BY CINDY WOODEN Catholic News Service
ROME (CNS) - Like the disciples, who experienced Jesus divine mercy after the resurrection, all Christians are called to become missionaries, sharing the Gospel of Gods love and mercy with others, Pope Francis said. Today Jesus tells us, too, Peace be with you! You are precious in my eyes. Peace be with you! You are important for me. Peace be with you! You have a mission. No one can take your place. You are irreplaceable. And I believe in you, the pope said April 11. Pope Francis celebrated the Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday at the Rome Church of the Holy Spirit, just a block away from St. Peters Square. The church is the Rome Shrine of Divine Mercy, a devotion begun by St. Faustina Kowalska and promoted by St. John Paul II. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, fewer than 100 people were present for the Mass, wearing masks and seated only two people to a pew, except if they were members of the same family. At the end of the Mass, Pope Francis thanked those invited: nurses and doc- tors from the hospital next door, refu- gees, people with disabilities, priests serving as missionaries of mercy, inmates from several correctional insti- tutes and representatives of Italys civil protection service. The pope told them they represent realities where mercy becomes concrete, draws close and serves those in difficulty. After reciting the Regina Coeli prayer with those present, the pope greeted each individual personally, shaking hands, blessing them and even posing for a few seles. In his homily at the Mass, Pope Fran- cis focused on how, prior to the resur- rection, the disciples misunderstood so much of what Jesus said and how they abandoned or even denied Him at the hour of His passion and death. But when the disciples are hovering in fear in the closed room, he noted, the Risen Lord appears to them and raises them up with His mercy. Having received that mercy, they be- come merciful in turn, the pope said. It's very difficult to be merciful if you have not been shown mercy. Saying, Peace be with you, Jesus sets their troubled hearts at ease and forgives their failings, he said, lifting them up and lling them with the cour- age they need to be His witnesses. The disciples were guilty; they had run away, they had abandoned the mas- ter, the pope said. Sin brings torment; evil has its price. Our sin, as the psalm- ist says, is always before us. Like those disciples, we need to let ourselves be forgiven, the pope said. Let us ask for the grace to accept that gift, to embrace the sacrament of for- giveness. And to understand that con- fession is not about ourselves and our sins, but about God and His mercy. We do not confess to abase our- selves, but to be raised up, he said, and we - all of us - need this badly. Speaking to priests, Pope Francis said that anytime they hear someones confession, they ought to convey the sweetness of mercy ... the sweetness of Jesus, who forgives everything. God forgives everything. When Jesus showed the disciples the
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(CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Francis elevates the Eucharist as he celebrates Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday at the Church of the Holy Spirit near the Vatican in Rome April 11.
(Observer photo/Penny Wiegert)
A Divine Mercy image was displayed at St. Mary Parish in Pecatonica. Pastor Father Dennis Morrissy explained the Divine Mer- cy devotion and hoped to organize a gath- ering and special devotion time for Divine Mercy Sunday without the worry of a pan- demic. He encouraged all parishioners to spend some time in prayer and to venerate the image.
Pope Calls All Catholics to be Missionaries of God's Mercy
Volume 86 No. 20 http://observer.rockforddiocese.org FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021
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