Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Catholic Church continues to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection, His triumph over death, and within this Easter joy every Sunday. There is a special emphasis on God's triumph over death as we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. God's Divine Mercy is an unfathomable gift of His love for us. In his encyclical Dives in Misericordia, Saint John Paul II reminds the world that Divine Mercy is the loving manifestation of God in a history wounded by sin and that God places our miserable situation due to sin in His Fatherly heart, which is faithful to His designs. Jesus Christ, dead and risen, is the supreme manifestation and action of Divine Mercy.

"God so loved the world that He gave his only Son" (Jn 3:16) and sent Him to death so that we might not die in our sins but be offered the gift of His Divine Mercy. During the Easter Proclamation, we hear a powerful expression of God's mercy: "To redeem the slave, He sacrificed His Son." This is God's love for us expressed as mercy.

The beauty of the Catholic faith is our emphasis on Divine Mercy. God's mercy is available in abundance. No matter how great our sins, the mercy of God is greater than our sins. Just look at King David (who committed adultery and murder). Look at Peter, who denied Jesus three times, or the good thief, St. Dismas who asked for mercy from the cross. What about the Prodigal Son who wasted his inheritance and dishonored his father? These are just a few examples of the many sinners who called upon the mercy of God. Our Lord wishes us to recognize that His Mercy is greater than our sins so that we call upon Him with trust, receive His Mercy and share that mercy with others.

Once a person weighed down by a lifetime of poor choices and sinful actions realize that God is merciful, life is lived differently! Our Lord invites us to ask for His Mercy and not only for ourselves but for our nation and the whole world! How does God offer this mercy? Our Lord Himself establishes the Sacrament of Confession whereby Jesus gave the power to forgive sins to the Apostles on that first Easter Sunday.

As a person receives His Mercy, we are invited to share His mercy with others. Our Lord calls us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us. Remember the beatitude, "Blessed are the Merciful for they shall obtain Mercy." In a very real way, you and I can set the limits of how much we want God to forgive us by how much we forgive others. Jesus Himself taught us: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." We must, therefore, be merciful to others as God is merciful to us!

Trust in God is not always easy. Perhaps you have found yourself doubting God's Divine Providence. Our Lord invites us to trust in Him; to know and truly believe that He is God and because He loves us, He only wants what is best for us. God is a loving God who is infinitely merciful and wants more for than we could ever desire on our own. He does care for you! During Holy Week last week, we recalled just how much He cares for all His children. But trust can be difficult. For this reason, Jesus had St. Faustina paint the words "Jesus I trust in Thee" right on the Divine Mercy image.

On Divine Mercy Sunday, the focus is on the healing power of Our Lord's Mercy. Through Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Confessions, praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the celebration of the Eucharistic Liturgy, we will draw special attention to God's Divine Mercy. Along with the regular Mass schedule, we will have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the main church and Confessions beginning at 2:00pm. In honor of Divine Mercy there will be a sung recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy beginning at 2:30pm. Holy Mass begins at 3:00pm in which we will ask for Our Lord's Divine Mercy to heal our hearts, our minds, and our bodies.

Why is Our Lord's Divine Mercy so important? Wholeness. Every person has a built-in desire for wholeness. This desire for joy is deeply rooted in our heart. The good news is that Our Lord desires to heal our broken heart... to bind up our wounds... to make us whole. Jesus said, "Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30). Our Lord longs to take our sins from us and to rescue us from isolation and sadness. Through our baptism, Jesus clothes us in garments of gladness. That is the lesson of His mercy and love.

Please take advantage of this time of great grace. Often our sickness, like other forms of human suffering, gives us an opportunity to encounter the living Christ... to ask for grace, for healing, or for the strength to accept sickness in a spirit of faith and submission to God's will. During this Mass, we will pray for the restoration of our physical health as well as our spiritual needs.

May Our Lord's Divine Mercy mend the broken hearted, restore hope, and bring joy to all in need of healing. This is part of the Church's experience in every age and today is no different. Our Lord desires to restore us to health and make us whole.

God Bless,

Fr. Don Kline

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