49 Angle Road, Walkerville
P.O. Box 378, Walkerville, 1876
Tel: 073 462 4937
walkerville.divinemercy@catholicjhb.org.za
26 May 2013
Holy Trinity Sunday (John 16:12-15)
Jesus wants to share what He has with us, everything He has, freely and generously. Yet He Himself doesn’t decide what or how much to give of what He has received. Rather, with complete trust He allows the Father to “take from what is His and declare it to us,” as the Father so desires.
St. Faustina wrote: “The Holy Trinity grants me Its life abundantly, by the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Three Divine Persons live in me. When God loves, He loves with all His Being, with all the power of His Being. If God has loved me in this way, how should I respond—I, His spouse?” (Diary 392). Indeed, we all need to ask: How should I respond to God’s love?
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, You show me by example how I should respond to Your love: Not by hoarding Your graces for myself, but by detaching myself from them and allowing the Father to make use of them for my neighbour, in whatever way He deems fit. I praise and thank You for every grace and blessing, and I ask You for the gift of a generous heart, ready to part with anything You have given me, temporal or spiritual, of which my neighbour is in need. You know what is best for me. I trust in You. Amen.
19 May 2013
Pentecost Sunday (John 14:15-16, 23b-26)
Today we celebrate the Holy Spirit, the greatest gift Jesus has given to His Church and to each one of us for help on our journey to heaven. “The Comforter” consoles us, assuring us that we can receive forgiveness in spite of our sinfulness. It is the Holy Spirit Who enlightens us to help us recognize our sins, and Who gives us the courage to confess them in the Sacrament of Penance. And it is the Holy Spirit who gives priests the power to forgive our sins in Confession.
Jesus taught St. Faustina how to approach the Sacrament of Penance, telling her: “My daughter, just as you prepare in My presence, so also you make your confession before Me. The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyze what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light.” (Diary 1725).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, I thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit and for the Sacrament of Confession. Pour out Your Spirit afresh on me and on the whole Church. Help me to grow in holiness by calling on the Holy Spirit for light in a daily examination of conscience, and by frequenting the Sacrament of Confession, where You Yourself are waiting for me. May Your Spirit of Truth guide me to all truth. I trust in You! Amen.
12 May 2013
The Seventh Sunday of Easter (John 17:20-26)
Today we hear Jesus praying to His Father for unity among all of us, that we may be “perfectly one.” Our seemingly little squabbles wound the Heart of Jesus, who wants us to put aside all differences and embrace each other in brotherly love. Jesus told His followers that people will know by the love we have for each other that we are His disciples. Once we Catholics truly demonstrate this love within our own families and parishes, we will draw back to the true faith many of those who have separated themselves from the Church precisely because of the “squabbles” mentioned above.
St. Faustina prayed: “Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of (our separated brothers and sisters). Draw them by Your light into the unity of the Church, and do not let them escape from the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart; but bring it about that they, too, come to adore the generosity of Your mercy” (Diary 1219).
Let us, too, pray for unity among all Christians, but above all, let us strive to live as true brothers and sisters.
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, make me an instrument that will foster unity not only in my own family and community but among all people who confess You as Lord. Unite us in Your love. Amen.
5 May 2013
The Sixth Sunday of Easter (John 14:23-29)
Today Jesus gives us the gift of His peace. He wants us to receive it, but somehow we are too anxious and scared. Something prevents us from embracing this precious gift—it is our own attachment to sin and our lack of trust.
Jesus told St. Faustina: “Write this for the benefit of distressed souls: when a soul sees and realizes the gravity of its sins, when the whole abyss of the misery into which it immersed itself is displayed before its eyes, let it not despair, but with trust let it throw itself into the arms of My mercy, as a child into the arms of its beloved mother. These souls have a right of priority to My compassionate Heart, they have first access to My mercy” (Diary 1541).
Our Pope Emeritus Benedict once asked, “Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to Him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us?” After that he encouraged us, saying: “And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you: (...) Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and He gives you everything. When we give ourselves to Him, we receive a hundredfold in return.”
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, sinner that I am, I know that I have first access to Your mercy. Tear me away from sin, and help me open myself to Your blessings and peace. I trust in You. Amen.