49 Angle Road, Walkerville
P.O. Box 378, Walkerville, 1876
Tel: 073 462 4937
walkerville.divinemercy@catholicjhb.org.za
26 July 2015
The Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Jn 6:1-15)
At the multiplication of the loaves in today’s Gospel Jesus teaches us that His blessings should always be put to the best possible use. Overabundance and wealth can lead us to laziness and indifference. Just because everyone has eaten to his fill doesn’t mean we should leave the leftovers to go to waste. This is true not only of material blessings but also of God’s graces. There is no limit to the amount of God’s love and grace the human heart can contain. We should open wide our hearts to accept God’s gifts and not indifferently allow His graces to run off of our hard hearts like water off a duck’s back.
Jesus told St. Faustina, “My daughter, take the graces that others spurn; take as many as you can carry” (Diary 454). Later He told Faustina “My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out: ‘Father, take this cup away from Me, if it be Your will’ (Diary 1228).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, I am sincerely grateful for each of Your many graces and blessings. Don’t let me ever take any of them for granted. Teach me to open up my heart to receive Your love even more. And don’t ever let me fall into the sin of indifference. Amen.
19 July 2015
The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mk 6:30-34)
Today’s gospel gives us a glimpse of Jesus’ merciful Heart. When he sees people “without a shepherd” He immediately takes on the role of the Good Shepherd, instructing them in the ways of salvation. Jesus wants to teach us, He wants to guide us, and this He does this through His Church and through its ministers, especially His priests.
Jesus told St. Faustina, “Write, My secretary, that I Myself am the spiritual guide of souls – and I guide them indirectly through the priest, and lead each one to sanctity by a road known to Me alone” (Diary 1784).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, Good Shepherd of our souls, open my heart to the spiritual direction You desire to give me through the Sunday homilies I hear. Help me to put into practice the teachings of Holy Church. I want to walk down that road you have cut out for me, the road that leads to my sanctification. Amen.
12 July 2015
The Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mk 6:7-13)
In today’s gospel Jesus sends out His disciples on an evangelization mission telling them not to bring anything with them at all, not even the basic necessities. He wants to teach them trust, and He wants to prove to them that He truly will provide for their every need.
Most of us would be delighted if God dropped down some money for us from heaven in the middle of each month. But when we have money sitting in the bank, we don’t really need Him to drop any down. It’s only when we don’t have what we need to pay the bills that He is able to provide for us in a miraculous way. When we rely completely on Him and trust in Him completely, His generosity knows no limit. Jesus told St. Faustina: “My daughter, let nothing frighten or disconcert you. Remain deeply at peace. Everything is in My hands” (Diary 219). “My daughter, I assure you of a permanent income on which you will live. Your duty will be to trust completely in My goodness, and My duty will be to give you all you need. I am making Myself dependent upon your trust: if your trust is great, then My generosity will be without limit” (Diary 548).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, help me to stop putting my trust in material things and money. I believe that You really want to bestow Your blessings on me. Teach me to trust in You alone. Amen.
5 July 2015
The Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mk 6:1-6)
Jesus was Goodness Itself, and yet He was not accepted by His own. So why should we, His sinful and very imperfect followers, be surprised when we are not accepted? We should, in fact, expect to be persecuted and laughed at. Jesus actually even guaranteed persecution to His followers! But the wonderful paradox here is that the difficulties we experience because of our faith in Jesus are precisely what strengthen us in that faith!
We need to take on the attitude of St. Paul. Convinced of Jesus’ words “My grace is sufficient for you,” he didn’t complain about his weaknesses, but boasted about them as the means to his sanctification. “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Of course we have to cooperate with God’s grace and not just rely on our own power. St. Faustina wrote, “When one day I resolved to practice a certain virtue, I lapsed into the vice opposed to that virtue ten times more frequently than on other days. In the evening, I was reflecting on why, (…), and I heard the words: You were counting too much on yourself and too little on Me” (Diary 1087).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, teach me to rely on You for the graces I need when feeling weak or rejected. Jesus, I trust in You! Amen.