49 Angle Road, Walkerville
P.O. Box 378, Walkerville, 1876
Tel: 073 462 4937
walkerville.divinemercy@catholicjhb.org.za
3 September 2017
The Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 16:21-27)
Today’s Gospel is about the Cross. Jesus reminds us that the only way to follow Him genuinely is by taking up our daily crosses. Earlier in the Gospel He tells that He Himself will suffer much and be killed. And He admonishes Peter for wanting things to be otherwise. He came to lay down His life out of love for us, and nothing will stop Him from going through with His plan.
Suffering helps us to grasp God’s great love is for us—He went through much more pain than anything we could imagine. As He showed us His love by His Cross, we can show Him our love by carrying our much smaller crosses. St. Faustina wrote: “True love is measured by the thermometer of suffering. Jesus, I thank You for the little daily crosses, for opposition to my endeavours, for the hardships of communal life, for the misinterpretation of my intentions, for humiliations at the hands of others, for the harsh way in which we are treated, for false suspicions, for poor health and loss of strength, for self-denial, for dying to myself, for lack of recognition in everything, for the upsetting of all my plans” (Diary 343).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, thank You for enduring the Cross to save me from eternal death. Give me the grace to pick up my own daily crosses and follow You. By humbly accepting all difficulties and trials, may I show the world that I love You and that I trust in Your power to bring good out of every situation. Amen.
10 September 2017
The Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time ((Matthew 18:15-20)
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us what to do when someone offends us. As difficult as it may be, we need to tell the person to their face that their behaviour has hurt us or others.
We can learn from the example of St. Faustina. When a woman came to visit, who had caused her a lot of sorrow and abused her goodness by telling many lies, Faustina did not pretend like nothing was wrong. She recounted the incident in her Diary: “A certain person (...) visited me again. When I saw that she was beginning to get entangled in her own lies, I let her know that I knew she was lying. She became very embarrassed and stopped speaking. Then I spoke to her about the great judgments of God, and I also remarked that she was leading innocent souls astray and along dangerous roads. I uncovered before her everything that was in her heart. Since I had to overcome my own feelings in order to talk to her, to prove to Jesus that I love my enemies, I gave her my afternoon snack. She went away enlightened in soul, but action is still far away...” (Diary 1712).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, give me also the grace that You gave to St. Faustina to be honest with people about the things they are doing that hurt me and offend You. Help me always to speak the truth with love. Amen.
17 September 2017
The Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 18:21-35)
One of the seven spiritual works of mercy is to forgive all injuries. Not most injuries, but all injuries. In Today’s Gospel the Lord makes clear that anyone who does not forgive his brother, if necessary, even “seventy times seven times” from his heart, that person will himself be refused mercy from the heavenly Father.
On the one hand, we know that God’s mercy is infinite, and that there is no sin that is unforgivable. Yet I make my own sins unforgivable when I refuse to forgive my brother who sins against me, whether he sins against me only once, or if he repeats that sin over and over, day after day, week after week. Any and every time I refuse to forgive, I close my heart to the mercy of God. God will not infringe on my free will by prying open my heart and forcing His mercy in. But when I open my heart to my brother in forgiveness, my heart is then open to receive the mercy of God in abundance.
St. Faustina once wrote: “He who knows how to forgive prepares for himself many graces from God. As often as I look upon the cross, so often will I forgive with all my heart.” (Diary 309). Indeed, when we look at Jesus suffering innocently on the cross, having only gone about doing good, and we hear His words, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do,” how can we, in turn, withhold forgiveness from others?
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, You suffered without guilt because of my sins, in order to obtain forgiveness. Help me with Your grace to generously forgive every wrong done to me. May Your cross be to me a constant reminder that Your mercy is without end. Amen.
24 September 2017
The Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 20:1-16)
Through this Sunday’s parable about the day labourers, Jesus shows us the mercy and generosity of our heavenly Father. The landowner in the story, bearing in mind that all of his hired hands, even those who’d laboured for just one hour, had families to feed and financial obligations to meet, did not hesitate to pay every worker a full day’s wage. In the same way, our loving Father never forces us to do anything to earn our keep, but is always ready to take care of all the needs of every one of His children.
God wants to lavish His gifts on each one of us, but often we are so busy grumbling about what other people have received, that we miss out on what He wants to give us. Or, we’re so convinced of what we think we need that we’re unable to recognize a good gift from Him when we see it. St. Faustina wrote in her Diary: “Today I saw the Crucified Lord Jesus. Precious pearls and diamonds were pouring forth from the wound in His Heart. (…) The Saviour said to me, Behold, the treasures of grace that flow down upon souls, but not all souls know how to take advantage of My generosity ”(Diary 1687).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, teach me to take advantage of all the graces and gifts that You desire to pour out upon me, and never let me begrudge any of the gifts that You are pleased to lavish on my neighbour. Amen.