<\/p>\n
Lord Have Mercy!\u00a0 We say that during every Mass.\u00a0 But what does it really mean to us, the Mercy of God?<\/p>\n
During Lent, we concentrated on the need to reflect on our lives; and to recognize our sinfulness. \u00a0That was intended to lead us to the sacrament of Penance, where we confess our sins and reconcile ourselves to God so that we could celebrate Easter in the fullness of the joy that the Resurrection brought.\u00a0 You see, all of us who believe and repent, and then follow after our Savior Jesus by living the pattern of life in the Gospels, are guaranteed to follow in Jesus footsteps when we die- the resurrection of our bodies in the eternal Kingdom of God.\u00a0 When we went to Confession, we experienced God\u2019s mercy- the forgiveness of all of our sins and reconciliation between God and ourselves.\u00a0 That is what God\u2019s Mercy is.\u00a0 But sadly, not everyone went through that process.<\/p>\n
And so today, we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday.\u00a0 Divine Mercy Sunday is God\u2019s way of giving us all a second chance to reconcile ourselves with Him.<\/p>\n
First, let me give some background about Divine Mercy Sunday.\u00a0 Back in the 1930\u2019s, a Polish lady named Helen Kowalska, who became a nun and took the name Sister Faustina, had visions of the Risen Christ.\u00a0 The primary vision she had is depicted on the stained glass window in our Tabernacle area.\u00a0 It shows Jesus with red and blue rays flowing from His heart.\u00a0 The red symbolizes the blood Jesus shed for our sins as He redeemed us; \u00a0\u00a0And the blue, the water that gushed when the soldier pierced his heart, symbolizes cleansing and mercy.\u00a0 Jesus encouraged Sister Faustina to draw what she saw, and said that it represented His Divine Mercy.\u00a0 And so this window is a permanent reminder to us of God\u2019s Divine Mercy.<\/p>\n
And what does Divine Mercy mean?\u00a0 It means Jesus is giving us another opportunity to be cleansed by the water and blood of Christ this weekend, and so, be forgiven for all of our sins, no matter what they are.\u00a0 Yes, no matter what they are.\u00a0 Indeed, Jesus spoke of his infinite mercy to Sister Faustina multiple times.\u00a0 He is quoted as having said in one vision:\u00a0 \u201cI want to grant complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of my Mercy\u201d!\u00a0 And also in another vision: \u201cThe soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion will receive complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.\u201d\u00a0 In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized Sister Faustina,aAnd designated the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday- the Feast of His Mercy.\u00a0 The Pope recognized that Jesus wanted the Feast of Divine Mercy celebrated annually, that was Jesus\u2019 desire.<\/p>\n
So, why did Jesus want the Feast of Divine Mercy?\u00a0 Well, Jesus told St. Faustina that it pained Him that so many souls had not listened to Him. \u00a0They had not sought forgiveness for their sins, even with 6 weeks of reflection and purification available during Lent.\u00a0 Jesus was pained because these souls were in danger of being lost.\u00a0 The time for obtaining mercy is limited.\u00a0 Indeed, time is limited for all of us- we could die at any time.\u00a0 But during our lifetime, we must take that critical step, and seek forgiveness of our sins- after death it is too late.\u00a0 Jesus is offering infinite mercy right now for whatever we have done- that\u2019s the point.\u00a0 But, we have to respond to him.\u00a0 And the summary of Jesus message through St. Faustina, now sanctioned by the Church, is that we must do three essential things to receive His Divine Mercy and all the benefits of it:\u00a0 Go to Confession; Receive Communion; and show mercy to others.\u00a0 I will touch on all three of these briefly.<\/p>\n
First, the Confession part.\u00a0 You must go to a priest to go to Confession.\u00a0 Asking God for forgiveness privately doesn\u2019t fulfill the need to Confess.\u00a0 In today\u2019s Gospel, you heard Jesus commission His Apostles with these words:\u00a0 \u201c\u201cPeace be with you. \u00a0As the Father has sent me, so I send you.\u201d\u00a0 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, \u201cReceive the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained\u201d\u201d.\u00a0 Jesus said this to His Apostles for a reason.\u00a0 This is how Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Penance.\u00a0 And so, Confession is the specific way, the guaranteed way, to assure that your sins are forgiven.\u00a0 Besides, in the visions to St. Faustina, Jesus made it clear that He wanted us to go to Confession, as the two quotes show.<\/p>\n
So if you are holding back for any reason, Confession is the critical first step you need to take.\u00a0 Whatever it is that you might have done- even violence or abuse or separation from the Church or other kinds of very serious sin, know that Jesus\u2019 Divine Mercy appeal is especially for you.<\/p>\n
Second, we need to receive Holy Communion in a state of grace.\u00a0 And it is Confession that guarantees that we are in the state of grace because we are reconciled with God.\u00a0 The Eucharist is the body, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 When Jesus comes into our very being, we experience a closeness, an intimacy, with God.\u00a0 We are in Communion with Him and with the rest of the assembly.\u00a0 Through that intimacy, we are given graces to sustain our relationship with God.\u00a0 And we need those graces to stay the course.<\/p>\n
Lastly, we need to show mercy.\u00a0 In Math 5:7, Jesus says: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain Mercy\u201d; and in James 12:13, we hear that \u201cJudgment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment\u201d.\u00a0 It\u2019s really very simple.\u00a0 How can we expect God\u2019s infinite mercy if we continue to withhold mercy ourselves?\u00a0 It is a humble and contrite heart that we need- and mercy to others shows that we have a humble and contrite heart.\u00a0 So, if you have an estranged family relationship; if you have a feud with your neighbor; or if you feel that someone has done you tremendous harm, now is the time for you to show mercy yourself.<\/p>\n
Now Jesus has given us several special gifts through St. Faustina, to help us on our way.\u00a0 First, prayer- we are to pray for ourselves and for others.\u00a0 And He has even suggested some prayers and devotions- The Divine Mercy Chaplet and Divine Mercy Novena prayers specifically.\u00a0 We are giving away Chaplet and Novena pamphlets in Rosary packets this weekend at all the Masses.\u00a0 Second, saying these prayers, and complying with the three conditions I mentioned earlier brings us plenary indulgences.\u00a0 That means that not only are our sins forgiven, but God will absolve us of the temporal punishment for our sins.<\/p>\n
And there is something else, too.\u00a0 We all have a special opportunity to show mercy this year.\u00a0 In this year of Evangelization, you can be a catalyst, an instrument, a special motivator for one or more of your brothers and sisters in Christ.\u00a0 Tell them about Divine Mercy.\u00a0 Give them a Divine Mercy Packet.\u00a0 Start them on their way by saying the chaplet with them.\u00a0 Remember, \u201cBlessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain Mercy\u201d.\u00a0 What can be more merciful than bringing a lost brother or sister to Christ?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Divine Mercy Sunday Acts 5: 12-16; Rev 1: 9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; John 20: 19-31 Dc. Larry Brockman Lord Have Mercy!\u00a0 We say that during every Mass.\u00a0 But what does it really mean to us, the Mercy of God? During Lent, we concentrated on the need to reflect on our lives; and to recognize our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[34,57],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=309"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309\/revisions\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}