Easter Thursday, Divine Mercy Novena Day 7

“Today bring to Me the Souls who especially venerate and glorify My Mercy, and immerse them in My mercy. These souls sorrowed most over my Passion and entered most deeply into My spirit. They are living images of My Compassionate Heart. These souls will shine with a special brightness in the next life. Not one of them will go into the fire of hell. I shall particularly defend each one of them at the hour of death.”

Most Merciful Jesus, whose Heart is Love Itself, receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who particularly extol and venerate the greatness of Your mercy. These souls are mighty with the very power of God Himself. In the midst of all afflictions and adversities they go forward, confident of Your mercy; and united to You, O Jesus, they carry all mankind on their shoulders. These souls will not be judged severely, but Your mercy will embrace them as they depart from this life.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls who glorify and venerate Your greatest attribute, that of Your fathomless mercy, and who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls are a living Gospel; their hands are full of deeds of mercy, and their hearts, overflowing with joy, sing a canticle of mercy to You, O Most High! I beg You O God:

Show them Your mercy according to the hope and trust they have placed in You. Let there be accomplished in them the promise of Jesus, who said to them that during their life, but especially at the hour of death, the souls who will venerate this fathomless mercy of His, He, Himself, will defend as His glory. Amen.

This should be all individuals especially this year as we celebrate the Year of Mercy. We are constantly focusing on the suffering, death and resurrection of the Lord that mercy should become second nature for us all. On Easter, Pope Francis in his Urbi et Orbi said that “Before the spiritual and moral abysses of mankind, before the chasms that open up in hearts and provoke hatred and death, only an infinite mercy can bring us salvation. Only God can fill those chasms with his love, prevent us from falling into them and help us to continue our journey together towards the land of freedom and life.” We all need mercy in our lives and should be willing to show mercy to others and the same is true with love.

Easter Wednesday, Divine Mercy Novena Day 6

“Today bring to Me the Meek and Humble Souls and the Souls of Little Children, and immerse them in My mercy. These souls most closely resemble My Heart. They strengthened Me during My bitter agony. I saw them as earthly Angels, who will keep vigil at My altars. I pour out upon them whole torrents of grace. I favor humble souls with My confidence.”

Most Merciful Jesus, You yourself have said, “Learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart.” Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart all meek and humble souls and the souls of little children. These souls send all heaven into ecstasy and they are the heavenly Father’s favorites. They are a sweet-smelling bouquet before the throne of God; God Himself takes delight in their fragrance. These souls have a permanent abode in Your Most Compassionate Heart, O Jesus, and they unceasingly sing out a hymn of love and mercy.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon meek souls, upon humble souls, and upon little children who are enfolded in the abode which is the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls bear the closest resemblance to Your Son. Their fragrance rises from the earth and reaches Your very throne. Father of mercy and of all goodness, I beg You by the love You bear these souls and by the delight You take in them: Bless the whole world, that all souls together may sing out the praises of Your mercy for endless ages. Amen.

The young have a vital role to play in the Church since they are the future. However this is also a reminder to us that Jesus tells us in the Gospel that unless we become like little children we will never enter the kingdom of heaven. We see it many times through out the gospel, in the beatitudes, with the camel through an eye of a needle or the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Every one need to humble themselves so that we may be exulted.

Easter Tuesday, Divine Mercy Novena Day 5

“Today bring to Me the Souls of those who have separated themselves from My Church, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. During My bitter Passion they tore at My Body and Heart, that is, My Church. As they return to unity with the Church My wounds heal and in this way they alleviate My Passion.”

Most Merciful Jesus, Goodness Itself, You do not refuse light to those who seek it of You. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who have separated themselves from Your Church. 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 glorify the generosity of Your mercy.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of those who have separated themselves from Your Son’s Church, who have squandered Your blessings and misused Your graces by obstinately persisting in their errors. Do not look upon their errors, but upon the love of Your own Son and upon His bitter Passion, which He underwent for their sake, since they, too, are enclosed in His Most Compassionate Heart. Bring it about that they also may glorify Your great mercy for endless ages. Amen.

Today, we turn to those who have separated themselves because of sin or just stopped going. This is a serious problem that the Church is facing as many young adult are just not showing up, they get confirmed and then leave the church when they go to high school or college, until perhaps they get married. Then there are those Cultural Catholics who show up at Christmas and Easter and that’s it. Sure it is a problem but it can and will only be fixed with better priests and bishops leading the church. I know that Pope Francis has emphasized that a shepherd should smell like his sheep, but I don’t know how his Bishop appointments are and it seems too early to say anything for certain about priests. I know Pope John Paul II inspired many young men to become priests, but they are just now at the beginning of their ministry.

Easter Monday, Divine Mercy Novena Day 4

“Today bring to Me those who do not believe in God and those who do not know Me, I was thinking also of them during My bitter Passion, and their future zeal comforted My Heart. Immerse them in the ocean of My mercy.”

Most compassionate Jesus, You are the Light of the whole world. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who do not believe in God and of those who as yet do not know You. Let the rays of Your grace enlighten them that they, too, together with us, may extol Your wonderful mercy; and do not let them escape from the abode which is Your Most Compassionate Heart.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of those who do not believe in You, and of those who as yet do not know You, but who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Draw them to the light of the Gospel. These souls do not know what great happiness it is to love You. Grant that they, too, may extol the generosity of Your mercy for endless ages. Amen.

We go from praying for all the faithful to all those who don’t believe. This novena covers all people and we aren’t praying that they convert outright but that they have some understanding of the Divine Mercy that the Lord provides and that they are kept in the heart of Christ just like the faithful. It is just like in Genesis when Abraham pleaded with the Lord for the sake of Sodom, where Abraham haggles with the Lord from finding fifty righteous people in all of Sodom to that of only ten righteous people. The Lord answers that for the sake of the ten I will not destroy it. There are many people who are righteous living in the world and although they do no know God, the Lord cares about these people as much as the faithful.

Easter Sunday, Divine Mercy Novena Day 3

“Today bring to Me all Devout and Faithful Souls, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. These souls brought me consolation on the Way of the Cross. They were a drop of consolation in the midst of an ocean of bitterness.”

Most Merciful Jesus, from the treasury of Your mercy, You impart Your graces in great abundance to each and all. Receive us into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart and never let us escape from It. We beg this grace of You by that most wondrous love for the heavenly Father with which Your Heart burns so fiercely.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon faithful souls, as upon the inheritance of Your Son. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, grant them Your blessing and surround them with Your constant protection. Thus may they never fail in love or lose the treasure of the holy faith, but rather, with all the hosts of Angels and Saints, may they glorify Your boundless mercy for endless ages. Amen.

On this Blessed Easter day we focus on all faithful souls living and dead as humankind is linked with the life of Christ. Let us try in these next fifty days to be different from the bitterness that the world has become all around us and in doing so inspire the world to become a better place.

Holy Saturday, Divine Mercy Novena Day 2

“Today bring to Me the Souls of Priests and Religious, and immerse them in My unfathomable mercy. It was they who gave me strength to endure My bitter Passion. Through them as through channels My mercy flows out upon mankind.”

Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service, that they may perform worthy works of mercy; and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in heaven.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard — upon the souls of priests and religious; and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.

Today we turn our focus on all those who we often forget about, the priests and the men and women religious. Perhaps we could pray for an increase in religious vocations. These men and women have an important role as many have taken a role in education others in health care. Many of the Saints are religious men and women so we can look to them and those living as examples of how to live our lives.

Good Friday, Divine Mercy Novena Day 1

Today, is the beginning of the Novena to The Divine Mercy, where we pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for nine days.

“Today bring to Me all mankind, especially all sinners, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. In this way you will console Me in the bitter grief into which the loss of souls plunges Me.”

Most Merciful Jesus, whose very nature it is to have compassion on us and to forgive us, do not look upon our sins but upon our trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart, and never let us escape from It. We beg this of You by Your love which unites You to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon all mankind and especially upon poor sinners, all enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion show us Your mercy, that we may praise the omnipotence of Your mercy for ever and ever. Amen.

The novena begins with our focus on all humans, as we are all to often focused on ourselves. Then the second bit, especially all sinners, is a wake up call for all of us since we are all sinners. In the Jesus prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner ” we are also reminded of this. Many people in the world have embraced the sin and it has become what the world is know for, just look around and we can see the subjugation of people based on gender, sexual orientation, religion, politics, or nation; the horrors that humankind has done to the environment especially in the United States where it seems most everywhere is paved and there is hardly much green space in cities; and lastly the general sense that although we are connected 24/7 by our devices and social media we really aren’t connecting with one another. Often times I stumble across the general advice on the internet of “Be nice to one another” where it’s treated like a strange concept. Let us all try this advice and act like how we want to be treated, since we all are sinner.

Sweet Sixteen

It is that time of the week and College Basketball is back on for the weekend, we start with 16 then cut that to 8 and the weekend end with four teams advancing. Sure last weekend was bad for most everyone with thirteen teams who were lower seeds winning and every seed except 16 won a first round game. The biggest upsets were Michigan State, a 2, falling to Middle Tennessee, a 15, and West Virginia, a 3,  falling to Stephen F Austin, a 14. After the first round things settled down as only two made it out of the second round and they play each other in this round.

Looking at the remaining rounds it seems we will get a rematch of the ACC Championship game in the final four as Virginia seems like the favorite to win the Midwest as they will face the winner of the 10/11 game. However Wisconsin might prevent this as runners up last year they are likely to face North Carolina in the Elite Eight in the East. Look for Duke to last maybe one more game before losing to Oklahoma who will be the winners of the West. In the South I haven’t a clue, It would be really cool if Maryland could  beat Kansas and perhaps win  but it’s more of a certainity that Kansas will be making a return trip to the Final Four.

So my pick are Virginia, UNC/Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Kansas in the Final Four.

News Roundup

Von Trapp Family Singers: The family made famous from the Sound of Music is stepping away from music, sort of.  Sofia, Melanie, Amanda and August von Trapp, the great-grandchildren of Captain and Maria von Trapp, were in a group together call the von Trapp Children, later just the von Trapps. While they didn’t make much of an impact to the music world. They have been preforming since 2001 and I am sure that those diehard Sound of Music fans will still be able to hear them perhaps at the family Lodge in Vermont.

Dirk Gently: The lesser known Douglas Adams work is coming to BBC America in the fall. It will have Max Landis adapting it and Elijah Wood will be in it as well.

CRISPR: So I heard about this initially on Radio Lab last summer and thought it was an interesting thing. CRISPR is a thing that can do like gene editing within cells to so that in this example they edited out the HIV-1 proviral DNA in T-cell genomes and by eliminating HIV from the DNA of CD4 T-cells and, by introducing mutations into the viral genome, permanently inactivating its replication nearby cells already infected couldn’t infect it again. This is just a first step and I’m not a geneticist  but it looks very promising.

Chaplet of Divine Mercy Novena

This is just a reminder that on Friday (Good Friday) is the First Day of the Divine Mercy Novena. It is in preparation for Divine Mercy Sunday, the Sunday after Easter. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy comes to us from Sister Mary Faustina Kowalska, a Polish Saint canonized by John Paul II in 2000 from when she visions and conversations with Jesus, is where we get the prayer. Faustina wrote Jesus instructed her that the Feast of Mercy (the Sunday after Easter) be preceded by a Divine Mercy Novena which would begin on Good Friday. John Paul in a homily on Divine Mercy Sunday said “Jesus said to St. Faustina one day: “Humanity will never find peace until it turns with trust to Divine Mercy”. Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ and offers to humanity.” In this year of mercy why not pick up a rosary or your fingers and pray the Chaplet this year.

To pray the Chaplet is rather easy, however there are some alternate prayers that you can add to the beginning and the end, I’ve never done these.

To begin you can do the opening prayers or just jump right in with an Our Father, Hail Mary and The Apostle’s Creed (these are prayed on the three Hail Mary’s on the part with the cross).

On the Our Father beads (big ones) you pray “Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”

On the Hail Mary beads (small ones)you pray “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”

You continue this all the way around the Rosary, all five decades.

Then you pray “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”  You say this three times, and then you can add the optional closing prayer and or simply end it all with “Jesus, I Trust in you” again said three times.