National Shrine of The Divine Mercy Bulletin February 5, 2023

. 1 • Monday- Saturday 9:00am and 2:00pm Sunday 9:00am, 10:30am & 2:00pm Please check our website for the most up-to-date information on our Monday-Friday Mass and Devotions schedule. Please note: 2pmMass on Saturday does NOT fulfill Sunday obligation Confessions Available Monday thru Friday 1:00pm - 2:00pm Saturdays and Sundays 1:00pm – 2:00pm 3:30pm – 4:15pm Livestream from the National Shrine Daily Devotions Daily Mass 9:00am Chaplet of Divine Mercy 3:00pm Rosary for Life 5:00pm Find us on: Divine Mercy (Official) Divine Mercy Videos posted on our Website daily: shrineofdivinemercy.org Dear Pilgrims, We welcome you to the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy. Please join us for any upcoming events at the Shrine along with doing a personal pilgrimage during this year. Feel free to visit our Gift Shop and stroll our beautiful grounds during your visit here. May God bless you. Daily Public Mass Schedule Sincerely in Jesus and Mary Immaculate, Fr. Matthew Tomeny, MIC Shrine Rector A Ministry of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary National Shrine of The Divine Mercy PO Box 951 2 Prospect Hill Road Stockbridge, MA 01262 (GPS: 11 Pine Street, Stockbridge, MA) Fr. Matthew Tomeny, MIC: Rector Fr. Robert Vennetti, MIC: Vice Rector Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC: Vice Rector Shrine Reception: 413-298-3931 Bus Pilgrimages: 413-298-1119 Gift Shop: 888-484-1112 National Shrine: www.shrineofdivinemercy.org Divine Mercy: www.thedivinemercy.org Marians: www.marian.org February 5th -Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time National Shrine of The Divine Mercy

[A man has Image Pope Francis: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/top-10-mercy-quotes-pope-francis Angelus Address January 29,2023 From Angelus Address given by Pope Francis on January 29, 2023 www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/angelus/2023/documents/20230129-angelus.html Pope Francis They feel their need for God and recognize every good comes from him as a gift, as a grace. Those who are poor in spirit treasure what they receive. Therefore, they desire that no gift should go to waste. Today, I would like to pause on this typical aspect of the poor in spirit: not to waste. The poor in spirit try not to waste anything. Jesus shows us the importance of not wasting. For example, after the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, he asks that the leftover food be gathered so that nothing would be wasted (cf. Jn 6:12). Not wasting allows us to appreciate the value of ourselves, of people and of things. Unfortunately, however, this is a principle that is often disregarded, above all in more affluent societies where the culture of waste, the throw-away culture is predominant. Both are a plague. So, I would like to propose to you three challenges against the waste mentality, the throw-away mentality. The first challenge: not to waste the gift that we are. Each one of us is a good, independent of the gifts we have. Every woman, every man, is rich not only in talents, but in dignity. He or she is loved by God, is valuable, is precious. Jesus reminds us that we are blessed not for what we have, but for who we are. And when a person lets go and throws him or herself away, he or she wastes themselves. Let us struggle, with God’s help, against the temptations of believing ourselves inadequate, wrong, and to feel sorry for ourselves. Then, the second challenge: not to waste the gifts we have. It is a fact that about one-third of total food production goes to waste in the world each year, while so many die of hunger! Nature’s resources cannot be used like this. Goods should be taken care of and shared in such a way that no one lack what is necessary. Rather than waste what we have, let us disseminate an ecology of justice and charity, of sharing! Lastly, the third challenge: not to throw people away. The throw-away culture says, “I use you in as much as I need you. When I am not interested in you anymore, or you are in my way, I throw you out”. It is especially the weakest who are treated this way – unborn children, the elderly, the needy and the disadvantaged. But people are never to be thrown out, the disadvantaged cannot be thrown away! Every person is a sacred gift, each person is a unique gift, no matter what their age or condition. Let us always respect and promote life! Let’s not throw life away! Dear brothers and sisters, let us ask ourselves some questions. Above all: How do I live poverty of spirit? Do I know how to make room for God? Do I believe that he is my good, my true and great wealth? Do I believe that he loves me, or do I throw myself away in sadness, forgetting that I am a gift? And then – Am I careful not to waste? Am I responsible about how I use things, goods? Am I willing to share things with other, or am I selfish? Lastly: Do I consider the weakest as precious gifts whom God asks me to care for? Do I remember the poor, those who are deprived of what is necessary? May Mary, the Woman of the Beatitudes, help us witness the joy that life is a gift and the beauty of making a gift of ourselves. Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno! In today’s liturgy, the Beatitudes according to the Gospel of Matthew are proclaimed (cf. Mt 5:1-12). The first is fundamental. This is what it says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (v. 3). Who are the “poor in spirit”? They are the ones who know they cannot rely on themselves, that they are not self-sufficient, and they live as “beggars before God”.

Lenten Regulations 028 D Year of The Eucharist In a recent study, it was found that only 30% of Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Jesus. We’re in crisis mode. They’re missing not just the reality of Jesus in their lives, but something transformative, powerful, and beautiful. This Year of the Eucharist is an opportunity for revival. Bishop William Byrne Bishop of The Diocese of Springfield, MA For more information about Events please visit: www.yearoftheeucharist.net November 21, 2021 to June 11, 2023

12 The Eucharistic Conference, March 4, 2023, at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. Register by Feb 1, 2023, to have lunch included in your registration. This day is for you! Young or old, single or with the whole family, involved in your parish or on the edges, you are invited to come learn more about the Eucharist and deepen your love for the gift of Christ’s Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Reawaken your heart to what is essentially beautiful, good, and true about our faith, and center your life around Christ in the Eucharist. Come experience amazing speakers, a display of Eucharistic miracles, fellow Catholics from around the diocese, a full convention center of all things Catholic with Catholic ministries and materials, as well as Eucharistic Adoration and Mass with Bishop Byrne. catholiclifeconference.org To learn more and/or to register, go to:

“…that divine grace might shine in every soul.” From the Diary of Saint Faustina I see Father Sopocko, how his mind is busily occupied and working in God’s cause in order to present the wishes of God to the officials of the Church. As a result of his efforts, a new light will shine in the Church of God for the consolation of souls. Although for the present his soul is filled with bitterness, as though that were to be the reward for his efforts in the cause of the Lord, this will not however be the case. I see his joy, which nothing will diminish. God will grant him some of this joy already here on earth. I have never before come upon such great faithfulness to God as distinguishes this soul . My daughter, consider the life of God which is found in the Church for the salvation and the sanctification of your soul. Consider the use that you make of these treasures of grace, of these efforts of My love. 59 Application: O most compassionate Jesus, I have not always known how to profit from these priceless gifts, because I have paid too little attention to the gift itself and too much to the vessel in which You were giving me Your gifts. My most sweet Master, it will be different from now on. I will put Your gifts to the best use of which my soul is capable. Living faith will support me. Whatever the form might be, under which You send me Your grace, I will accept it as coming directly from You, without considering the vessel in which You send it. If it will not always be within my power to accept it with joy, I will always accept it with submission to Your holy will. Today, in the course of a long conversation, the Lord said to me, How very much I desire the salvation of souls! My dearest secretary, write that I want to pour out My divine life into human souls and sanctify them, if only they were willing to accept My grace. The greatest sinners would achieve great sanctity, if only they would trust in My mercy. The very inner depths of My being are filled to overflowing with mercy, and it is being poured out upon all I have created. My delight is to act in a human soul and to fill it with My mercy and to justify it. My kingdom on earth is My life in the human soul. Write, My secretary, that I Myself am the spiritual guide of souls — and I guide them indirectly through the priest, and lead each one to sanctity by a road known to Me alone. Today bring to Me souls who have become lukewarm, and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. These souls wound My Heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out: “Father, take this cup away from Me, if it be Your will.” For them, the last hope (65) of salvation is to flee to My mercy. Most Compassionate Jesus, You are Compassion Itself. I bring lukewarm souls into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart. In this fire of Your pure love let these tepid souls, who like corpses, filled You with such deep loathing, be once again set aflame. O Most Compassionate Jesus, exercise the omnipotence of Your mercy and draw them into the very ardor of Your love,

and bestow upon them the gift of holy love, for nothing is beyond Your power. Fire and ice cannot be joined, Either the fire dies, or the ice melts. But by Your mercy, O God, You can make up for all that is lacking. My daughter, in this meditation, consider the love of neighbor. Is your love for your neighbor guided by My love? Do you pray for your enemies? Do you wish well to those who have, in one way or another, caused you sorrow or offended you? Know that whatever good you do to any soul, I accept it as if you had done it to Me. Application: O Jesus, my Love, You know that it has only been for a short while that I have acted toward my neighbor guided solely by Your love. You alone know of my efforts to do this. It comes to me more easily now, but if You Yourself did not kindle that love in my soul, I would not be able to persevere in this. This is due to Your Eucharistic love which daily sets me afire. + Struggle with a certain temptation. There was a person who kept accosting me with flattering words, and since he knew when I went out to go to the chapel or to the veranda, he would bar my way. Since he did not dare approach me by himself, he found another person like himself, but neither of them dared approach. As I was on my way to the May devotions, they were already standing there where I had to pass. I hadn’t yet reached them when I heard enticing words, directed at me. And the Lord permitted me to know the intentions of their hearts, which were not good. I felt they would block my way after the service, and then I would have to talk to them, for up to that time I hadn’t said a word. When I left the chapel, they were there, armed and waiting for me to pass. This time, I was overcome with fear. Then Jesus stood by me and said, Do not fear. I am with you. Then I felt an extraordinary strength in my soul, which I cannot describe and, being a few steps from them, I said boldly and loudly, “Praised be Jesus Christ.” And they, stepping aside, responded, “For ever and ever. Amen.” As if struck by lightning, they bowed their heads, not even daring to look at me. After I had passed, I could hear some malicious comments. Ever since that time, when this person sees me, he runs away in order not to meet me and I, thanks to the Lord, have been left in peace. +O Eternal Love, I want all the souls You have created to come to know You. I would like to be a priest, for then I would speak without cease about Your mercy to sinful souls drowned in despair. I would like to be a missionary and carry the light of faith to savage nations in order to make You known to souls, and to be completely consumed for them and to die a martyr’s death, just as You died for them and for me. O Jesus, I know only too well that I can be a priest, a missionary, a preacher, and that I can die a martyr’s death by completely emptying myself and denying myself for love of You, O Jesus, and of immortal souls. Now you shall consider My love in the Blessed Sacrament. Here, I am entirely yours, soul, body and divinity, as your Bridegroom. You know what love demands: one thing only, reciprocity... 7 May 26, [1938 — Feast of the Ascension]. Today I accompanied the Lord Jesus as He ascended into heaven. It was about noon. I was overcome by a great longing for God. It is a strange thing, the more I felt God’s presence, the more ardently I desired Him. Then I saw myself in the midst of a huge crowd of disciples and apostles, together with the Mother of God. Jesus was telling them to... Go out into the whole world and teach in My name. He stretched out His hands and blessed them and disappeared in a cloud. I saw the longing of Our Lady. Her soul yearned for Jesus with the whole force of Her love. But She was so peaceful and so united to the will of God that there was not a stir in Her heart but for what God wanted. 0 During Holy Mass I prayed fervently that Jesus might become King of all hearts and that divine grace might shine in every soul. Then I saw Jesus as He is depicted in the image, and He said to me, My daughter, you give Me the greatest glory by faithfully fulfilling My desires. Diary 1390, 1758, 1784, 1228-1229, 769, 1704, 302, 1770, 1710, 500

Shrine Bulletin Board Saturday Morning Talks Explaining the Faith Saturdays at 11:00am To watch via Livestream please go to: www.thedivinemercy.org M The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy is hiring for the following: Part-time Weekend Receptionist If you are interested, please call Human Resources at 413-298-3931 x140 Or send your resume to: [email protected] National Shrine of The Divine Mercy Human Resource Director PO Box 951 Stockbridge, MA 01262 We are hiring! Are you a Musician? The Mother of Divine Mercy Charismatic Prayer Group is looking for your help! We meet each Thursday of the month If interested please contact Paul Nnodim 617-784-0957 [email protected] Things to Note: Oil blessed in honor of St. Faustina is available at the Shrine Reception desk. A suggested donation of $5.00 which would go to help support Shrine Ministries. Copies of the Diary of St. Faustina are sold in our Gift Shop located next to the main parking lot, or online: The Gift Shop is open daily 10:00am – 4:00pm divinemercygiftshop.org / Blessed Oil of St. Faustina Gift Shop

O . ©2021 by United State Conference of Catholic Bishops T ht

In 1931, our Lord appeared to St. Faustina in a vision. She saw Jesus clothed in a white garment with His right hand raised in blessing. His left hand was touching His garment in the area of the Heart, from where two large rays came forth, one red and the other pale. She gazed intently at the Lord in silence, her soul filled with awe, but also with great joy. Jesus said to her: Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over [its] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory (Diary, 47, 48). I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You (327). I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and [then] throughout the world (47). At the request of her spiritual director, St. Faustina asked the Lord about the meaning of the rays in the image. She heard these words in reply: The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him (299). By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works (742). These words indicate that the Image represents the graces of Divine Mercy poured out upon the world, especially through Baptism and the Eucharist. Many different versions of this image have been painted, but our Lord made it clear that the painting itself is not what is important. When St. Faustina first saw the original image that was being painted under her direction, she wept in disappointment and complained to Jesus: "Who will paint You as beautiful as You are?" (313). In answer, she heard these words: "Not in the beauty of the color, nor of the brush lies the greatness of this image, but in My grace" (313). From The Image of The Divine Mercy www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/image I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over [its] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I myself will defend it as my own glory. (Diary 48)

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