"My child, life on earth is a struggle indeed; a great struggle for my kingdom. But fear not, because you are not alone. I am always supporting you, so lean on Me as you struggle, fearing nothing. Take the vessel of trust and draw from the fountain of life – for yourself, but also for other souls, especially such as are distrustful of My goodness.’” (No. 1488) Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska.

Dear Friends,

Tomorrow is the Second Sunday of Easter, also known as the Divine Mercy Sunday. Mass will be live-streamed as usual at 11AM. However, I'm inviting you to join us 15 minutes earlier, at 10:45AM, to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy before Mass. In case you don't know how to pray the chaplet, I'm attaching a guide to help you. All you need is your Rosary and the attached prayer guide.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the Feast of Divine Mercy, let me give you a brief synopsis.

“I am love and Mercy Itself. There is no misery that could be a match for My mercy, neither will misery exhaust it, because as it is being granted – it increases. The soul that trusts in My mercy is most fortunate, because I Myself take care of it.” (Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, 1273)

Beginning in 1931, St. Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), a Polish nun of the Congregation of Our Lady of Mercy, received a series of visions in which Jesus manifested Himself to her as Divine Mercy. He asked that an image be painted portraying Him as such. In this image, we see the Lord's Pierced Heart exposed and two rays of light shining forth from it, one blood red and the clear as crystal. The rays represent the two great streams of sacramental life in the Church; the clear ray being baptism/penance, and the blood red one being the Eucharist. This image was to be signed with the words "Jesus, I trust in You".

Jesus also taught Faustina a "chaplet" of mercy that was to be recited on rosary beads to obtain the conversion of sinners and the progress in grace for the faithful. St. Faustina's revelations were met with a great deal of skepticism and opposition from her religious superiors. She suffered much as a result of these private revelations and died in 1938 from tuberculosis at the age of 33.

However, in 1965, the then-Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla (St. John Paul II), opened a formal investigation into her life and revelations. Her visions and teachings were declared "worthy of belief". She was beatified in 1993 and canonized in 2000. At St. Faustina's canonization, St. John Paul II established the feast of Divine Mercy on the Second Sunday of Easter.

"Mercy is the beating heart of the Gospel", as Pope Francis wrote (The Name of God is Mercy). The devotion to Divine Mercy is nothing less than to encounter this "beating heart" of the Gospel, which offers us, no matter how far from God we may be, forgiveness and new life through the sacraments. But to receive God's mercy is also to give mercy. "Freely you have received, freely you must give", says the Lord (Mt. 10:8). Mercy is love in action. It "feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, bears wrongs patiently, and forgives injuries...". This, too, is the beating heart of the Gospel.

The heart of the chaplet is the offering to the Father of what He Himself has given us; the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, once offered on the cross and now offered in the Eucharist. However, we are not the ones making this offering to the Father, either at the altar or in the chaplet. Christ makes it on our behalf. He is our High Priest, who offers Himself to us and for us by uniting us to His one, perfect, sacrifice. We always act in union with Christ, Our Head. In the chaplet, as in the Eucharist, we join ourselves to Christ's sacrifice and, by means of it, intercede for the world by calling on the Father's merciful love.

Let us be united in prayer tomorrow for those most in need of God's mercy, especially the sick and the dying, and for an end to the pandemic.

As the Lord said to St. Faustina at a time when her message was met with skepticism and opposition, " ...life on earth is a struggle indeed; a great struggle for my kingdom. But fear not, because you are not alone. I am always supporting you, so lean on Me as you struggle, fearing nothing."

So, let us lean on Jesus in the midst of our current struggles, trust in His goodness, and not be afraid.

JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU.

Msgr. Joe Celano
Pastor