The Saving Power of Christ

Dear Friends in Christ,

The last two weeks of Lent are here, and we are offering extra opportunities to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that Christ, the physician of our soul and body, instituted this sacrament because the new life that He gives us in Baptism can be weakened and even lost because of sin. Therefore, Christ wanted his Church to continue his work of healing and salvation by means of this sacrament.

The Church also obliges us to receive Holy Communion at least once a year during the Easter season (Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday) and the Compendium also reminds us that all Catholics who have reached the age of reason is bound to confess his or her mortal sins at least once a year. Most people usually confess before Easter or shortly thereafter in order to fulfill their Easter duty of receiving Holy Communion.

Now I would like to add here that I hope that people confess and receive Communion
more often than once a year. These sacraments of mercy and love are so valuable for our relationship with God that we should make use of them regularly. In the past century Our Lord’s message to St. Faustina Kowalska underlined the importance of seeking His Mercy. For this reason our late holy father John Paul II instituted the feast of Divine Mercy for the Second Sunday of Easter. This feast is traditionally preceded by a novena of prayers and intercessions which begins on Good Friday.

We will pray this novena in our church beginning on Good Friday, April 6 and ending on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 15. Each day prayers will be offered for different classes of persons who need God’s mercy. On the last day, April 15 we will conclude with exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and a veneration of the relic of St.Faustina. Our Lord revealed to St. Faustina: “I will grant a complete pardon to the souls who will go to confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My Mercy”(Diary of St. Faustina, #1109). It seems to me that a person could go to confession a week before the feast and receive Communion on the feast and still fulfill these requirements. I encourage all to join in the celebration of the Novena and closing rites of Divine Mercy.

The covered images in our sanctuary remind us of the proximity of the Passion and Death of the Lord. May these outward signs also inspire in us a change of heart that leads to true reconciliation so that we might celebrate Easter renewed in spirit.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Hildebrand