Dear Friends,
Today we celebrate the great Feast of the Divine Mercy, a title that summarizes the Nature and Mission of our Lord Jesus Christ. The specific devotion is derived from the private revelations of Jesus to St Faustina Kowalska. Born in Poland, she joined the religious order of Our Lady of Mercy and received the revelations in the 1930’s.
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Dear Friends,
With the celebration the Palm Sunday we bring Lent to a close and begin Holy Week. The whole week is full of holy observances, starting with the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral on Monday night, then the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday, the Stations of the Cross on Friday afternoon followed by the Good Friday Service, the blessing of the food on Holy Saturday at noon, the Easter Vigil on Saturday night and then Easter Sunday Mass. Even listing this schedule reminds me of how busy Holy Week can be. But is there another time in the year that the Church offers us such a rich array of liturgies and prayer services?
For Catholics, Holy Week is unlike any other time of the year. Through our Liturgical cycle, we follow Jesus to the Upper Room for the Last Supper, to the Praetorium and His Condemnation to death, to the Via Dolorosa and to Calvary where he gave his life, to the tomb where he is mournfully laid to rest and then ïnally to the empty tomb from which Our Lord has Risen.
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On the morning of March 25th, we joined Pope Francis and millions of Catholics throughout the world in consecrating Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Many of us who were there experienced great spiritual power and joy, knowing that we were doing something efficacious to help bring peace to that troubled part of the world. One of the many titles of our Blessed Mother is “Queen of Peace.” By entrusting ourselves and others to her, we can be certain that, in the economy and time frame of the heavenly realms, she will intercede with her Son to thwart the evil intentions of those who seek to destroy the freedom of others.
The newly ordained Fr (St) John Vianney was sent to the small town of Ars, near the City of Lyon. Because of his poor academic record, his Bishop thought it prudent to relegate him to a backwater town where he could quietly exercise his priestly ministry.
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