Posted on 04/22/2006 4:27:21 PM PDT by NYer
The message from Saint Faustina Kowalska is nothing new. The Divine Mercy devotion reminds us of the most fundamental teaching of Jesus Christ: repent and believe. However, the urgency of the message and connection with the Pontificate of Pope John Paul the Great should get our attention and make us reflect upon our lives.
You will prepare the world for My final coming (Diary 429). Speak to the world about My mercy ... It is a sign for the end times. After it will come the Day of Justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fountain of My mercy (Diary 848). Tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near (Diary 965). I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of sinners. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation (Diary 1160). Before the Day of Justice, I am sending the Day of Mercy (Diary 1588). He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice (Diary 1146).
No one knows the time of the Second Coming, but both St. Faustina and Pope John Paul II have made it very clear that we are living in a very special time of trial. Much of humanity has rejected God. We are living within the consequences of this massive apostasy.
Early in his pontificate, the newly elected Pope from Poland declared, "Right from the beginning of my ministry in St. Peters See in Rome, I consider this message of Divine Mercy my special task. Providence has assigned it to me in the present situation of man, the Church and the world. It could be said that precisely this situation assigned that message to me as my task before God" (November 22, 1981 at the Shrine of Merciful Love in Collevalenza, Italy).
In 1997 near Krakow, Poland, where the relics of Blessed Faustina are kept, John Paul II addressed the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy with these words: "At no time and in no historical period especially at a moment as critical as our own can the Church forget the prayer that is a cry for the mercy of God amid the many forms of evil which weigh upon humanity and threaten it... The more the human conscience succumbs to secularization, loses its sense of the very meaning of the word mercy, moves away from God, and distances itself from the mystery of mercy, the more the Church has the right and the duty to appeal to the God of mercy with loud cries.
During this years Good Friday Stations of the Cross, Pope Benedict XVI, underscored the situation of the modern world when he said during the Seventh Station that there is a move to reinvent mankind, to modify the very grammar of life as planned and willed by God. But, to take Gods place, without being God, is insane arrogance, a risky and dangerous venture.
This Sundays gospel passage reveals to us the God of mercy. Jesus appears to his apostles for the first time and pronounces to them words of mercy: Peace be with you (John 20: 21). We are all sinners. All of us have something to do with the crucifixion of Jesus. It is the merciful Lord that gives us peace, and his peace comes to us because he forgives us of all of our sins. Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those who sins you retain, they are retained (John 20: 23). With these words, the God of mercy gives us the Sacrament of Confession. How sad and how alarming it is that many Catholics reject the sacrament of mercy.
If we do not recognize our own personal sinfulness, how can we personally experience the loving presence of the merciful Lord in our lives?
How many souls will be lost because they do not recognize their own sinfulness? How many souls will be lost because they refuse to go to the Sacrament of Confession and encounter the God of mercy?
A Prayer for Parish Priests on Divine Mercy Sunday
Lord Jesus,
You have entrusted to me the care of my brothers and sisters gathered together in this parish family. My mission in life is to get to Heaven and bring my brothers and sisters with me. But, you know how sinful and weak I am. Nevertheless, I know that I can do all things in you. Grant me any suffering in this life so that I may offer that suffering up for the conversion of all of my brothers and sisters who refuse to approach the sacrament of mercy. Do not let anyone who has been entrusted to my pastoral care be lost because of my negligence or my lack of holiness. Never let me be departed from you. Jesus, I trust in you! Amen.
Order Saint Faustina's Diary by clicking here
I am always a little puzzled when things like this are not available to be read on the net.
(Diary of Sr. Faustina (1,187)
THE DIVINE MERCY NOVENA BEGINS ON GOOD FRIDAY.
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Feast of The Divine Mercy - April 23, 2006 - EWTN Program Listing
Divine Mercy Sunday - message from Saint Faustina Kowalska and link to JPII
Recipes:
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April 23, 2006 Divine Mercy Sunday
Jesus to Sr. Faustina On one occasion, I heard these words: 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. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy. [Let] the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy. Write: before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice. From all My wounds, like from streams, mercy flows for souls, but the wound in My Heart is the fountain of unfathomable mercy. From this fountain spring all graces for souls. The flames of compassion burn Me. I desire greatly to pour them out upon souls. Speak to the whole world about My mercy. Excerpted from Diary of Sr. M. Faustina Kowalska. Things to Do:
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Divine Mercy in My Soul, The Diary of Saint Faustina Kowalska is now available online in its entirety.
There is no need to purchase a Copy of the Diary.
Here is the Link.
http://our.homewithgod.com/divinemercy/
bump to buy later.
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