January 5, 2025 Solemnity of the Epiphany of The Lord National Shrine of The Divine Mercy 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 Livestream from the National Shrine Daily Devotions Daily Mass 9:00am Chaplet of Divine Mercy 3:00pm Rosary for Life 5:00pm 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. Sincerely in Jesus and Mary Immaculate, Fr. Matthew Tomeny, MIC Shrine Rector Monday- Saturday 8:00am, 9:00am & 2:00pm Sunday 9:00am, 10:30am & 2:00pm Please note: 2pm Mass 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 Daily Schedule
Upcoming Events For more information please visit the Shrine Calendar found on our website: https: www.shrineofdivinemercy.org January 2025 1/5 Annual Christmas Caroling • see flyer on page 8 for more information 1/11 Explaining the Faith Talk at 11am 1/18 Explaining the Faith Talk at 11am 1/25 Explaining the Faith Talk at 11am 1/27 Feast Day of Blessed George Matulaitis-Matulewicz • Renovator of the Marians 1/30 Healing Mass February 2025 2/1 First Saturday Devotion and Talk at 11am 2/2 Feast of the Presentation of The Lord (Candlemas) • Blessing of candles at 9am, 10:30am and 2pm Masses 2/7 First Friday Devotions at 8pm 2/8 Explaining the Faith Talk at 11am 2/9 World Marriage Day • see flyer on page 9 for more information
Pope Francis Solemnity of the Epiphany of The Lord Homily JANUARY 6, 2020 In the Gospel ( Mt 2:1-12), we heard the Magi begin by stating the reason why they have come: “We have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him” (v. 2). Worship is the end and goal of their journey. Indeed, when they arrived in Bethlehem, “they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him” (v. 11). Once we lose the sense of worship, we lose our direction in the Christian life, which is a journey towards the Lord, not towards ourselves. The Gospel warns us about this risk, for alongside the Magi it presents others who are incapable of worship. First of all, there is King Herod, who uses the word worship, but only to deceive. He asks the Magi to tell him where the child is to be found, “so that I too may come and adore him” (v. 8). The fact is that Herod worshiped only himself; that is why he wanted to rid himself of the child through a lie. What does this teach us? That when we do not worship God, we end up worshiping ourselves. So too, the Christian life, when it fails to worship the Lord, can become a discreet way of affirming ourselves and our own abilities: Christians who do not know how to worship, who do not know how to pray by worshiping. This is a grave risk: we use God instead of serving him. How many times have we confused the interests of the Gospel with our own? How many times have we cloaked in religiosity the things we find convenient? How many times have we confused God’s power, which is for serving others, with power of this world, which is for serving ourselves! In addition to Herod, other people in the Gospel are incapable of worship: they are the chief priests and the scribes. They tell Herod with great precision where the Messiah is to be born: in Bethlehem of Judea (cf. v. 5). They know the prophecies and can quote them exactly. They know where to go – they are great theologians, great! – but they do not go there. Here too we can draw a lesson. In the Christian life, it is not enough to be knowledgeable: unless we step out of ourselves, unless we encounter others and worship, we cannot know God. Theology and pastoral effectiveness mean little or nothing unless we bend the knee; unless we kneel down like the Magi, who were not only knowledgeable about planning a journey, but also capable of setting out and bowing down in worship. Once we worship, we come to realize that faith is not simply a set of fine doctrines, but a relationship with a living Person whom we are called to love. It is in encountering Jesus face to face that we come to see him as he is.
Through worship, we discover that the Christian life is a love story with God, where what really matters is not our fine ideas but our ability to make him the centre of our lives, as lovers do with those whom they love. This is what the Church ought to be, a worshiper in love with Jesus her spouse. As we begin the New Year, may we discover anew that faith demands worship. If we can fall on our knees before Jesus, we will overcome the temptation to set off on our own path. For worship involves making an exodus from the greatest form of bondage: slavery to oneself. Worship means putting the Lord at the centre, not ourselves. It means giving things their rightful place, and giving the first place to God. Worship means making God’s plan more important than our personal time, our entitlements and our spaces. It is to accept the teaching of Scripture: “You shall worship the Lord your God” ( Mt 4:10). Your God: worship means realizing that you and God belong together to one another. It means being able to speak to him freely and intimately. It means bringing our lives to him and letting him enter into them. It means letting his consolation come down to earth. Worship means discovering that, in order to pray, it is enough to say: “My Lord and my God!”, and to let ourselves be pervaded by his tender love. Worship means going to Jesus without a list of petitions, but with one request alone: to abide with him. It is about discovering that joy and peace increase with praise and thanksgiving. In worship, we allow Jesus to heal and change us. In worship, we make it possible for the Lord to transform us by his love, to kindle light amid our darkness, to grant us strength in weakness and courage amid trials. Worship means concentrating on what is essential: ridding ourselves of useless things and addictions that anaesthetize the heart and confound the mind. In worship, we learn to reject what should not be worshiped: the god of money, the god of consumerism, the god of pleasure, the god of success, the god of self. Worship means bending low before the Most High and to discover in his presence that life’s greatness does not consist in having, but in loving. Worship means recognizing that we are all brothers and sisters before the mystery of a love that bridges every distance: it is to encounter goodness at the source; it is to find in the God of closeness the courage to draw near to others. Worship means knowing how to be silent in the presence of the divine Word, and learning to use words that do not wound but console. Worship is an act of love that changes our lives. It is to do what the Magi did. To bring gold to the Lord and to tell him that nothing is more precious than he is. To offer him incense and to tell him that only in union with him can our lives rise up to heaven. To present him with myrrh, balm for the bruised and wounded, and to promise him that we will aid our marginalized and suffering neighbours, in whom he himself is present. We usually know how to pray – we ask the Lord, we thank him – but the Church must move forward in her prayer of worship; we must grow in worshiping. This is wisdom that we must learn each day. Praying by worshiping: the prayer of worship. Dear brothers and sisters, today each one of us can ask: “Am I a Christian who worships?” Many Christians pray but they do not worship. Let us ask ourselves this question: Do we find time for worship in our daily schedules and do we make room for worship in our communities? It is up to us, as a Church, to put into practice the words we prayed in today’s Psalm: “All the peoples on earth will worship you, O Lord”. In worshiping, we too will discover, like the Magi, the meaning of our journey. And like the Magi, we too will experience “a great joy” ( Mt2:10). I Homily given by His Holiness Pope Francis on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of The Lord, January 6, 2020 https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2020/documents/papa-francesco_20200106_omelia-epifania.html Picture: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/pope-francis-unique Coat of Arms: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en.html
Proper Attire Inside the Church “Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much. Woe to women lacking in modesty.” Our Lady of Fatima to Sr. Lucia Out of respect for Our Lord and to preserve others from any near occasions of sin, we ask that you dress in a spirit of modesty when entering the Church. Dress Code Guideline: For Women: No shorts, spandex, or skirts above the knees. No leggings or athletic wear. No low cut, backless or spaghetti strap dresses. All dresses should fall to knee length or below. No tank tops, bared midriffs or halter tops; no tight fitting, low cut or backless tops. For Men: No shorts No tank tops No baseball caps No flip flops If you should choose to wear a shoulder baring dress or top, please bring a covering for when you enter the Church. "Christian girls, think also of this: the more elegant you will be, and the more pleasing, if you dress with simplicity and discreet modesty." – The Forgotten Virtue: Modesty in Dress A good resource to learn more: The Forgotten Virtue: Modesty in Dress by Mgsr. Charles M. Mangan at https://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=647
Get to know the Diary of… January 6, 1937. Today during Holy Mass, I was unwittingly absorbed in the infinite majesty of God. The whole immensity of God’s love flooded my soul. At that particular moment, I became aware of how much God abases himself for my sake. He, the Lord of Lords – and what am I, miserable being that I am, that You would commune thus with me? The wonder that took hold of me after this special grace continued very vividly throughout the entire day. Taking advantage of the intimacy to which the Lord was admitting me, I interceded before Him for the whole world. At such moments I have the feeling that the whole world is depending on me. Sometimes there are whole hours when my soul is lost in wonder at seeing the infinite majesty of God abasing Itself to the level of my soul. Unending is my interior astonishment that the Most High Lord is pleased in me and tells me so Himself. And I immerse myself even deeper in my nothingness, because I know what I am of myself. Still I must say that I, in return, love my Creator to folly with every beat of my heart and with every nerve; my soul unconsciously drowns, drowns... in Him. I feel that nothing will separate me from the Lord, neither heaven nor earth, neither the present nor the future. Everything may change, but love never, never; it is always the same. He, the Immortal Mighty One, makes His will known to me that I may love Him very specially, and He himself makes my soul capable of the kind of love with which He wants me to love Him. I bury myself more and more in Him, and I fear nothing. Love has overtaken my whole heart, and even if I were to be told of God’s justice and of how even the pure spirits tremble and cover their faces before Him, saying endlessly, “Holy,” which would seem to suggest that my familiarity with God would be to the detriment of His honor and majesty, [I would reply,] “O no, no, and once again, no!” In pure love, there is room for everything: the highest praise and the deepest adoration, yet the soul is immersed in Him in deepest peace through love; and the words of people, speaking from the exterior, have no effect upon that soul. What they tell the soul about God is but a pale shadow in comparison to its own experience of Him; and it is often surprised how other people can be struck with admiration at what someone else says about God when, for this soul, it is nothing special, as it knows that what can be put into words is not yet that great. So this soul listens to everything with respect, but has its own special life in God. Saint Faustina “Let your gratitude become a loving song, And sing the greatness of God’s mercy.”
O merciful Jesus, how longingly You hurried to the Upper Room to consecrate the Host that I am to receive in my life. Jesus, You desired to dwell in my heart. Your living Blood unites with mine. Who can understand this close union? My heart encloses within itself the Almighty, the Infinite One. O Jesus, continue to grant me Your divine life. Let Your pure and noble Blood throb with all its might in my heart. I give You my whole being. Transform me into Yourself and make me capable of doing Your holy will in all things and of returning Your love. O my sweet Spouse, You know that my heart knows no one but You. You have opened up in my heart an insatiable depth of love for You. From the very first moment it knew You, my heart has loved You and has lost itself in You as its one and only object. May Your pure and omnipotent love be the driving force of all my actions. Who will ever conceive and understand the depth of mercy that has gushed forth from Your Heart? Be adored, O our Creator and Lord. O universe, humbly glorify your God; Thank your Creator to the best of your powers And praise God’s incomprehensible mercy. Come, O earth, in all your fine greenery; Come, you too, O fathomless sea. Let your gratitude become a loving song And sing the greatness of God’s mercy. Come, beautiful, radiant sun. Come, bright dawn which precedes it. Join in one hymn, and let your clear voices Sing in one accord God’s great mercy. Come, hills and valleys, sighing woods and thickets, Come, lovely flowers of morning tide; Let your unique scent Adore and glorify God’s mercy. Come, all you lovely things of earth, Which man does not cease to wonder at. Come, adore God in your harmony, Glorifying God’s inconceivable mercy. Come, indelible beauty of all the earth, And, with great humility, adore your Creator, For all things are locked in His mercy, With one mighty voice all things cry out; how great is the mercy of God. But above all these beauties, A more pleasing praise to God Is a soul innocent and filled with childlike trust, Which, through grace, is closely bound to Him. A Moment Before the Blessed Sacrament. O my eternal Lord and Creator, how am I going to thank You for this great favor; namely, that You have deigned to choose miserable me to be Your betrothed and that You are to unite me to yourself in an eternal bond? O dearest Treasure of my heart, I offer You all the adoration and thanksgiving of the Saints and of all the choirs of Angels, and I unite myself in a special way with Your Mother. O Mary, my Mother, I humbly beg of You, cover my soul with Your virginal cloak at this very important moment of my life, so that thus I may become dearer to Your Son and may worthily praise Your Son’s mercy before the whole world and throughout all eternity. Diary 870, 947, 832, 1750, 220
To all who donated to our 2024 Advent Giving Tree, a very big… Thank you! It is your generosity, and gifts of love that will make a real difference in the lives of families who are so in need. A heartfelt thank you also to those who offered their gifts of prayer for these children and their families, yours is a love that will continue to carry them throughout the New Year. “And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:40
Check out Marian Teaching: Debunking Pro-Choice Lies by Fr. Mark Baron, MIC on DIVINE MERCY PLUS at https://divinemercyplus.org/ or download the app from Google Play or Apple Store https://www.respectlife.org/radical-solidarity
Embrace Life! Be A Hospice Volunteer. Do you have a talent to share? A contagious passion for just about anything? Would you like a appreciative audience? Want an easy way to make a big impact in someone’s life? Do you want to spend your precious free time making a difference in someone’s life? This is an opportunity for you. We are currently looking for HOPSICE VOLUNTEERS on a regular, periodic or as needed basis. You can play cards, read papers, or have a nice conversation with patients. We provide training. You must be at least 18 years old to apply. Please contact Lori Johnson, Volunteer Coordinator, at 413-443-2994 Or email: [email protected] Visit their website for more information: https://hcib.org/ Jesus said to St. Faustina: "... I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it" Diary of St. Faustina, 742 Excerpt from Comfort the Sick-Park of a Series on Corporal Deeds of Mercy. To read in full go to: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/comfort-sick
The Gift Shop is open daily 9:30am – 4:30pm Find us at: divinemercy giftshop.org e Shrine Bulletin Board 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.
Faces of Hope MARIANS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Yes,I want to Help! How to help Please visit www.marian.org/ukraine/ to make a donation for Ukraine relief. One-hundred percent of funds received are sent directly to Ukraine and used to purchase humanitarian aid and medical supplies. Please do not mail medical supplies to Ukraine! Instead, please contact the Eucharistic Apostles of The Divine Mercy: 1-877-380-0727 or e-mail [email protected] to answer any of your questions. Because shipping via container is more cost effective, we prefer whatever monetary donations you can give rather than you sending medical supplies. Please know that boxes previously sent to the Marians or the EADM office were sent to Project C.U.R.E. and will be on future containers. https://marian.org/articles/shining-merciful-light-ukraine
The Image of Divine Mercy 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) 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). From The Image of The Divine Mercy www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/image
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