BIG C CATHOLICS

The Sunday After Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday How should we prepare for this great Feast of Mercy? Jesus told St. Faustina that this Feast of Mercy would be a very special day when  “all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened.”  (Diary 699) Our Lord made a great promise to all those souls who would go to Confession and then receive Him in Holy Communion on the Feast of Mercy, on the Sunday after Easter, which is now called Divine Mercy Sunday throughout the Catholic Church. Jesus promised that  “The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain the complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.”  (Diary 699) He went on to say “ I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My Mercy.”  (Diary 1109) We want to encourage everyone to take advantage of this incredible promise and the additional Plenary Indulgence on this great Feast of Mercy “Divine Mercy Sund

"Why seek you the living with the dead?  He is not here, but is risen. (Luke 24: 5-6)   Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH ( Click here for Easter Vigil readings )  ( Click here for Sunday's readings ) On Good Friday, April 3, 2015, at sunset, millions of families the world over gathered around their table to hear a famous question: “Why is this night different from all other nights?” It was the beginning of the Jewish feast of Passover. The answer to that question starts with four specific details about the meal itself. Then comes this: “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and God brought us out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. And if God had not brought our ancestors out of Egypt, we and our children and our children’s children would still be subjugated to Pharaoh in Egypt. Even if we were all old and wise and learned in Torah, we would still be commanded to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt. And the mor

The Divine Mercy Image. Jesus, I trust in you. The Divine Mercy Novena begins today, Good Friday, and continues until the feast of Divine Mercy, the second Sunday of Easter. The Divine Mercy novena prayers were given to St. Faustina through an apparition of our Lord Jesus. Each day has a new petition that seeks God’s mercy for different purposes.  The message of Divine Mercy is a powerful way to grow closer to Christ. For a step by step guide showing how to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet go here . First Day of the Divine Mercy Novena Intention: Today bring to Me ALL MANKIND, ESPECIALLY ALL SINNERS , and immerse them in the ocean of my mercy. In this way you will console Me in the bitter grief into which the loss of souls plunges Me. Novena Prayer for Sinners (Day 1)   Most Merciful Jesus, whose very nature it is to have compassion on us and to forgive us, do not look upon our sins but upon our trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all in

1. Jesus addresses the Father. Luke 23:34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." This first saying of Christ on the cross is traditionally called "The Word of Forgiveness". It is theologically understood as Christ’s prayer for forgiveness for those who were crucifying him: the Roman soldiers and all others involved in his torture and death. By virtue of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection, forgiveness is possible, the gates of Heaven are opened, and sin is forever conquered. 2. Jesus speaks to Dismas. Luke 23:43 And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." This saying is called "The Word of Salvation."  In Luke's Gospel, Christ was crucified between two thieves (Dismas, the good criminal, and  Gestas ), Dismas supports Jesus' innocence and asks him to remember him when he comes into his kingdom. Jesus replies, "Truly, I say to

Nasarean.org  was founded by Father Benedict Kiely, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Stowe, Vermont in the Diocese of Burlington, and supported by the people and businesses there to help, in some small way, Christians suffering under the persecution of militant Islam throughout the world. This is a conflict that has been going on for centuries - and it will not end until the final victory of Christ. Father Kiely was so concerned about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East that he started a website —  www.nasarean.org  — making available bracelets, lapel pins and zipper hooks with the Arabic letter designating “Nazarene,” which the Islamic State put on the homes of Christians to mark them for ostracization, harassment, and death. The letter has become a symbol of solidarity with Christians who have been driven out of their homes. All proceeds from the items sold will go to the efforts of Aid to the Church in Need to help Christians in the region. Says Fr. Kie

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH Christ betrayed by Judas ( Click here for today’s readings ) There, you said it. You all said it. You all repeated it, six times, in the Responsorial Psalm. “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” In the Passion, Jesus’ words are translated, “Why have you forsaken me?” It’s the same. Maybe some of you even thought: “I’ve been there, I know what it’s like.” It is really hard to take this in. Did Jesus, of all people, really despair on the cross? We know he is quoting Psalm 22, composed when a distressed psalmist was desperately begging for God’s help. In Luke’s Gospel, the crucified Jesus quotes a different Psalm, number 31, also composed in a time of trial and persecution, but the verse he recites is of a totally different kind: “Into your hands I commend my spirit.” But today’s Passion is Mark’s; and he and Matthew have none of the other “Seven Last Words,” just the one we have heard and recited,

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH ( Click here for today’s readings ) What kinds of things do you like and dislike? What are you attracted to? What draws you? Why does one person love basketball while another loves opera? What kinds of persons do you like or not like? Whom are you attracted to? Do you think of yourself as attractive, whether in your appearance or personality or talents? What is the attraction? It is not easy to explain or analyze why we are drawn to certain things or certain persons. We just are. Jesus said, on the eve of his Passion, “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” The Evangelist John leaves no doubt about what Jesus meant: “He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.” If we look at the scene of the crucifixion, Jesus did in fact attract a crowd on that day, but not in the sense that we are talking about, and that was certainly not his meaning. In less than tw