‘Understanding’ the Message of Mercy Marian Helpers in Action As a seminarian assigned to St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City in 2000, Richard Rocha had attended daily Mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel, where the pastor prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet with his congregation after every Mass. Seventeen years later, Fr. Rocha became the pastor there, continuing what his predecessor had begun. Understanding Divine Mercy Father Rocha introduced the tradition of praying the Chaplet after Mass. While some parishioners faithfully remained in the pews to pray, not many knew much about the message Our Lord had given to St. Faustina and the wealth of graces that can be obtained through the devotion. After Fr. Chris’ visit, that began to change. During his talk on “The Four Last Things” (Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell), Fr. Chris’ Marian Press books were available for sale, including Understanding Divine Mercy. Frank and Ruth Hays were among the attendees who acquired a copy, as was their friend John Milosevich. “Those of us who bought it and read it found ourselves rereading it,” says Frank. John had already read St. Faustina’s diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, but after reading Understanding Divine Mercy, he realized he had “only scratched the surface” of learning about the message and devotion. “The Diary is not an easy read, compared to Fr. Chris’ By Marian Friedrichs Domenic Rizzi, a member of St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Blue Springs, Missouri, was a presenter at the parish’s Lenten mission on Divine Mercy. Before Fr. Chris Alar, MIC, spoke at the parish of St. Robert Bellarmine in Blue Springs, Missouri, in June 2023, the parishioners had heard of the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Their current pastor had come to them in October 2019 from Our Lady of Good Counsel, the diocesan Shrine of Divine Mercy and St. Faustina in Kansas City, Missouri. 4 Marian Helper • Summer 2024 • Marian.org
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