Digital Marian Helper Winter_2016-2017

TRANSFORM YOUR PARISH. TRANSFORM THE WORLD. L_i_j 7bb>[Whji7òh[$eh] eh YWbb '#.**#++'#)-++ je b[Whd ceh[ WXekj j^[ >[Whji 7òh[ fhe]hWci$ Make a big difference in your parish and community with your small-group retreat from Hearts Afire, written by Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC. were already well primed. In 2015, Bishop Scharfenberger had encouraged his diocese to make the consecration to Mary using 33 Days to Morning Glory. “It was like a grace bomb was dropped on our diocese,” says Bishop Scharfenberger. By means of the consecration, which nearly 2 million people worldwide have made, Bishop Scharfenberger and many of his pastors wit- nessed a spiritual hunger that had hitherto remained hidden. He isn’t the only bishop to now turn his diocese’s gaze to 33 Days to Merciful Love. Archbishop of Kansas City Joseph F. Naumann, too, has encouraged his flock to conclude the Jubilee Year by making the consecration. Opening doors It makes perfect sense to pastors such as Fr. Rendell Torres, who leads two parishes in the rural northern reaches of the Diocese of Albany. Like many clergy, he was struggling with what it might mean when the Holy Father concludes the Jubilee Year, which coincides with the closing of desig- nated Holy Doors at basilicas, cathedrals, and shrines around the world. “Does mercy ‘close’ with the end of the Jubilee Year? Obviously not,” says Fr. Torres. “So the consecration to Divine Mercy is such that the doors of our hearts will now be opened. We can receive the mercy of God that others reject and then give it back to the world by being channels of His mercy through our actions and testimony to the mercy of God in our lives.” “To be consecrated means we become seeds planted in our diocese,” Fr. Torres says. “I don’t know how quickly the change will occur, but I do know we really need this now.” ‘I wring my hands’ Back at Holy Trinity Parish on the opening night, Fr. Slezak leads a closing prayer, which is punctuated by a round of applause. A life-size image of Jesus, the Divine Mercy, is set front and center in the gymnasium. In the image, Jesus steps from the darkness — His right hand raised in blessing, His left hand opening His garment to expose His wound- ed Heart. To those who eschew Christianity in no small part due to the misperception that God is a wrathful judge, punitive to rule-breakers, it’s worth noting that in this famous image, Jesus is not pointing fingers. “You know,” says Alice, making her way past the image and toward the exit, “I wring my hands on a daily basis: ‘What else can I be doing?’ There is nothing else I haven’t already done. I’m reminded tonight that when you don’t know what to do, when you feel hopeless, all you can do is to put it all into God’s hands and say, ‘You got to help me with this.’ “I think that’s where we are as a diocese,” she says. “That’s where we are as families.” Father Slezak opens the door for her. “Well,” he says, “what I do know is that God is at work here. I know He is.” <eh j^[ iWa[ e\ j^[_h \Wc_bo WdZ j^[_h Z_eY[i[" :Wl_Z WdZ 7b_Y[ 8[dWcWj_ e\ 9e^e[i" D[m Oeha" m_bb Yedi[YhWj[ j^[ci[bl[i je j^[ :_l_d[ C[hYo ed Del$ ')$ F ELIX C ARROLL MH