Dear Parishioners,
Happy Easter!!! Alleluia!
Christ is Risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
This weekend, we conclude the Easter Octave with the Feast of Divine Mercy. Since the Easter Sunday, for the last eight days, we have been in continuous celebration of Easter Day. Now, on the Feast of His Mercy, the Lord will pour out His mercy on all souls who desire it.
The graces that the Lord has in store for us on this day are inconceivable as our soul is washed clean again and made white as snow…as the Lord tells us we will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and all punishment due to those sins.
To quote Pope John Paul II, “God’s Divine Mercy is when love encounters suffering, poverty, brokenness and sin…it mercifully takes action to do something about it. Mercy is love going out to misery.” The greatest attribute of God is His mercy and today is the Feast of His Mercy.
We know that God made us so that we could experience His love and be in union with Him. Love is at the core of our faith; love is at the core of our being human; love is our drive and our destiny. We were all made to be loved and to loved in return. There are no exceptions. God’s love for us desires us to one with Him. We remain in union with Him through the Sacraments (Baptism, Confession, and Eucharist) and living in a state of grace.
The Lord said this about those who partake in the Sacraments, “Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him. (Diary entry 299).
From St Faustina’s diary (entry 699), we see how far God goes to pour out his love for us and the significance of this Feast of His mercy. “My daughter; tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender Mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the Fount of My Mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet.”
Jesus, I Trust in You
Let us continue to pray for each other and with each other as we share the message of God's Divine Mercy during the Easter Season.
HAPPY EASTER!!!
May God bless you and your families,
Fr. Gerard Monaghan