Two Saints, One Divine Mercy

It wasn’t easy deciding how to write this blog post. Which huge event to commemorate first: The feast of Divine Mercy (Jesus always being the best, but we celebrate DM annually) or the canonization of two popes in the presence of two popes (only happens once in a…..well, ever.) Ocean of mercy for the world or some of the greatest men to grace the 20th century?

Back and forth, back and forth in my head. Difficult decision after very little sleep (Rome starts their canonizations at 2:30 am, Central Time, and lasting 2 1/2 hours). In the end, the logical conclusion won out – combine them. Duh. Pope Francis did it, and I do whatever he does.

Pope Francis’ homily was fantastic. One part in particular I’d like to share. About the newly canonized he said:

They were priests, bishops and popes of the twentieth century. They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them. (emphasis mine)

World War II, Communist regimes, the sexual revolution, general decay of morality in western civilzation, etc. And yet, they were not overwhelmed! They held the secret to peace. He continues:

For them, God was more powerful; faith was more powerful – faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the Lord of history; the mercy of God, shown by those five wounds, was more powerful; and more powerful too was the closeness of Mary our Mother.

The privilege we have in these newly-declared Saints cannot be underestimated, nor can the fact that the popes that have followed have not lessened in sanctity and fortitude. Fr. Robert Barron has said that we live in a “golden age of popes.”

And it all originates in the one Lord and His one Divine Mercy. Not merely a devotion among other devotions, but the only way mankind will ever come to salvation – by trusting in and responding to His mercy.

And in His Divine Mercy revelations, Jesus gave St. Faustina a recipe for unleashing upon the world a new torrent of grace – the Divine Mercy chaplet. Specifically, he wanted it said every day for nine days (a novena), beginning with Good Friday and ending on Divine Mercy Sunday. Each day a different group of people He wants us to intercede for. We Fiat ladies participated in the novena, and it was a fantastic way to enter into the Triduum, celebrate the Easter season, and prepare for Divine Mercy Sunday.

Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy. (Diary, 300)

Jesus, I trust in you

Catholics Come Home

In this Easter octave, we wish you once again a very happy Easter!

If you went to the Easter vigil this past Saturday, you may have witnessed people receiving the Sacraments and coming into the Church. It’s a beautiful and foreign thing for many of us cradle Catholics to witness adult baptisms. We have a candle, tiny gown, crying baby pictures and a certificate to let us know that the sacrament took effect in our souls. People baptized as adults have a unique perspective as they go to the holy waters of baptism and come out adopted sons and daughters of God.

Many of us don’t know what it’s like to have ever left the Church. We may have had our moments of doubt and pain, but we stayed connected. Far too many of our brothers and sisters have left the Church. It’s been said that former Catholics are one of the largest “denominations” in America. While exact numbers are difficult to come by, I think it’s safe to say we all know at least one person baptized in the Faith who has very little or nothing to do with the Church.

This time of Easter rejoicing is the perfect setting to highlight those coming into the Church, and what can be done to bring others into the fold.

There is one fantastic movements out their called “Catholics Come Home.” This apostolate, started by a man named Tom Peterson, aims to engage people of all faiths, but particularly fallen away Catholics, by the use of modern media. The goal: to bring Catholics back to their home in the Church.

 

 

Catholics Come Home uses something called “evangomercials” to pique people’s interest in the Church. Some involve the history of the Church (above), while others feature those who have left the Church describing why they left and have since some back (below).

 

 

When you enter the website, you can go through one of three doors:

 

If you know someone who has left the Church but it’s hard to know how to steer them back, try directing them to this site. It may be the first step to opening that door back to the Church.

EASTER SUNDAY!

Happy Easter!

Buona Pasqua!

Frohe Ostern!

¡Felices Pascuas!

Boa Pascoa!

No matter how you say it, it means but one thing: He is risen. He has conquered the unconquerable – Death.

Applied to our lives, it means that death no longer has power over those who live in Christ. And fear has no place as we face our crosses, and ultimately, our deaths.

And that is worth celebrating.

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” – Luke 24:5

Holy Saturday

Good Friday

My wish is that all of us will have the courage, yes the courage, to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the Lord’s cross; to build the Church on the Lord’s blood which was poured out on the cross; and to profess the one glory: Christ crucified.
 
– Pope Francis

Which Frozen character are you??

Snow is coming to Minnesota on Thursday. A.ton.of.snow. Just when you think it’s safe to come out of the igloo, your entrance tunnel is blocked because the snowplow went by moments ago.

So we were talking about all this snow, which made us think of cold things. And cold movies, like “Frozen.” Appropriately for Lent, there’s a recent homily going around the internet about Frozen. Sort of. The priest, Minnesota’s very own Father Mike Schmitz uses it as an example later in the homily to draw spiritual insights. We think you’ll like it. It’s called “I do what I want,” which you can listen to here:

 
While you’re listening, you can click on this Zimbio quiz to figure out which Frozen character you are. We each took it, taking turns laughing at the funny parts and agreeing with the other parts that seemed to fit.

When you’re done taking your quiz, check out the bottom of this post; we added a poll to vote who was who. If anyone can guess correctly, we’ll give them the cookies we gave up for Lent that have been sitting in our freezer. Or a warm hug: