Sunday of Divine Mercy, April 3, 2016
Baruch, Chapter 6, Verse 27-28
27 Their
priests sell their sacrifices for their own advantage. Likewise their wives
cure some of the meat, but they do not share it with the poor and the weak; 28 women ritually unclean or at childbirth handle
their sacrifices. From such things, know that they are not gods; do not fear them.
He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld. (Rev. 1:17-18)
He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld. (Rev. 1:17-18)
Fear! Those who are fearful
are ruled by their emotions.
What is worst to kill a
person’s body or to kill a person’s soul?
When a person leads you
astray from the Lord they indeed are killing your soul. The soul is meant to be
free to do with will of God and when the soul is busy doing the will of God we
are indeed happy; even in abject poverty. When a soul is hampered from doing
the will of God by another or your own free will this is a form of slavery and
God is reminding us that He brought us out of the house of slavery.
To stone something is to
bury it not in earth but in stone so that it will never rise again. What are
the things that are leading you astray from God?
5 Enslaving Habits We Must Avoid
While the horror of slavery is thankfully dead as an
institution, it sadly lives on in many other forms in many lives today, all
around us, in ways maybe not considered slavery by some. I hope to get you to
reconsider. But let’s first define our terms:
Slave: “One that is
totally subservient to a dominating influence.”
~ Merriam-Webster
There are 5 basic areas of life in which we can become totally subservient to dominating influences, and thereby live less-than-ideal and something less than happy lives.
5 Ways Slavery is Still with Us
1.
Slavery to addictions.
Whether we are talking about being enslaved to tobacco or alcohol, or whether
we’re talking about enslavement to illicit material online or simply to the TV
or to junk food or gossip, any addictions rob us of a measure of freedom and
independence. But freedom is required for happiness. So anything that enslaves
us limits the degree of joy we can have in life.
2. Slavery
to the office: When spouse and family and our spiritual lives are
playing second fiddle to the office, things are likely out of whack. Of course,
there will be times, like the first few years of starting a business, when
things will be lopsided. But if the office always is master and you
are always its servant, then change may be needed for the fullness of a happy
life to be experienced. Remember, your family is not a footnote to your
journey. They are there in the thick of things, experiencing it with you,
alongside you, maybe, in some ways, because of you. So give them the
time of day, from time to time!
3. Slavery
to success: When success becomes more important than integrity or
honor or self-respect, then our subservience to the call of the dollar sign
becomes self-destructive, as all addictions are. Happiness is robbed of its
internal rewards when our insides are all twisted inside out as we compromise
our values in the pursuit of wealth.
4. Slavery
to pleasure: Is the pursuit of pleasure hurting your relationship with
your spouse? Are you pursuing pleasure at the expense of your spouse’s
pleasure? Is that pursuit violating sacred vows and trusts? Are you spending
your family into debt as you chase pleasure from one mountain top to another –
or one casino to another – or one vacation to another – or one, well, you get
the idea.
5. Slavery
to fear: Does fear and worry prevent you from taking steps to break
free of a dissatisfying life? Do you wish for something more, but keep the door
closed and locked and continue to do what you’ve always done? Are you trapped
in a cycle of sameness, worried that if you tried to start a business, or tried
to learn a skill, or tried an adventure on for size, or tried to learn to write
or sing or climb, that you would fail and fall and sink and drown?
Afterthoughts
Slavery may be dead as a formal institution of human
bondage, but it is alive and well in the hearts and minds and lives of too many
people who have the ability to loose the shackles, but haven’t exercised the
courage to do it yet.[1]
Divine Mercy Sunday
Come to the Feast of Divine Mercy! Calling all Catholics, come to
the Feast of Mercy on the Sunday after Easter. Did you know that the Lord said
that this feast would one day be the “last hope of salvation”? Have you
considered what would happen to you if you suddenly died in the state of mortal
sin? Did you know that in the 1930’s Our Lord Jesus, Himself requested through
St. Faustina that a very special Feast of Divine Mercy be established in His
Church and solemnly celebrated on the First Sunday after Easter every year? In
the Jubilee Year 2000, after many years of study, Saint Pope John Paul II
fulfilled the will of Christ by establishing this special Feast of Divine Mercy
in the Catholic Church and gave it the name of Divine Mercy Sunday! By God’s
Providence, Saint John Paul II died on this feast in 2005. What is so special
about this new Feast of Divine Mercy you might be asking yourself? It is the
promise of the total forgiveness of all sins and punishment for any soul that
would go to Confession and then receive Jesus in Holy Communion on that very
special Feast of Divine Mercy! Why would Jesus offer us something so great at
this time? Jesus told St. Faustina that she was to prepare the world for His
Second Coming and that He would be pouring out His Mercy in very great
abundance before He comes again as the Just Judge and as the very last hope of
salvation. If you have been away from the practice of your Catholic faith, and
if you would like to come back into the, one, true Catholic Church, then this
is the most perfect opportunity for you, if you are prepared to repent and turn
from sin. Many former fallen-away Catholics have taken advantage of this great
Feast of Mercy to get a brand new start in life and to be totally prepared to
stand before the Lord.
If you have been away from the Catholic faith and if you have any
questions about coming back home, then come in and talk to a priest at any
Catholic Church. The beauty of the Catholic Church is that its teachings and
practices are the same at all the parishes. You may have concerns, such as:
marriage outside of the Church; un-confessed abortions; or other issues that
could be preventing you from receiving Holy Communion or you may have questions
about the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Don’t remain in doubt. Call your local
parish office to find out the necessary steps to come back to the Catholic
faith. Don’t consider yourself as without hope. Our Lord Jesus wants to pardon
completely even the worst sinners possible. Remember, Jesus has come for
sinners, not the righteous. Jesus said that even if our sins were as numerous
as the grains of sand, they would be lost in His Ocean of Mercy. If you are
truly repentant of your sins and are well prepared to confess your sins in the
Sacrament of Confession, you’ll experience a tremendous peace. You’ll
experience a great weight lifted from you and get a brand new start in life!
Once you have confessed your sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, then you
must continue to practice your faith as a good Catholic. This involves
attending Mass every Sunday and on Holy Days of Obligation, supporting your
local parish, and confessing your serious sins at least once a year. In
Confession, you must be truly sorry for your sins and you must intend to
continue to practice your faith.
Jesus is in the Confessional
One of the most reassuring
things Our Lord Jesus revealed to us through Saint Faustina includes the
several times when He indicated to her that He is really there in the
Confessional when we are making our individual Confessions to the priests. Jesus
said that every time we enter the Confessional, that He Himself is there
waiting for us, and that He is only hidden by the priest. Jesus said never to
analyze what sort of a priest that He is making use of, but for us to reveal
our souls to Him and that He will fill us with His peace and light. Some have
wondered why Jesus would want us to confess our sins to a priest, but the
answer is in the very first instruction that Jesus gave to His Apostles
directly after His Resurrection from the dead. On the evening of the
Resurrection, Jesus walked through the door of the Upper Room where the
Apostles were hiding and said to them “Receive the Holy Spirit, what sins you
forgive are forgiven them, what sins you retain are retained”. This was the
start of Confessions. For sure, that command was not only for the Apostles to
be able to forgive sins, and then to be forgotten, but for that power to be
passed on to all the ordained priests of today in the Catholic Church. Jesus
said that the greater the sinner, the greater the right they have to His mercy!
Don’t continue to carry your sins, Jesus forgives!
To properly celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy and to receive the
forgiveness of all sins and punishment, you must go to Confession to a Catholic
priest within 20 days before or after Divine Mercy Sunday. Or if you are in the
state of very serious or mortal sin, you must always confess them before
receiving Jesus in Holy Communion, or you will also commit a sacrilege, which
is also a very serious sin. If you haven’t been going to Sunday Mass without
any good reason, you may be in a state of serious sin and you must confess
before receiving Jesus in Holy Communion. For more information about the Feast
of Divine Mercy and a Confession Guide, go to: http://www.DivineMercySunday.com or
call 772-873-4581.
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