Deacon Paul Brancheay - April 12

St. Philip Catholic Church: I have a question. Do you really believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through that belief you will inherit eternal life? Belief begins with our intellectual ascent, but must continuously deepen. The belief St. John speaks of in today's gospel is one that draws us deeper into the mystery of Christ's Paschal mystery. is life, death, and transforming Today is the eighth day of Easter. The Church ⁓ her wisdom, celebrates the most important days of the liturgical year for eight days. Historically, there were a number of feasts celebrated with octaves. Easter, Epiphany, Corpus Christi, Ascension, all saints, and in some locations the Sacred Heart and various Marian feasts. After Vatican II, the Church focused on two, Christmas and Easter, so as to give greater emphasis to the core of the Paschal mystery. In the year 2000, the Octave of Easter took a new focus when Pope John Paul II instituted the solemnity of divine mercy on the eighth day of Easter today. This was done in response to Jesus' personal request, communicated to the Church through a humble cloistered Polish nun. Canonized in 2000, she is known as Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. Between 1931 and 1938, Sister Faustina received numerous mystical visions that she recorded in six notebooks, now referred to collectively as Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalski. Almost two years before her death, Sister Faustina recorded the following entry in her diary. On one occasion, I heard these words. I'm quoting, my daughter, tell the whole world about my inconceivable mercy. I desire that the feast of mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, especially for poor sinners. On that day, the very depths of my tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those who would approach the fount of my mercy. The soul that will go to confession and receive holy communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day, all the divine floodgates through which grace flows are open. Let no soul fear to draw near to me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of my most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to me will contemplate my love and mercy through eternity. The feast of mercy emerged from my very depths of tenderness. It is my desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns the fount of my mercy. This is taken from the diary number 699. When we reflect on this beautiful private revelation in light of today's gospel, we are invited to consider that even though the gospel is present with us, all we need to know in order to come to faith in Christ and share in that new life he bestows, the treasure of his divine mercy is inexhaustible. Divine Mercy Sunday is a day on which we are to profess our belief in this mercy. To do so, we must ponder these inexhaustible treasures, probe their depths with the aid of St. Faustina's private revelations, and then allow our Lord to reveal them to us within the depths of our souls. Believe in His mercy. Be open to it. Call upon it today and receive it more abundantly.