is too easy to criticise them for their shortcomings but we must pray for them instead.  They are very special to Jesus and Our Lady and we need to encourage them, love and respect them and their ministry.  Perhaps you can pray this prayer below for your own Priests in your Parish.  Or maybe you could start praying for your Priests with someone else.

As I said before, my friend and I started a small Divine Mercy meeting where we pray the Rosary, Chaplet of Mercy, read some of the Diary of St. Faustina and we pray this prayer for Priests and we also include the Holy Souls in Purgatory and those who need prayer very much.  But our Rosary and Chaplet are offered for Priests specifically.  We also have a book where we have put the names of all the Priests we know of, who we pray especially for. This little meeting only takes an hour.  It is not too much to ask considering that our Priests have given their whole lives to the Church for us to have the privilege of the Sacraments that we too often take for granted. 

St. Faustina's Prayer for Priests

"O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of the whole Church: Grant it love and the light of Your Spirit, and give power to the words of Priests so that hardened hearts might be brought to repentance and return to You, O Lord. Lord, give us holy Priests; You yourself maintain them in holiness. O Divine and Great High Priest, may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere and protect them from the devil's traps and snares which are continually being set for the soul of Priests.

May the power of Your mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring to naught all that might tarnish the sanctity of Priests, for You can do all things."  -  St. Faustina's Diary  1052

The Divine Mercy Image

The Divine Mercy Image is not just any picture of Jesus, it is an Image of great grace with great promises attached to it.  It is important to respect the Image and venerate it as Jesus has asked us to.

From her Diary on February 22, 1931 St. Faustina wrote : “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...After a while, Jesus said to me, "Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You (Diary 47). I want this image…to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter; that Sunday is to be the feast of my Mercy (Diary 49).” He promised to her, “By means of this Image I shall be granting many graces to souls” (Diary 570).

Jesus went on to exclaim, “I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over [its] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory (48). I desire that there be a Feast of Mercy. I want this image, which you will paint with a brush, to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter; that Sunday is to be the Feast of Mercy (49).

But it was not until 1934 that this Image was painted by Eugeniusz Kazimirowski under the supervision of St. Faustina and Fr. Michael Sopocko her spiritual director. 

On Good Friday, April 19, 1935, at three o’clock in the afternoon when Saint Faustina entered the chapel, Jesus said to her: “I desire that the image be publicly honored” (414). On the following Friday, just before the Feast of Divine Mercy, Saint Faustina’s confessor, Fr. Sopocko gave a sermon about Divine Mercy and when he began to speak about the great mercy of the Lord, the image came alive and the rays pierced the hearts of the people gathered there, but not all to the same degree. Some received so much more.

After the “original Vilnius” image had been painted it was seen for the first time in public during celebrations marking the close of the Jubilee Year of the Redemption of the World from April 26-28, 1935 at Ostra Brama (the “Dawn Gate” to the city of Vilnius). It was then hung in the corridor of a convent near the church and Jesus instructed St. Faustina, “Tell the confessor that the image is to be on view in the church and not within the enclosure of the convent that it’s in. By means of this image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so let every soul have access to it” (570).

Saving Souls Through Divine Mercy

The work of Mercy is about saving souls. It is all about Jesus and helping Him in His work of Redemption.  If we don't try to do this or allow bitterness or hostility or infighting to get in each other's way, we are failing in our duty to God.  We have been given a great gift in our time.  The plenary indulgence granted on the Feast of Mercy is a very special grace from God.  It is for our times and we are truly blessed.  This work of Mercy has to go out to all and it must be spread.   Each of us Catholics have a responsibility to help others come closer to Christ.   We will be answerable to Jesus if we continually put obstacles before Him and His work of Mercy.  Many souls will be lost because we have become apathetic or closed our ears, our eyes and our hearts to this urgent call of Mercy which is not just for me, or for a few, it is for everyone.  Jesus said the following to St. Faustina...

I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of sinners. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation. (Diary 1160)

Before the Day of Justice, I am sending the Day of Mercy. (Diary 1588)

I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy. If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity… tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near. —Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary of St. Faustina, n. 965

The Greatest Gift

In our Church, we are so priviliged, we have a great reality, one we do take for granted and that is Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist.  This is the greatest miracle of all.  It is a reality that is beyond our comprehension.  To spend time with Jesus in the Eucharist after Holy Mass is an absolute must and a time where we receive more than we can ever give.  We tend to rush off after Mass forgetting that Our Lord, Our Redeemer, the holder of all time and all creation has just come to us.  We need to spend time with Jesus who loves us so much and wants us to converse with Him in simple language about our ordinary day to day lives.  He wants us to share with Him our thoughts, our feelings, our anxieties, our joys and sorrows.  He in turn will help us during the day as He always does.  But we need to spend time with Him.  You will begin to see your life change, and miracles will take place in your life when you make time for Him. 

Our Lord speaking to St. Faustina

(Diary of St. Faustina, 1385)

When I come to a human heart in Holy Communion, My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay attention to Me; they leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with other things. ... They treat Me as a dead object.

Relic of Blessed Fr. Michael Sopocko (Spiritual Director to Saint Faustina)

The relic of Bl. Michael Sopocko was brought to St. Audeons Church, High Street, Dublin  (which is run by the Polish Chaplaincy) on Thursday 8th July, by  Archbishop Edward Ozorowski , of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Białystok.    He also visited St. Mary's oratory in Buncrana in Donegal and St. Agnes' Church in Belfast during the week.  News on the visit to Buncrana can be found at http://www.inishowennews.com/06PolishMass0567.htm)

This was a great privilege for the Polish community here in Ireland and also for the Irish and especially for those who are part of the Divine Mercy apostolate.  Fr. Sopocko suffered much for the sake of the Divine Mercy and in the Diary, St. Faustina relates the following; 

'One day, I saw interiorly how much my confessor would have to suffer: friends will desert you while everyone will rise up against you and your physical strength will diminish. I saw you as a bunch of grapes chosen by the Lord and thrown into the press of suffering. Your soul, Father, will at times be filled with doubts about this work and about me.

I saw that God Himself seemed to be opposing [him], and I asked the Lord why He was acting in this way toward him, as though He were placing obstacles in the way of his doing what He Himself had asked him to do. And the Lord said, "I am acting thus with him to give testimony that this work is Mine. Tell him not to fear anything; My gaze is on him day and night. There will be as many crowns to form his crown as there will be souls saved by this work. It is not for the success of a work, but for the suffering that I give reward (90)."
 
And to this day, the Divine Mercy devotion is continually opposed by some people in the Church, who put obstacles before it.  For some reason God allows this.  To me the Divine Mercy is the most important devotion now for the world as God is cleansing the Church with His Mercy and preparing it for His coming which He promised in the Diary.
 
You will prepare the world for My final coming. (Diary 429)
Speak to the world about My mercy ... It is a sign for the end times. After it will come the Day of Justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fountain of My mercy. (Diary 848)
Tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near. (Diary 965).

Works of Mercy

Jesus' Call to Mercy

In the Diary of St. Faustina Jesus explains the following on the deeds of Mercy...

"I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.

I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor:
the first — by deed, the second — by word, the third — by prayer.

In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy.

Many souls ... are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul.

If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy" (Diary of St. Faustina 1317).

Jesus has asked us to perform works of mercy in accordance with our faith and I have featured below just some of those apostolates in various parts of the world that perform the Corporal works of Mercy in their own Parish or are reaching out to those in need across the globe in the name of Jesus the Divine Mercy. 

Divine Mercy Parish in Trenton, New Jersey in the United States partnered with TASK (Trenton Area Soup Kitchen) in 2007 to provide meals to the less fortunate in the parish’s surrounding community. Finding a greater need among those being served, their parishioners, the late Charles Cook, Jr., Ann Brodowski and Michael Knowles wanted to begin a ministry to serve those individuals and others. Out of this idea, Mercy House was founded on January 5, 2008.

Mercy House provides food, clothing and household items, as well as basic medical needs services, to families and individuals of the parish and its surrounding community. Through these services they act to fulfill Christ’s mission of caring for the poor and others in need as they seek to reveal God’s mercy to all who come there. Mercy House also works with other community and social concerns organizations to provide access to social services, immigration support and any other needs that may be encountered among the individuals we serve. A reading library and tutoring service are offered for school children who are welcome to come and spend a little quiet time, pick out a book to take home, or have one of their youth volunteers read to them. Help with school homework is offered. They believe that Mercy House is a visible sign of Christ’s teachings. In the spirit of their Franciscan heritage, they preach the word of God and, only if necessary, use words.

http://www.divinemercyoftrenton.org/products/mercyhouse.htm

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The Children's Charity H.U.D.T. (Divine Mercy in Action), based in Skerries, Co. Dublin, Ireland was founded by Val Conlon inspired by Jesus' revelations to Saint Faustina, where Jesus said "I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out of love for me. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it."(Diary 742)

Their Mission is to help the destitute, the homeless, especially the abandoned and suffering children but most importantly filling the spiritual void left behind after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe with the message of God's Divine Mercy.  Their work also includes projects in South America and Africa. 

 For more information on all these works you can check out the following site..www.hudt.org/

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The Missionaries of Our Lady of Divine Mercy was founded in 2005 in Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Bristow, Virginia.  . What began as a small prayer group has grown into a movement of mercy. Their first meeting took place in the basement of a house belonging to one of the prayer group members. They prayed the Rosary, read Sacred Scripture and read from the Diary of Saint Faustina.

Each week members would meet, pray and offer prayers for the sick and dying. As the ministry grew, so did their zeal to perform corporal and spiritual works of mercy. By February 2006, they were taking food into Washington, D.C. to feed the homeless in the parks.

This ministry became known as Feeding with Mercy because they believed that the people they were serving should not only receive food and drink, but compassion as well. They found that the more they entered into with these people, the more they saw Christ in each homeless person.

Within a few months, they began bringing hot food, toiletry items and clothing to expand their services to the poor. Washing the feet of each homeless person was a natural progression in what they saw as loving their neighbor. With wet wipes, lotion, gloves and stools, their volunteers sat on the ground while the homeless removed their shoes to have their feet washed. Many of the homeless wept as they tended their wounds and spoke words of compassion. Volunteers shared stories of inspiration and hope with each person that sat down hoping that when they left the park that day they would know that God loved them.  The works of mercy expanded and more information can be found on their website..http://www.divinemercynow.org/

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Divine Mercy reaching the oilfields in Kazakhstan

Kulsary is situated around 100 km from Tengiz – the biggest in Kazakhstan and one of the biggest oilfields in the world. There was a need to reach out there with a pastoral ministry to the local Catholics. It was not easy even though many catholics work there: Americans, Filipinos, the Irish, Poles, catholics from Kazakhstan.  A Church was needed here to serve the local Catholic Community and hence in 2007 the Divine Mercy Parish was born.

The chapel that came into being after demolishing division walls in the former shop and liquidating the second floor is 56 sq. m. Together with a gallery about 70 sq. m. and it can house 70 - 80 people. They managed to bring a marble altar, a pulpit and a baptismal font (baptistery) made in Poland in Mr. Krzysztof Czarnota’s mason workshop. Divine Mercy Image painted by Dorota Piwowarczyk was endowed by Fr. Jerzy Karpiński SJ, the former provincial of the Jesuits Russian province, who is at present a confessor in the Divine Mercy sanctuary in Lagiewniki in Cracow.

Information above taken from this article  http://www.catholic-kazakhstan.org/kulsary/en/kulsaryEN.htm

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Divine Mercy Eucharistic Society

Mary's House - a shelter for pregnant women in crisis

In Northern California, the Divine Mercy Eucharistic Society is one such community of devotees with the mission:  To establish a center for prayer and ministry dedicated to the Mercy of God, to spread the devotion to the Divine Mercy throughout the world, and to reach out in mercy to those in need. In 1998, under the name Divine Mercy Foundation, they formed a Board of 15 members, who lead their organization and make decisions. Soon thereafter, the Foundation was legally organized as a nonprofit organization. In 2005 the name of the apostolate was legally changed to Divine Mercy Eucharistic Society   One of their corporal works of Mercy is Mary's House. 

 

Located in San Pablo, California, 19 miles from San Francisco, Mary's House is a shelter for pregnant women 18 and over who have nowhere else to turn. A ministry of the Divine Mercy Eucharistic Society, Mary's House serves women without regard to religious affiliation. The home is supported by donations and by the proceeds of the volunteer-run thrift shop, the Treasure Chest.

Aside from providing a halfway house so the women need not choose abortion, Mary's House helps its residents progress toward the goal of independent living. Job training, resume writing, interviewing, and job search techniques are emphasized and facilitated. During her pregnancy, a Mary's House resident receives room and board while working or continuing her education. After her baby is born, she may continue to live at Mary's House for up to six months while furthering her education or securing employment.

http://www.divinemercywestcoast.org/

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The FRIENDS Divine Mercy Apostolate in the Philippines was founded in May 2007 to establish framework for the renewed Community Mission/Vision to reach out to more people by propagating the Divine Mercy of Jesus.   The Apostolate covers two important functions: Propagation of the Devotion of the Divine Mercy and Works of Mercy (Outreach Arm).

Their mission is to share the DIVINE MERCY of JESUS through propagation and works of mercy. Their works include the following: -

SoupERFriends – It is a weekly community-based soup kitchen programme providing free warm and nutritious light meals (chicken arroz caldo or noodle soup) to benefit street children and their families.
 

Manila City Jail Ministry - The Community holds Catholic Life in the Spirit Seminars (CLSS) in the female compound of the Manila City Jail twice a year. The spiritual growth of the inmates are sustained by regular prayer meetings every Friday.
 

Medical and Dental Missions – Free basic health services and medicines are given to the poorest of communities through the semi-annual Medical and Dental Missions.
For more information : http://www.fdmaphil.org/works-of-mercy.html

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St. Luke's Mission Of Mercy is a Roman Catholic Mission in the inner city of Buffalo, New York. This community, consisting of Amy Betros and Norm Paolini, Co-Founders and Co-Directors, and 15 full time lay missionaries, strive to live the Gospel message of God's great love and mercy for all His children through service to His poor and broken. This service is carried out through living the Corporal and Spiritual works of mercy. The community strives to proclaim, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, the goodness and greatness of God and His great love and mercy for all people in everything they think, say and do.

Contact: http://www.stlukesmissionofmercy.org/

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DIVINE MERCY APOSTOLATE  DUBLIN   (IRELAND)

In Dublin, here in Ireland, a Divine Mercy prayer meeting takes place in St. Saviours Church in Dominic Street at 7.30pm on Tuesday evenings with Holy Mass and a Divine Mercy Holy Hour which follows directly from 8pm - 9pm.

Also at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Dominic Street a prayer meeting takes place Monday to Saturday from
2.30pm - 3.15pm.  Prayers are said there for many intentions and the relic of St. Faustina is available. 

On Thursdays Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place from 2.15 pm - 4pm.  All are welcome.
Attached to the Shrine inside the Church, you can call in to the shop where you can find various Divine Mercy products and other religious material.  This is open from 9.30am to 4pm Monday to Friday. 

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Also in Dublin on St. Itas Hospital Radio 89.5FM (Dublin, Ireland), a Divine Mercy half hour from 9am to 9.30am is broadcast each Sunday.  Tune in and enjoy.





Perhaps some of these ministries may inspire you to do something similar in your own Parish community...

Receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist

When we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, we really receive Him.  Our Lord, our Redeemer comes personally to us.  After Holy Mass, it is good to stop and stay for a while in thanksgiving to talk to Him, listen to Him and give Him our prayers and petitions at this time.  It is sad that we walk away after Mass too quickly and leave Jesus alone and I have done it myself, often taking Him very much for granted.  Lord help me to be more attentive to your presence, when I receive You in Holy Communion. 

In the Diary of St. Faustina, Jesus lamented the following..

 "When I come to a human heart in Holy Communion," He said, "My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay attention to Me; they leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with other things. ... They treat Me as a dead object"

(Diary of St. Faustina, 1385)

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The following are words from St. Therese of Lisieux

"Receive Communion often, very often...there you have the sole remedy, if you want to be cured. Jesus has not put this attraction in your heart for nothing..."

"The guest of our soul knows our misery; He comes to find an empty tent within us - that is all He asks."