Happy Easter everyone!
Since Father Bob was taking some much-needed rest this week in New York, I am taking over the bulletin article. I pray that you all had a beautiful experience of the risen Jesus this past week at Easter Sunday at Mass. It was a huge blessing to see the great turnout of people on Saturday morning to decorate the Church for Easter. I am still basking in the glow from Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and all the Easter liturgies. They bring us right back to those pivotal moments for all of history where God definitively defeated sin and death for all of us! Alleluia! God is good!
The awesome thing about being Catholic is that we still get to celebrate Easter this Sunday, as well! Easter and Christmas are celebrated throughout the Catholic church as octaves, meaning the feast is celebrated over a period of eight days. Thus, this Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, is what’s called the octave day of Easter, the eighth and final day of the feast! This eight-day tradition stretches all the way back to the Old Testament, where God commanded that important feasts like Passover span eight days. Thus, as Christians, we let the celebration continue.
This Sunday was declared as the Feast of Divine Mercy by St. John Paul the Great and it is that time when we remember the incredible love flowing from the pierced heart of Jesus was it meets us in our sinfulness. This is an awesome reality! No matter how far we might be from God or what we’ve done, in His great mercy, God is calling us back to himself.
This Sunday, let us take some time to reflect on how we can open up our hearts more fully to the mercy of God. When we do this, we cooperate with God’s grace and allow His mercy to shine like a bright beacon of light into the darkest corners of our lives. Whatever needs healing, his grace can do it!
Three main suggestions for soaking in that Divine Mercy
glory:
- Come back at 3 pm this afternoon (4/8) to participate in the sung Divine Mercy Chaplet with the Polish Dominican Sisters. Think about praying this awesome and powerful prayer on your own each day!
- Pick up a Divine Mercy Holy Card from the wooden cart in the sacristy
- Pray to receive the special grace of Divine Mercy Sunday by receiving Communion in a state of grace this Sunday. (For more information on this, visit http://www.thedivinemercy.org/)
God bless you all and a very happy Divine Mercy Sunday!
