Divine Mercy Sunday

Dear Parishioners,

A Blessed Divine Mercy Sunday!  Today our second graders will receive their First Holy Communion during Sunday Masses.  We are reminded through this celebration of that moment of when we have the greatest union with Christ in the Eucharist.  It is a true expression of God's Mercy (Jn 3:16) that we receive the very body and blood of the Son of God.  In that Mercy, God was not content to sit back but to remain actively engaged to communicate His love and presence to us.  In the 1930s, Jesus chose a humble Polish nun, St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, to receive private revelations concerning Divine Mercy that were recorded in her Diary. Faustina documented all these episodes — over 1,800 entries — in her diary that today is a classic book called "Divine Mercy in My Soul."  In 1934, with the support of her spiritual director, St. Faustina commissioned a painting by Eugeniusz Kazimirowski depicting Jesus with two streams of light — one red and one white — coming from his heart with the signature "Jesus, I trust in You."  This image of God's Divine Mercy was to be communicated to all peoples.

Jesus had this to say concerning this Sunday, which was to be set aside in honor to His Mercy, "My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a 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."Jesus continued: "On that day are opened all the divine floodgates through which graces flow. 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.  Encourage souls to place great trust in My fathomless mercy. Let the weak, sinful souls have no fear to approach Me, for even if it had more sins than there are grains of sand in the world, all would be drowned in the unmeasurable depths of My mercy."  Jesus said "The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive" — what might be holding you back from trusting Him fully, and what would it look like to surrender that to His mercy this Sunday?

As we celebrate the Eucharist, Jesus Himself, who longs to pour Himself as Mercy into our hearts, please join me in praying for all of our St. Joseph and St. Mary First Holy Communicants on this Divine Mercy Sunday!

Kolbi Chvatal

Catherine Grummert

William Heisterkamp

Olivia Kufahl

Simon Rawe

May God Bless each of our children, you, and your families!

Fr. Luke Fleck