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From the Pastor's Desk: April 11, 2021
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“Peace be with you!”The Second Sunday of Easter is called “Divine Mercy Sunday.” The message of the Divine Mercy is directly connected to the celebration of the Paschal Mystery, that is to say the suffering, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ, followed by the sending of the Holy Spirit, which fulfills the grace of atonement as lived through Christ Jesus and offered to all who come to Him with trust.
This connection is evident in readings for this Sunday. The Responsorial Psalm says "Give thanks to the Lord for His mercy endures forever" (Ps 118:1). Mercy that is channeled through the ministry of the Apostles in the Upper Room: ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I send you. … Receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (Jn 20:21-23)
In the Gospel today, the Risen Lord shows His wounds to the disciples who abandoned Him when He needed them the most. Showing those wounds could have been to shame them, but Jesus wanted to communicate a message of mercy, not condemnation. What is mercy if not the boundless love of God, who, confronted with human sin, restrains the emotion of severe justice and, allowing Himself to be moved by the wretchedness of His creatures, spurs Himself to the total gift of self, in the Son’s cross? "O happy fault ... which gained for us so great a Redeemer!" (Easter Proclamation)
The message and devotion to Jesus as the Divine Mercy is based on personal revelations of Saint Faustina Kowalska, an uneducated Polish nun who in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God's mercy. This devotion was officially approved by the Church in the year 2000.
This Sunday invites us to spend time and to learn more about the mercy of God, to trust in Jesus, and live our life as merciful to others as Christ is merciful to us. At 3:00 pm on Sunday, we will pray the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction. Please plan to join us.
I also want to express my profound words of appreciation to everyone who helped with preparation to celebrate the liturgies of Holy Week. I want to thank our Missionary Sisters of the Holy Family for their tremendous work with serving the parish in so many different capacities including decoration. I want to thank our Music Ministry for their hard and dedicated work to beautify the liturgies, our liturgical ministries – ushers, greeters, altar servers and anyone who in any way helped with preparations and celebration. I also want extend most sincere words of gratitude to the team under the leadership of Dan Callahan who set up and organized the Easter Mass in the field. It was an incredible experience to gather with so many people. May the Risen Lord bless each and every one of you!!!
I wish you a blessed day of the Easter season and continue to invite you to do something beautiful for God with your lives. “Do we believe that God’s love is infinitely more powerful, His mercy more tender than the evil of sin, than all the hatred, conflicts, and tensions that are dividing the world? Do you believe that God’s love is more powerful than the most powerful bombs and guns ever made by human hands and minds?”
St. Faustina – Pray for us!
With prayers,
Fr. Andy
