Category: Divine Mercy Sunday

Extraordinary Graces for Everyone - on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 11th 2021!

3/27/2021

In a week’s time it will be Easter Sunday, when Christians rejoice at the Resurrection of Our Lord Who died on the Cross to save us from our sins.

However, while we Catholics receive forgiveness from our sins when we go to Confession, and all our eternal punishment due to sin is removed – i.e. going to hell - the temporal punishment due to those sins may still remain. This means after we die, we go to Purgatory to be purged of our remaining impurities before we can enter Heaven ‘where nothing impure shall enter (Revelation 21:27).’

This temporal punishment remains if our contrition is imperfect, that is, if we go to Confession without truly repenting of our sin or out of fear of hell. Perfect contrition is extremely difficult to achieve; it’s hard for us not to be attached in some way to our sins. Which is why we keep committing them!

Is There Another Way to Be Cleansed?

In his wonderful book, Understanding Divine Mercy Father Chris Alar, MIC, a priest with the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, writes, “For those unable to have all temporal punishment remitted in this life because they don’t have perfect love, perfect contrition, or perfect detachment from sin, all hope is not lost.”

He goes on to explain the extraordinary grace of Divine Mercy Sunday. “If you have ever wished you could wipe your slate clean and start over, this is your chance! … All sins and punishment are removed by the grace of this one day, Divine Mercy Sunday, when we fulfill the conditions of a valid Confession and worthily receive Holy Communion.”

image courtesy of https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/image

How to Receive the Grace of Divine Mercy Sunday

If you are a non-Catholic, or homebound and unable to get to the Sacraments because your church is closed, you can still receive this grace if you truly desire it. Ask God for forgiveness of your sins by making an Act of Contrition, and wanting to be united to God through making an Act of Spiritual Communion and the Church believes that God will grant this grace of His Mercy.

For Catholics who can attend church, first, go to Confession before or on Divine Mercy Sunday – or any time during Lent will do. The important thing is to be in a state of grace on that day, meaning that you are aware of no mortal sin on your soul. The last act is to receive Holy Communion with the intention of receiving this promised grace.

Father Alar suggests the following prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, You promised St. Faustina that the soul that has been to Confession (I have) and the soul that receives Holy Communion with trust in Divine Mercy (I am) will receive complete forgiveness of all sins and punishment. Lord, please give me this grace. Jesus, I trust in You.”

If you recite that prayer with total trust in Jesus and a sincere intention of turning away from sin, Jesus will give you this grace. As Father Alar writes, “This grace is so powerful that it can open the door to Heaven, so don’t let Divine Mercy Sunday pass you by!”

In 2021 it is on April 11th.

Helping the Holy Souls in Purgatory

You can only receive this grace for yourself, and not for a Holy Soul in Purgatory.

However, you can offer a plenary indulgence for those Holy Souls, attached to an act of worship of the Divine Mercy or taking part in a Divine Mercy service on that same day. This is separate from the extraordinary promise of Divine Mercy Sunday.

Are All My Sins Taken Care of?

As a final point, the extraordinary promise of Divine Mercy cleanses us of everything up to and including our participation in Divine Mercy Sunday. It does not remove punishment for sins committed after that date. We have to wait until the next year to receive these amazing graces.

All the more reason to take advantage of them this year!

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Who Needs Mercy? Not I! Said the Little Red Hen

4/8/2015

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The waters are beginning to rise

I am currently reading the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. It is the fascinating and intensely holy journey of the Polish nun whom Christ commissioned with the task of spreading devotion to His Divine Mercy.

She records the words spoken to her by Jesus, in which He reveals an unfathomable love for mankind.

Jesus’ Frustration

He also tells her of how deeply saddened He is when we don’t come to Him with pure, childlike trust.

“This distrust of My goodness hurts me very much. If My death has not convinced you of My love, what will?....There are souls who despise My graces as well as all the proofs of My love. They do not wish to hear My call, but proceed into the abyss of hell. The loss of these souls plunges Me into deadly sorrow… I cannot help such a soul because it scorns Me; having a free will, it can spurn Me or love Me.” (580) (My italics)

Last Friday we commemorated the death of Christ, following the horrible scourging with lead-tipped whips and being forced to carry the heavy wooden cross before having His hands and feet nailed to it.

He did all that to prove how much He loves each one of us – regardless of our past.

In doing so He conquered death and Satan, and urgently wants us to ask for His mercy and forgiveness, so that we can be with Him in Heaven when our life here on earth is over.

It doesn't take a genius to understand Christ’s frustration when we still refuse to believe in Him, despite everything He’s done for us!

Mercy isn't just reserved for Catholics!

Our Free Choice to Descend Into Hell

Modern man has decided that he’s too smart for God and is happier without Him.

All around us is clear evidence that this is not so. Yet we’re such ‘a stiff-necked people’ that we persist in our self-delusion. Do we really prefer our culture of death, the direct result of scorning God’s Ten Commandments? Do we really believe that we live in a better world now? Do you believe that?

As has already been noted, God is such a gentleman that when we say we don’t want Him, He leaves. And then we complain about the state of the world and wonder ‘how God can let it happen.’

Don’t we understand that we let it happen? We’re only getting what we asked for! And so we ‘do not wish to hear (His) call, but proceed into the abyss of hell.’

It’s our choice and an exercise of our free will. (Which, by the way, we wouldn’t have if God hadn’t given it to us….)

Simple forgiveness is all Jesus asks us to request from Him

Sin & Satan: Myth or Reality?

We have to turn our backs on the secular culture that tells us there is no such thing as sin. The world and its very real prince, Satan, is having a wonderful time right now.

Satan knows that if we acknowledge sin, we’ll stop wasting our money on frivolous things and give more to the poor and needy. We'll spend less time watching television and more on praying and going to church. We’ll then be in real danger of getting out of his grasp and go to Heaven.

He hates us, and wants us to forget about God and sin.

Deep down we know that sin is real, even though we try to ignore it. Everyone one of us understands that murder is a sin, lying is a sin, theft, envy, etc.

All the things the Ten Commandments tell us not to do we are innately aware are wrong. God put that moral code into our hearts. But we don’t want to do the right thing because it ‘impinges on our freedom.’

As I mentioned earlier, where has that version of ‘freedom’ got us?

Those who have been through wars remind us that freedom doesn’t come for free. How much truer that is with God! We have to battle to keep our freedom.

The light is always on for us

Complete Forgiveness

Divine Mercy Sunday is this weekend.

‘No soul will be justified until it turns with confidence to My mercy, and this is why the first Sunday after Easter is to be the Feast of Mercy. On that day, priests are to tell everyone about My great and unfathomable mercy.’ (570)

Jesus is hurt that we don't understand how true freedom is a release from our sins. He reassures us that absolutely no one has reason to shrink from going to Confession. ‘Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet.’ (699)

Christ rejoices when those who have been away from the Sacraments come back to the Church. His parable of the Prodigal Son wasn’t simply a moving story: He told it so that we could understand God's joy when one of His lost sheep comes back to the fold.

For non-Catholics, it is also a call to ask for forgiveness as well as an opportunity to see the many ways the Catholic Church can help its members draw closer to God and to Heaven.

‘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… Mankind will not have peace until it returns to the fount of My mercy.’ (699)

Jesus' call for our repentance is just as valid today as it was when Noah was told to build the Ark, when Jonah was sent to save Nineveh, when John the Baptist preached in the desert or Peter converted over 3,000 people at Pentecost.

This Sunday,let’s take advantage of God’s fathomless ability to forgive.

It is never too late to return to God and His Commandments while we are in this life.

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The Ultimate Gift: Available For a Limited Time Only!

4/25/2014

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I grew up unaware of Christ's fathomless mercy during my formative years. A sword hung over me - I thought God the Father and His Son were waiting for - almost wanting - me to do something wrong so they could punish me.

I think that is how a lot of people perceive God.

A Wonderful Gift from Jesus this Sunday

Jesus offers us forgiveness constantly, but the Feast of Divine Mercy this Sunday is special.

If everyone understood what Jesus wants to give us on this day, they'd drop everything and beg for His mercy.

Jesus told Saint Faustina that no sinner has offended God so much that he or she cannot be forgiven: “Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet.”

Jesus died horribly in order to be able to offer us His forgiveness. Why aren’t we taking advantage of His gift?

The Words of Jesus to St. Faustina

Jesus said to St. Faustina in entry 699 of her diary:

“It is My desire that (the Feast of Mercy) be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter.”

That feast is this coming Sunday, 27th April 2014.

“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, receive Holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the Pope recite the Our Father, Creed and a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus before the Blessed Sacrament (exposed or reposed) shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishments.” My italics.

Look at what Jesus is offering us and what little He asks us to give Him in return. Is it really so hard for us Catholics to fulfill those requirements?

Jesus Asks so Little of Us

If you didn’t go to confession during Lent, here’s your perfect opportunity. If you've been away from the Church for a long time – a few years or even decades – and are in need of some encouragement to go , read The Light Is On For You to be reassured of what a loving reception you can expect in the confessional.

Confession is the biggest hurdle to completing Jesus’ requirements for His mercy. He’s asking us to be humble, and that's tough. It’s difficult for us humans to get over ourselves, but we must if we are to move forwards in our spiritual lives.

Back in the Fold

Once you’ve been to confession, a powerful feeling of peace will come over you. You’ll look forward to receiving your first Communion after the long absence, and enjoy a strong sense of coming home.

If you go to Mass, but sit in your pew while others go up to receive, or walk up Sunday after Sunday with your arms crossed for a blessing – imagine how wonderful it will be to receive the Body and Blood of Christ again!

I went through that experience after being away from the Church (and Mass) for over twenty years. A tremendous sense of serenity filled me after my ‘first confession’ and I was so excited to receive Communion again.

I had not appreciated until then just how much I’d missed the Mass. I knew this was where I truly belonged, and I’m confident you will, too.

Get ready to receive Our Lord this coming Sunday!

Hurry Before This Offer Expires!

Once we die, Jesus becomes the Just Judge. We can no longer prevail upon His mercy and forgiveness - it is too late.

Can any of us afford not to take Him up on His offer?

Sunrise at my house -
"This is the day the Lord has made. let us rejoice and be glad in it!" (Psalm 118:24)

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Extraordinary Graces for Everyone - on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 11th 2021!

Who Needs Mercy? Not I! Said the Little Red Hen

The Ultimate Gift: Available For a Limited Time Only!

Hilary Walker

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