49 Angle Road, Walkerville
P.O. Box 378, Walkerville, 1876
Tel: 073 462 4937
walkerville.divinemercy@catholicjhb.org.za
31 May 2015
Holy Trinity Sunday (Matthew 28:16-20)
The missionary nature of the Christian vocation comes out in today’s Gospel. Jesus has told all of us to go out and win souls over for Him. And how do we do that? By letting them know of His infinite love and mercy. By spreading the word about the upcoming Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy announced by Pope Francis.
Jesus told St. Faustina, “Tell the world about My mercy and My love. (…) Do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. (…) Souls who spread the honour of My mercy I shield through their entire lives as a tender mother her infant, and at the hour of death I will not be a Judge for them, but the Merciful Saviour. At that last hour, a soul has nothing with which to defend itself except My mercy. Happy is the soul that during its lifetime immersed itself in the Fountain of Mercy, because justice will have no hold on it” (Diary 1074, 1075).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, immerse me in the Fountain of Your Mercy. Teach me to evangelize, and give me grace and courage to share about You with all the people You place in my path. Immerse me in the Fountain of Your Mercy and shield me from Your Justice on the Last Day. Amen.
24 May 2015
Pentecost Sunday (John 15:26-27; 16:12-15)
The feast of Pentecost we celebrate today is not just an historical event we commemorate each year, but an annual outpouring of God’s blessings on the Church in general and on every member of the Church who desires and asks for graces. “If you, with all your sins, know how to give your children good things, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Lk 11:13). Let us not watch this great feast go by without asking for an abundance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.
Naturally, our relationship with the Holy Spirit cannot be a purely passive expectation of receiving gifts. True, the Holy Spirit is generous, but we must also learn to cooperate with the Spirit’s gentle nudging. St. Faustina wrote: “Oh, if souls would only be willing to listen, at least a little, to the voice of conscience and the voice—that is, the inspirations—of the Holy Spirit! I say ‘at least a little,’ because once we open ourselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit, He himself will fulfil what is lacking in us” (Diary 359).
Prayer: Almighty and Merciful Father, send us Your Holy Spirit and teach us to be sensitive to His every inspiration. We ask this in the Name of Your Son, Jesus, the Lord. Amen.
17 May 2015
The Ascension of the Lord (Mark 16:15-20)
Jesus’ command to his disciples in today’s Gospel to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation,” applies also to us. Every Christian is called to evangelize, to go out and proclaim the good news of God’s merciful love to the world. We are to do this not only through our words, but also through our actions.
Jesus told St. Faustina: “Encourage souls to place great trust in My fathomless mercy. Let the weak, sinful soul 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 immeasurable depths of My mercy” (Diary 1059). God’s love is greater than any sin we could ever commit. This is a beautiful truth that every person needs to know. I should be out there reminding people of God’s mercy, encouraging them to take their sins to the Lord in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. But at the same time l should be attracting them to God by radiating the wonderful joy that comes from knowing that I myself have been forgiven.
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, I thank You for the precious gift of forgiveness. Help me to lead others to the joy of knowing and experiencing Your healing love and mercy. Amen.
10 May 2015
The Sixth Sunday of Easter (John 15:9-17)
The law of love Jesus gives us in today’s Gospel is fundamental. We are to love as He loves, forgetting ourselves and putting our neighbour and his needs before our own. This is not a mere recommendation, but a command; it isn’t optional, but will actually be the criteria Jesus uses at the Last Judgment: “I assure you, as often as you neglected to do it to one of these least ones, you neglected to do it to Me” (Mt 25:45).
St. Faustina gives us a threefold definition of love of neighbour: “First: Helpfulness towards [others]. Second: Do not speak about those who are absent, and defend the good name of my neighbour. Third: Rejoice in the success of others” (Diary 241). When I’m all caught up in me, me, me, it is difficult to even notice my neighbour’s needs, yet very easy for me to see his faults and to fall into criticizing him for his imperfections. It’s also very easy for me to be jealous when my neighbour succeeds at something I haven’t been able to succeed at myself.
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, You laid down Your life for love of me. Help me to forget myself. Teach me to practice genuine love of neighbour toward everyone you place in my path. Amen.
3 May 2015
The Fifth Sunday of Easter (John 15:1-8)
In today’s Gospel Jesus tells us that unless we abide in Him, drawing our very life from Him, as branches on a vine, we can do nothing good. Apart from Him, our lives will bear no fruit. Yet it is in our bearing fruit, in our becoming holy, that the Father is glorified.
By making Jesus the centre of our lives, by striving to live united to Him through faith, charity and good works, we will not only bear fruit, but He will abide in us more intimately, and constantly pour His grace into our hearts. This grace is the sap that makes us, His branches, bear fruit.
After a week-long retreat during which she enjoyed very close union with Jesus, St Faustina wrote: “Now I can be wholly useful to the Church by my personal sanctity, which throbs with life in the whole Church, for we all make up one organism in Jesus. That is why I endeavor to make the soil of my heart bear good fruit. Although the human eye may perhaps never see it, there will nevertheless come a day when it will become apparent that many souls have been fed with this fruit” (Diary 1364).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, teach me to abide in You. May the love I draw from You inspire me to perform works of mercy that will bear fruit and bring glory to the Heavenly Father. Amen.