Divine Mercy Sunday

Pulpit Prepared for Divine Mercy

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday! It is such a wonderful, wonderful day with so many graces! Am praying that Jesus grant each one of you the peace and joy that only He can give, along with all the particular graces you may need. Well, there is so much that could be said on this day that the challenge will be keeping this post from getting too long... so I'll try to focus on just a few concrete things from today.

Was a blessed day here that began around 5AM. (I was of course thinking of you all in Texas from that time on, of all the preparations that would be going on at the Mission, etc. and was praying for you). I unlocked the church and had some quiet time alone with the Lord, among other things some time to pray in front of the Divine Mercy image you see above, which the pastor had set up the night before. There is something special about having a whole church, especially a beautiful old church, all to yourself with only the sanctuary lamp, and the votive lamps near St. Joseph and Our Lady, burning. So in the stillness of the early morning I began the day with Jesus and Mary. I then laid out my vestments for Mass, set the altar missal, etc. turned on the lights, and then took time for spiritual reading, praying Matins, Lauds, and Prime, and then heading into the Confessional.

Confessions began at 7:30AM and would go until about 11:30AM. At 8:20 I left the confessional and vested for Mass. The quiet low Mass began at 8:30--during which I had to eager altar boys, each about 7 years old, but who were still relatively new to serving. They were very reverent, so even though they made some mistakes it worked out fine, and was quite touching seeing them trying to do everything right. Then I had 5 - 10 minutes of quiet thanksgiving, and then back into the confessional... from which I would emerge to help give Communion during the 10:30AM High Mass.

The pastor preached at all the Masses today--focussing on the message and image of Divine Mercy, and also inviting everyone to the afternoon Holy Hour with the chaplet. Believe it or not though I actually had to miss the Holy Hour because of... a work of mercy.

At the High Mass---and at all the High Masses I have been to so far, there are 3 - 6 people in wheelchairs in the front row, several of whom are handicapped. For example one of these is an 18 year old young man with cerebral palsy, who joins in the chants with as much gusto as he can. This was a very nice element of the Mass. Even if his singing wasn't always quite on pitch... it added a very nice note of "becoming like a child." I later learned that the young man knows almost all the chants of the entire Church year, and knows very well the rubrics of the Mass, so much so that he points out to priests if they make a mistake. So I'll have to be on my toes!

After the High Mass there was exposition, the litany of the Sacred Heart, and benediction. Then, after greeting people, I headed to the home of the family with this young man with cerebral palsy for lunch. Due to several factors, and the location of their home, which was out in the country, lunch didn't begin until the afternoon Holy Hour was about to begin, so I had to miss the Holy Hour, but I don't think the Lord was upset with that. Spending time with the family seemed a very appropriate thing to do on Divine Mercy Sunday. It was a wonderful afternoon with them.

I just returned to the rectory a little bit ago, prayed vespers, and sat down to write you all. Of course there is so much that could be said about the message of Divine Mercy themselves: the beautiful, but challenging, visions of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory; the constant invitation from Jesus to draw near to Him, receiving His graces of forgiveness, accepting to change our lives and to strive for holiness; how many, many graces He wants to pour out through the Sacraments and in times that we come to Him for quiet prayer; the invisible presence of angels and demons, etc. etc. etc. But rather than try to give you a mini-homily on that here, especially since so many of you are very familiar with those messages, I'd simply invite those who may not be familiar to pick up the diary and read a portion of it this evening, even just a paragraph or two.

And thank you for your prayers for my studies. It was an intense, but productive, past week. So far I managed to stay on pace. The most challenging aspect of staying on pace will be some preparatory work for my thesis these next few weeks (on top of the civil and canon law courses). Civil law courses begin in earnest this Tuesday, so won't be a boring week!

May Jesus and Mary watch over you all and guide you.

In Corde Mariae,
Fr. Anthony Pillari