The Message of mercy
By Rita Murdock
Divine Mercy Sunday is coming. Our Lord said to St. Faustina, "Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts 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"
Come to the Feast for the fulfillment of your deepest desires. Come prepared with a good Confession in order to receive the best and holiest Communion you ever received and dine at the Lord’s Table and feast on the gift of Himself to you. Enter into Holy Communion with the Lord Jesus and be blessed by His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Come to the feast and drink deeply of the desire of your life. The Lord’s desire for you is an infinite ocean of love and mercy.
On this feast day, Our Lord pours out a whole ocean of graces – upon souls who approach the fount of His Mercy. On that day He opens all the divine floodgates through which graces flow. Let no soul fear to draw near to the Lord, even though its sins be as scarlet. The mercy of the Lord is so great that no mind, be it of man or angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity (see Diary 699).
Don’t let your sins of the past be an obstacle. Approach the “Tribunal of Mercy”(Sacrament of Reconciliation). The Lord’s presence is only veiled by the presence of the priest (see Diary 1602). Ask for His mercy, be merciful, and completely trust in Jesus.
To help us prepare for the awesomeness of His Mercy, Jesus asked that the Feast of the Divine Mercy be preceded by a Novena* to the Divine Mercy which would begin on Good Friday. He gave St. Faustina an intention to pray for on each day of the Novena, saving for the last day the most difficult intention of all, the lukewarm and indifferent of whom He said: "These souls cause Me more suffering than any others; it was from such souls that My soul felt the most revulsion in the Garden of Olives. It was on their account that I said: 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass Me by.' The last hope of salvation for them is to flee to My Mercy."
"On each day of the novena you will bring to My heart a different group of souls
and you will
immerse them in this ocean of My mercy ... On each day you will beg My Father,
on the strength of My passion, for the graces for these souls." The different
intentions prayed for are:
DAY 1 (Good Friday) - All mankind, especially sinners
DAY 2 (Holy Saturday) - The souls of priests & religious
DAY 3 (Easter Sunday) - All devout & faithful souls
DAY 4 (Easter Monday) - Those who do not believe in Jesus and
those who do not yet know Him
DAY 5 (Easter Tuesday) - The souls of separated brethren
(Non-Catholic Christians)
DAY 6 (Easter Wednesday) - The meek and humble souls and the
souls of children
DAY 7 (Easter Thursday) - The souls who especially venerate
and glorify Jesus' mercy
DAY 8 (Easter Friday) - The souls in purgatory;
DAY 9 (Easter Saturday) - The souls who have become
lukewarm.
Thus, to fittingly observe the Feast of Mercy, Mercy Sunday, we should:
1. Celebrate the Feast on the Sunday after Easter;
2. Sincerely repent of all our sins;
3. Place our complete trust in Jesus;
4. Go to Confession, preferably before that Sunday;
5. Receive Holy Communion on the day of the Feast;
6. Venerate the Image of The Divine Mercy;
7. Be merciful to others, through our actions, words, and
prayers on their behalf. Pray each day of the novena for the intentions listed.
Come to the Feast for the fulfillment of your deepest desires. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of Him.
* Consisting of praying the chaplet of divine mercy. For more information, please see last week’s bulletin or our parish website.