Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

This day is a reminder that God’s wants each and everyone of us to be saints and He and Holy Mother Church bend over backwards to help free us from our sins.
St. Augustine, a great saint who was also a great sinner in his early life, tells us: “There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.”  Because of God’s great Mercy, there is great hope of sanctity for every one of us. We are all called to be saints.  To be so, the Gospel proclamation of repentance calls us to change our ways, to turn away from sin and to walk more closely in the footsteps of Jesus.
We can look at the following list of sinners and their lifestyles before they accepted the Gospel. At one point in their lives they let go and let God in.  They changed their ways and they became saints:

St. Dismas: Thief                                        St. Olga: Murderer, Torturer
St. Vladimir: Murderer, Rapist                     St. Paul: Persecutor of Christians
St. Augustine: Hedonistic Partyer                Blessed Bartolo Longo: Satanic priest
St Andrew Wouters: Priest, Fornicator        St. Mary of Egypt: Seductress, Prostitute
St. Philip Howard: Playboy, Gambler, Fop
St. Angela of Foligno: Vain, Materialistic Adulteress
St. Thomas Becket: Obscenely Wealthy, Cold Hearted

St. Ignatius, when recuperating from an injury, only found a Lives of the Saints to read. It wasn’t his preferred type of reading material, but it was something to read to help him pass the time of day while his leg healed. His reluctance to read about saintly people soon turned into fascination and ignited his desire to become a saint. He said: If they, why not I. The same goes for us, if they WHY not I?

Some lessons for us today:

1. Even when we choose to let anger, vengeance, and retaliation take over our actions,
  despite how ugly our past may be and how many people we have hurt God touches even
the hardest of hearts.
2. Those who have abused their authority, lied and done horrific things to gain power and
control can still turn around and follow God. They can be some of the greatest doors
  God uses to usher in Christianity to others.
3. Even those we label or see as the lowest of low in society are important to God and He
  wants to use them to spread the Word of God.
4. The greatest plans God has may include the worst of sinners, even the enemies of God’s
people. Never allow fear and someone’s past cloud your attitude toward them and the
hope they will come to Christ.
5.   Those in sexual sins are loved by Christ and He seeks to love them, change their lives,
and use them.
6. No one is beyond the reach of God’s grace and forgiveness. Prayer is the most powerful
weapon we have in helping others come to the faith. Never quit praying.
7. Reading the lives of the saints, can change our lives.

Lessons 1-6 from an article by Amelia Monroe Carlson (Catholic 365.com)
God bless you!


Fr. Mark