to speak to you personally on the work I am embarking on, and future newsletters will provide a detailed explanation. I still hope to speak to parishes on Divine Mercy and the Eucharist and Our Lady, so please keep me in mind. I will merely do what I can do and leave the rest in God’s hands. Our Superior General, Fr. Joe Roesch, has been my spiritual mentor for 20 years and has given me permission to help the Marians overseas. The first project will start in the Philippines and has several facets. The Marians have a presence In Cagayan de Oro on the island of Mindanao. They have several priests living in their residence that lies adjacent to a large Divine Mercy Shrine. Plans are to start with construction of a chapel with additional rooms for several purposes, and under consideration will be to use the rooms for teaching people skills so they can get a job. We also hope to provide necessary medicine for the sick and needy at a daytime medical unit. Down the road we hope to provide scholarships for students so they can get an education and help provide for their families. I will be going to the Philippines in July to speak to Fr. Darek and get a better and more complete picture of the goals. I will be taking photographs and using them in future newsletters and talks. The work and progress will be in future newsletters, and will also be an intermittent topic on my podcasts series at DrBryanThatcher.com. If you or your group have any questions on this work, please email me at [email protected]. If you send a gift to the Marians, please make sure you note it is for the Philippines project. Please keep me in your prayers that the rays of God’s love and mercy may radiate from my heart in a greater way, and may all Eucharistic Apostles of Divine Mercy be a reflection of the Divine Mercy Image. Jesus I Trust in You! Mary, who is called “Most Merciful,” led a life in service of others. While untold sufferings awaited her, she chose to become the Mother of God out of love for sinful humanity. She brought forth for us Jesus Christ — Mercy Incarnate. Mary, who is never distant to those who are in need, shows us how to live with an open heart. For never was it known, that anyone who fled to her protection was left unaided! Mary showed us how to be merciful in everyday decisions such as at the wedding Feast in Cana when she noticed the bride and groom were running out of wine. She knew this would cause great humiliation for them so she asked Jesus to help (see Jn 2:1-12). Then, she showed us how to be merciful in making major decisions. Think about what went through Mary’s heart and what she did when she heard from the angel Gabriel the great news that her elderly cousin Elizabeth was pregnant with child. Scripture tells us, “And behold, your kinsman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. … In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth” (Lk 1:36-40). Mercy is love that seeks to forgive, console, assist, and care for others in time of need. Mercy is an act of love done without expecting anything in return. It is done for love itself. Jesus made it clear in Sacred Scripture that love of God and neighbor is the greatest commandment. “But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, to test Him. ‘Teacher, what is the great commandment in the law?’ And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets’” (Mt 22:34-40). Like Our Lady with her cousin Elizabeth, we should be quick to serve those in need. Like her at Cana, we should be attentive to the needs of others. We should understand that forgiveness is an act of mercy, and we should forgive others their offenses as we want to be forgiven by God. Out of humility, we should focus on our own sins and not the sins of others. We should be kind to others and always watch our tongue, for many have suffered from the ravages of an untrained tongue. As Eucharistic Apostles, we believe that mercy is love that seeks to lessen the misery of others. Let us strive to be more like Mary, who always saw the need in others and acted to meet those needs. 5 14510017 The 10 evangelical virtues of Our Lady © 2024 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. Part 9 Most Sorrowful Most Merciful Most Poor Most Pure Most Obedient Most Humble Most Prudent Most Faithful Most Devout Most Patient NEW FOCUS From page 1
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