The Divine Mercy of Jesus: A Letter to the Priests of God
April 19, 2009
Divine Mercy Sunday
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
Greetings and apostolic benedictions in the wonderful Name of Christ!
In this time of celebration and hope, as we contemplate the love and Divine Mercy the Father has bestowed upon us through the death and resurrection of His Son, our Lord Jesus the Christ, let us rededicate ourselves to the work He has given us to do.
As many have found hope in a new president and his government, let us also remember where it is our hope lies. While some believe man's government holds the answers they need, it is up to us to remind ourselves, as servants of the Most High, the only important question for us to have an answer.
John 21:17
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah,[a] do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”
And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep."
We must ever remember it is the body and blood of Jesus Himself that is the food that He has provided, and it is this He has charged us to supply His people through the Eucharist.
John 6:53
53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
So while some in the world around us try to draw us into their liberal agenda of the culture of death, and others would tell us to spread the rational approach of conservatism, we must not look to the left or the right. Rather we must focus on the middle cross, where the Son of Man was lifted up. In this we will continue lifting Him up to the world that all may still come to Him.
1 Corinthians 12:27
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
If we are His body and it is His body that feeds His sheep, then we must ever offer ourselves up as a sacrifice.
Romans 12:1
1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
As we follow our Lord drawing His people ever into a deeper relationship with Him, we must never lose sight of what our focus must be.
Philippians 4:8
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything
is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
In the next verse, St. Paul goes on to tell us:
9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it
into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Paul is telling us to act like him. What were the true, noble, right, praiseworthy, pure and lovely things he chose to think about? I believe Paul himself best taught us how to think of God's kingdom (rather than relying on any earthly ruler; or even ourselves) in the second chapter of his first letter to the believers at Corinth. Pay special attention to verses two, five and six.
1 Corinthians 2
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony[a] of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human[b] wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written:
“ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”[c]
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy[d] Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?”[e] But we have the mind of Christ.
Let us therefore continue to heed the words of the apostle when he said:
Hebrews 12:1
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
What is the sin that so easily ensnares us? Is it murder? Pride? Deceit? Gluttony? Is it those things that we choose to think about that is not the pure, lovely and noble? Do we spend our time building our trust in Christ, or do we continually look for our answers to come from this world? We must ever put our trust and faith in Christ. It is in keeping our eyes solely upon Him that we might lead His people to know His truth.
Romans 13:11-13
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
As His priests and ministers, let us ever show the world that there is One in whom they can place their hope. Let us ever raise Him up on the altar of our church and on the altar of our hearts that all may be drawn to Him.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
+Edward
Presiding Bishop
Diocese of St. Andrew
Catholic Charismatic Church
All Scripture quotations taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson,
Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Special thanks to www.biblegateway.com
Divine Mercy Sunday
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
Greetings and apostolic benedictions in the wonderful Name of Christ!
In this time of celebration and hope, as we contemplate the love and Divine Mercy the Father has bestowed upon us through the death and resurrection of His Son, our Lord Jesus the Christ, let us rededicate ourselves to the work He has given us to do.
As many have found hope in a new president and his government, let us also remember where it is our hope lies. While some believe man's government holds the answers they need, it is up to us to remind ourselves, as servants of the Most High, the only important question for us to have an answer.
John 21:17
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah,[a] do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”
And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep."
We must ever remember it is the body and blood of Jesus Himself that is the food that He has provided, and it is this He has charged us to supply His people through the Eucharist.
John 6:53
53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
So while some in the world around us try to draw us into their liberal agenda of the culture of death, and others would tell us to spread the rational approach of conservatism, we must not look to the left or the right. Rather we must focus on the middle cross, where the Son of Man was lifted up. In this we will continue lifting Him up to the world that all may still come to Him.
1 Corinthians 12:27
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
If we are His body and it is His body that feeds His sheep, then we must ever offer ourselves up as a sacrifice.
Romans 12:1
1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
As we follow our Lord drawing His people ever into a deeper relationship with Him, we must never lose sight of what our focus must be.
Philippians 4:8
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything
is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
In the next verse, St. Paul goes on to tell us:
9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it
into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Paul is telling us to act like him. What were the true, noble, right, praiseworthy, pure and lovely things he chose to think about? I believe Paul himself best taught us how to think of God's kingdom (rather than relying on any earthly ruler; or even ourselves) in the second chapter of his first letter to the believers at Corinth. Pay special attention to verses two, five and six.
1 Corinthians 2
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony[a] of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human[b] wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written:
“ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”[c]
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy[d] Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?”[e] But we have the mind of Christ.
Let us therefore continue to heed the words of the apostle when he said:
Hebrews 12:1
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
What is the sin that so easily ensnares us? Is it murder? Pride? Deceit? Gluttony? Is it those things that we choose to think about that is not the pure, lovely and noble? Do we spend our time building our trust in Christ, or do we continually look for our answers to come from this world? We must ever put our trust and faith in Christ. It is in keeping our eyes solely upon Him that we might lead His people to know His truth.
Romans 13:11-13
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
As His priests and ministers, let us ever show the world that there is One in whom they can place their hope. Let us ever raise Him up on the altar of our church and on the altar of our hearts that all may be drawn to Him.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
+Edward
Presiding Bishop
Diocese of St. Andrew
Catholic Charismatic Church
All Scripture quotations taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson,
Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Special thanks to www.biblegateway.com
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