‘I Couldn’t Fathom What I Had Done’

Theresa Bonopartis, director of Lumina, a post-abortion referral service that operates under the auspices of Good Counsel Homes founded by Christopher Bell and Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, was one of the many inspiring speakers at the North American Congress on Mercy on Saturday, Nov. 14. The following is her testimony:

“We are to show to those in need His goodness to ourselves …”

This phrase at Mass speaks to my heart. It reminds me of the despair, the grief, the pain of abortion from which Christ delivered me. It reminds me also of my duty to give hope to those still suffering, to help point the way to a place of shelter and peace in the heart of Jesus. And so, I relate my experience — unique and personal, but not unlike the stories of many other women. But this story is not, finally, about me. It’s about our good and merciful God … always there, wanting to forgive us and to make us whole again.

* * *

At 18 I honestly believed I was the only one not having sex. I gave in to peer pressure and slept with someone I was seeing occasionally. I remember vividly the day I phoned the doctor for my test results and learned I was pregnant.

After months of denial, I was nearly four months pregnant, so I knew the answer long before the word “positive” was uttered. I was overwhelmed by a range a feelings: happiness at the thought of a child growing within me, but also fear of telling my parents — the reason I had “denied” it for so long.

I immediately told the father of the child, and we decided to get married. Although we planned to tell our parents together, I blurted the truth to my mother and father. Their reaction took me by surprise. Shocked, angry, and disappointed, they told me to leave the house and forget that I was their daughter.

In retrospect, their reaction was understandable. They believed that premarital sex was wrong and thought it would be a disgrace to have a child out of wedlock. At least, I thought, my parents were practicing Catholics and would never ask me to abort my child. I left the house with no job, no money, no home, and nowhere to turn, feeling utterly abandoned and alone. It wasn’t long before the baby’s father and I broke up. Still, I was certain I would not get an abortion. I wanted my child.

A friend’s mother invited me to stay in their home. I had no idea how I could support the baby and myself, and things began to feel hopeless. During this period, my father sent several messages urging me to have an abortion. He even offered to pay for it. I refused. But as I began to feel more desperate, I decided, finally, to let the abortion happen. I shut down my feelings and went through the motions, functioning more like an observer in a surreal world than someone in control.

Thirty years later, I still can’t remember how I got to the hospital. But I do remember being alone in the hospital room when a doctor entered, and I’ll never forget the sadistic look on his face as he injected saline into my abdomen.

No one explained to me the baby’s development or what the abortion would be like. I had no idea what was going to happen. I lay there just wishing that I could die. I could feel the baby thrashing around as his skin and lungs were burned by the saline. He was dying. Labor began. After 12 hours of labor, alone in the room, I gave birth to a dead baby boy.

I looked at his tiny feet and hands. All I wanted to do was pick up my son and put him back inside of me. I couldn’t fathom what I had done. I rang for the nurse. She came in, picked up my son and dumped him in what looked like a large mayonnaise jar, a jar marked 3A. Then she left the room and I was alone again, filled with hatred for myself. The thought of death seemed comforting. My downward spiral had only just begun.

After the abortion I flew to California to spend time with my sister and her family so I could get my bearings again. I wasn’t the same person anymore. I went through the motions of daily living, but I had no desire for anything. At night, in the room I shared with my 2-year-old niece, I’d lie awake asking God over and over again to forgive me.

Three months later I returned to the New York area. Although I was not in contact with my father, my mom would slip out to meet me occasionally. Still trying to run away from myself, I moved to Florida. During my two years there, I called my dad and we began speaking again, although never mentioning my abortion.

When I returned to the area, I found a job and outwardly things seemed fine. But nothing was as it seemed. I tried hard not to think about who I was and what I had done. When I thought about my dead child, I would become depressed and despairing. Desperate to be loved, I became involved with the man I would marry, even though he was emotionally and psychologically abusive to me.

Two years later I was thrilled to be pregnant with our first child. But I was also afraid that God would punish me for the abortion, that something would be wrong with my child. I prayed constantly that the baby would not have to suffer for my sins, and was immensely relieved when he was born healthy.

The marriage began to fall apart soon after the baby’s birth. My husband was abusing alcohol and we were arguing all the time. We tried counseling to salvage our marriage. Knowing that my abortion was at the root of my problems, I told the counselor about it. He told me to just forget about it. It was in the past. I could not make him understand that the abortion was very much in the present because I was living with the consequences every day.

For a while my husband stayed sober, and I became pregnant with our second child. By the time I was to give birth, however, his addiction was again full-blown. The night our second child was born, I did not expect my husband to be there. By the time he got home, I was well along in labor and we barely made it to the hospital in time.

The birth of my son was anything but joyous. I didn’t know how I was going to care for two children, living with someone addicted to alcohol. Unlike the husbands of mothers around me, my husband did not show up the next day; he was recovering from a hangover. I lay alone in a hospital room, but this time my child was alive.

Soon after I brought the baby home, my husband overdosed and had to be rushed to the hospital. The incident helped me to begin breaking the cycle. During his two-week hospital stay, I began to enjoy my children for the first time. I didn’t have to worry about where he was or what he was doing. I gave the children my full attention. I promised myself that I would not let them grow up in an abusive home, and that if he didn’t straighten out, the children and I would begin a life for ourselves.

I kept my sanity by praying and reading the Bible. My husband stayed sober for two years before it began all over again. The day my older son, then four, told me to hide in the closet when he saw his father coming home, I knew we would have to leave.

For myself, I may well have stayed in that abusive relationship forever, but I did not want the boys to experience abuse. One day when my husband was drinking again, I took the children and walked out the door. Once again I found myself with no job, no money, no home. This time, thank God, I had my children.

My sister took me in to her already full apartment, and with my family’s help (in this crisis I had their full support), I began to get my life together. Shortly after I walked out, my husband ended up in rehab, so the boys and I were able to move back into our apartment. I found a job. Within a year or two I returned to school to train as a substance abuse counselor. My family helped me both financially and by helping to care for the boys. I could not have made it without them.

After graduation, one of my teachers offered me a job. I thought I had finally gotten it together. Little did I realize how fragile this new life was.

By this time I had grown in my spiritual life and had a relationship with God, even though I did not truly know Him and still kept a distance from church. I still suffered from depression, entertained thoughts of suicide and had very low self-esteem; the fact that I had been one of the few from my class offered a job did not raise my self-esteem.

In time, as I struggled with my personal problems, my professional work began to suffer. I experienced “burn out.” It was devastating to have worked so hard to achieve what I had and then become unable to function. I realize now that it was God’s way of drawing me closer to Him.

I quit my job and struggled to stay out of the hospital. My dad supported the kids and me. I just moved through life. Every day it was a challenge just to get out of bed and take care of the boys. I did, however, begin attending Mass again, sitting in the back of the church, certain that everyone knew I had had an abortion, certain that the walls would come crashing down on me. But I went, listening for some word of hope that I could be forgiven for my terrible, “unforgivable” sin.

By then my older son was seven and ready to make his First Penance. At a meeting for the parents, a priest talked about God’s mercy and His desire to forgive any sin, even the sin of abortion. I remember thinking: Can this be true? Did I hear him correctly? Will God really forgive abortion? That evening I left with the first inkling of hope I had known in 10 years.

It took time and courage, but I decided to contact that priest and ask him to hear my confession. Scared and nervous, I made my first confession in many years. The priest was gentle, trying to make it as easy as he could for me. He showed great empathy and support. At last, I was on my way home.

I began to see the priest regularly for spiritual direction. At first, all I could see was darkness. It was an effort to do the things he asked, like examining my life, because I was sure I would uncover only what a terrible person I was. But I was tired of the depression and desperate enough to try. I felt sorry for my children who had a mom who cried a lot and simply couldn’t cope with life. I wanted more for the three of us. And so I prayed, went to Mass every day and spent time before the Blessed Sacrament. I needed so badly to trust in this God I had been told was so good.

Still I could not forgive myself. I continued to struggle with depression. I would beg Jesus for healing. I felt bad that I had not reached full healing, and my confessor’s eyes showed his own sadness over my continued struggle. I understand now that the fullness of healing must come in God’s time.

One night I felt depressed and suicidal again, but despite these feelings, I also somehow felt a deep trust in God. I didn’t want the children to see me crying again, so after putting them to bed, I closed myself in the bathroom, crouched on the floor, and repeated over and over, “Jesus, I trust in You.”

I don’t know how many hours I did this, but well into the night I had an experience that changed my life. I experienced being on the cross with Christ. But instead of experiencing suffering, I felt love so intense that it was capable of taking away that pain. I felt His love wash away my sin and I knew my healing was complete.

I have never since felt the despair of abortion, only the profound love and forgiveness Christ gave me. I’ve watched my life be transformed, miraculously, as I’ve been privileged to help countless women and men suffering from abortion’s aftermath. Christ’s love transformed not only my life, but the lives of those I love.

Before my mother died, I learned that my abortion had caused her great suffering, although she had never told me. One day when we were watching TV, abortion was mentioned. She said, “Well, sometimes it’s all right to have an abortion.” I said, “Mom, it is never all right.”

God gave us this moment of grace. She told me that my abortion was her sin and that she would take it to the grave with her. I was able to comfort her, telling her that we both bore responsibility for it. I told her that I forgave her and asked her to forgive me. After that, my mother went to confession to the same priest I had seen for direction, and she felt that her terrible burden was lifted.

Most difficult was telling my children. I felt that God was calling me to speak out about abortion, but I knew I couldn’t unless my children knew first. I was terrified they would hate me. It took me years to muster the courage. By now I was active in the pro-life movement and they had been brought up to respect human life.

I planned to tell them many times, but each time I backed out, afraid to say the words. Finally one day I knew I was being given the grace to talk to them. How can I describe that day? I trembled as I told them of how our lives had come to be as they were. If not for my abortion, they would not be living in a fatherless household or seeing the strained relationship between my father and me.

The boys wrestled with their feelings. They were angry at me. They grieved for the brother they never knew. They felt guilty for surviving. It took time, a lot of talking, and the grace of God, but they understood finally why things were as they were, and why I had spent years crying. They grew closer to God, and we grew closer to one another.

I didn’t speak publicly right away. The boys needed time to deal with their feelings and cope with the loss of their brother before I would do that. I was even resigned and at peace with the fact that the day might never come. But a few years later, they gave me their blessing. To say I am proud of them is an understatement. They have become great advocates for life.

I’ve now worked for some years with the Sisters of Life, conducting Days of Prayer and Healing for those suffering abortion’s trauma. I am grateful to be able to stand alongside the Sisters at the foot of the cross and minister to these children of God, and blessed to watch them be transformed by His love and forgiveness. I have witnessed countless miracles of His mercy and am convinced that God is marshaling an army of once-wounded women and men to dispel the lies of abortion.

The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul, tells of words spoken to her by Christ:

Let the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than asked. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy.

I know that this is true.

Jesus I trust in You.

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Alina – Jan 2, 2010

When I read inspirational stories like this, I say THANKS to GOD for allowing me and my seven siblings to breath and live. This story makes people to know that it is possible to rise up from ashes.

Will You, Too, Say Yes?

“She’s dying,” said Kellie Ross, of this baby girl in June in a hospital in Bouake, the Ivory Coast. Kellie learned the mother could not produce milk to nurse her baby and had no money for food. “This is why we are called to come to the Ivory Coast,” said Kellie of her group, Missionaries of Our Lady of Divine Mercy, which was touring the west African country.

Plans for the North American Congress on Mercy (NACOM) are taking shape. Above, members of NACOM’s executive committee meet on July 20-21 with representatives of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where NACOM will be held in November. Top, from left: Fran Bourdon, executive director of the Association of Marian Helpers; Fr. Kazimierz Chwalek, MIC, Marian director of evangelization and development and Congress vice president; and Fr. Michael D. Weston, the Basilica’s director of Liturgy. Bottom, from left, Gina Shultis, the Marians’ marketing and communications manager; Fr. Matthew R. Mauriello, president and coordinator for NACOM; and Fr. Vito A. Buonanno, rector of the Basilica.

Plans for the North American Congress on Mercy (NACOM) are taking shape. Above, members of NACOM’s executive committee meet on July 20-21 with representatives of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where NACOM will be held in November. Top, from left: Fran Bourdon, executive director of the Association of Marian Helpers; Fr. Kazimierz Chwalek, MIC, Marian director of evangelization and development and Congress vice president; and Fr. Michael D. Weston, the Basilica’s director of Liturgy. Bottom, from left, Gina Shultis, the Marians’ marketing and communications manager; Fr. Matthew R. Mauriello, president and coordinator for NACOM; and Fr. Vito A. Buonanno, rector of the Basilica.

Screams, wails, and whimpers ricochet off the concrete floor in a walled-off compound where the mentally ill are quarantined. The place is filthy. Bodies that have no reason to get up, stay down.

Kellie Ross is on bended knee speaking with a boy — one of dozens of tragic cases she encounters during a 12-day Divine Mercy mission in June in west Africa. He’s 8 years old and completely out of place here among the older, clearly sick, patients. His ailment? Epilepsy, a common chronic neurological disorder that’s easily treated and that many children grow out of.

But here in the Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire), where Kellie and her group of missionaries are spreading the message of mercy in a poor, war-torn land, there are no medications available for epilepsy. That means that this boy’s epilepsy is cause for him to be kept quarantined with the mentally ill in dark rooms, on hard floors, surrounded by bare walls, and amidst the horror of screams, of wails, and of whimpers.

Kellie is hugging him. Tearfully, she kisses the disfigured flesh where his left hand used to be, now burnt to the nub after he fell into a fire during a recent seizure.

‘Mercy: Our Hope’
What’s a prayerful wife, mother, and small-town Catholic humanitarian from the suburbs of Virginia doing here in the Ivory Coast, 7,000 miles from home?

Inspired by Marian Helper magazine back in 2005, Kellie is following the Lord’s call to spread His Divine Mercy. Her response to His call — saying yes — is what organizers for the upcoming North American Congress on Mercy (NACOM) on Nov. 14-15 hope to duplicate a hundredfold.

With NACOM — two days of talks, celebration, and worship at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. — a “demand” from Christ, and a “mandate” from Rome, will be writ large in North America.

To register for NACOM, visit mercycongress.org.

Jesus told 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).

The Holy Father, too, has made mercy a “mandate.” At the conclusion of the World Apostolic Congress on Mercy in April 2008, Pope Benedict XVI told the thousands of Congress participants from all around the world, “Go forth and be witnesses of God’s mercy, a source of hope for every person and for the whole world.”

“The Holy Father inspired all of us to bring the message of mercy to our own lands,” says Fr. Matthew Mauriello, president and coordinator for NACOM. “So this November, in Washington, D.C., we will carry that spark from Rome to our own country, much in the same way the Olympic torch is carried from country to country. We will take that spark from Rome and bring it back to our own dioceses, our own parishes, and our own homes.”

The Congress’ theme — and timing — couldn’t be more appropriate. In a land reeling from a financial and moral crisis, where families are struggling and fearful, amidst the fighting of two foreign wars, the episcopal advisor to NACOM, the Most Reverend William E. Lori, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., has declared that the theme for the Congress will be “Mercy: Our Hope.”

“The Congress will help people come to know God as a God of mercy who can cure us from our brokenness, our sinfulness, and our fears,” says Fr. Kazimierz Chwalek, MIC, Marian director of evangelization and development and Congress vice president. “We will share how He wants us to do the same for each other — to carry each others’ crosses — in a world in desperate need of His profound gift of mercy.

“By giving to others out of our love for God,” he says, “we create opportunities for God’s greatest miracles — for others and for ourselves.”

To help others experience the miracle of God’s mercy at NACOM, Fr. Kaz says the Marians are organizing a bus pilgrimage to the Congress, with pickups in Albany, N.Y., and Springfield, Mass. Call 1-800-462-7426 for information.

Mercy for North America
Dynamic speakers will unpack the theme “Mercy: Our Hope” at NACOM. (See the schedule.)

On Saturday morning, Nov. 14, Dr. Scott Hahn, who is renowned for his talks on Scripture and the Catholic faith, will give a presentation on Divine Mercy in Scripture entitled “Lord, Have Mercy.”

Doctor Hahn is a professor of Theology and Scripture at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. Hahn is author of the bestseller on the Eucharist, The Lamb’s Supper, and many other bestselling books.

Also on Saturday morning, Theresa Bonopartis — who has been involved in post-abortion work and counseling for 20 years — will address the Congress on the topic “Where Mercy Meets Faithfulness,” touching on how God not only healed her from an abortion but radically changed her life.

She is director of Lumina, a post-abortion referral service that operates under the auspices of Good Counsel Homes founded by Christopher Bell and Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR.

On Saturday afternoon, Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, will speak on the topic “The Virgin Mary: Mother and Mediatrix of Mercy.”

The U.S. Vocation Director of the Marians, Fr. Donald is well known for his love of the Blessed Virgin Mary and his dramatic conversion story. He is the author of Purest of All Lilies: The Virgin Mary in the Spirituality of St. Faustina.

Magnifying His Mercy
At the Mercy Congress, Kellie will be among those giving a testimony of mercy — explaining how she has been saying yes to the Lord ever since she found herself leafing through a copy of Marian Helper magazine in 2005.

An article had caught her attention that discussed ways people can help the Marians spread Divine Mercy. The article included an image of The Divine Mercy, showing a magnifying glass over the Heart of Jesus.

Through the group she founded, Missionaries of Our Lady of Divine Mercy, a ministry of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Bristow, Va., Kellie has radically reordered her life and priorities to magnify the Lord’s mercy.

“I remember reading the Diary where Jesus says, ‘I demand from you deeds of mercy,'” Kellie says. “I thought, ‘Wow, He demands it. It’s not a request. He demands deeds of mercy, and there’s no excuse.”

That became the motivation for her ministry. Her eyes were opened to the suffering around her. Men and women going hungry in Washington, D.C. No excuses. Children in northern Virginia without clothes and food and school supplies. No excuses. People living without God and their souls in jeopardy. No excuses.

These are the people the Missionaries have been serving — thousands of them — through their House of Mercy in Manassas, Va.

“We have to help,” says Kellie. “We cannot keep living under the assumption that other people will help.”

Saying Yes
So in April, when His Excellency Marie-Daniel Dadiet, Archbishop of Korhogo, Cote d’Ivoire, paid an unannounced visit to the House of Mercy during a trip to Washington, D.C., and asked Kellie, “Will you help my people? They are suffering,” there would be no excuses.

She said yes.

In June, the Missionaries toured the Ivory Coast, visiting hospitals, schools, and orphanages. They opened a House of Mercy in Korhogo. They are now organizing cargo containers filled with necessities for the people there.

Why west Africa? Because children have been orphaned. Because 40 percent of the infrastructure of the country was destroyed by the civil war that lasted from 2002-2007.

No excuses.

Kellie said yes to The Divine Mercy. Now, you have a special opportunity at NACOM to say yes to His mercy — the healing balm for our own broken and hurting continent of North America.

To register for NACOM, call 1-800-462-7426 or visit mercycongress.org

Read Felix Carroll’s series on the Missionaries of Our Lady of Divine Mercy’s journey in the Ivory Coast at thedivinemercy.org/Africa.

An Explosion of Mercy

By Dan Valenti (Nov 14, 2009)
At one time deep in the recesses of the North America’s past, in what is now Yellowstone National Park, an enormous volcanic eruption caused a collapse of land that buried the continent in a foot of ash.

Recently, geologists sent divers into Yellowstone Lake. They observed a bulge in the lakebed that has been measured at more than 100 feet. More ominously, the bulge has been pulsating. When it goes off is a matter of time — it might not take place for millennia. Then again, it could happen tomorrow.

A Movement and Message, Building and Building
What has this to do with the first-ever North American Congress on Mercy that took place Nov. 14-15 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.?

Think of the word “eruption,” which we can define as an explosion from accumulated energy that breaks out of confinement to be released in an instant.

That is what pilgrims witnessed at NACOM, an explosion of mercy.

The energy of God’s mercy has been building ever since the fall of humankind as portrayed in the Genesis parable of the Garden of Eden. Like the volcanic activity at Yellowstone, eruptions of mercy have been noted throughout humanity’s history on earth.

In our time, Divine Mercy as a message and movement has been steadily building since the early 1930s, when an uneducated, young Polish nun — Sr. Faustina Kowalska — dutifully obeyed the order of her spiritual director to keep an ongoing diary of her mystical communications with Jesus. Our Lord revealed Himself to Sr. Faustina, today St. Faustina, as The Divine Mercy.

The message of Divine Mercy, recorded in the spiritual classic The Diary of St. Faustina rapidly spread, in spite of a Papal ban for 20 years from 1958 to 1978. Today, it has become what some call the fastest-growing grassroots movement in the history of the Church.

Holy Ash, Wide and Far
For the North American continent, the eruption of mercy at NACOM has sent holy “ash” wide and far. It remains to be seen if the entire continent becomes covered, but the early reports are promising. Much of this has to do with the setting for NACOM.

The national basilica, dedicated 50 years ago, is the continent’s largest church, and its enormity provided perfect conditions for this explosion of mercy to occur. What we have today and going forward, is a loosening of the grip evil has over North America.

Does that sound grandiose? So be it. What pilgrims witnessed over two historic days in Washington, D.C. was a basilica of grandeur serving as a catapult to launch an awareness of God’s mercy, afresh, in North America. The continent has been given yet another spiritual opportunity.

It is hard to think of this happening anywhere else except at, in, and from America’s church.

On first glance at this structure, one notices the 108-foot dome, made of polychromatic tile dominated by a lovely shade of turquoise blue with yellow and red accents. On a more sustained examination, the building’s Romanesque-Byzantine design stands out, symbolizing the harmony of the spiritual traditions and presence of West and East. Seventy chapels can be found inside the grand structure, which is made entirely of stone, brick, tile, and mortar. Amazingly, the basilica was built without a single steel structural beam. There is also no framework or columns.

Blown Away
The energy of God’s mercy produces hope that doesn’t disappoint. Sure, we are human. We are tangential beings who fall short of God’s absolute perfection. Nonetheless, all will be okay if we accept the mercy of God, offered unconditionally and freely.

Albert Einstein rocked our conception of reality when he produced his famous equation E=MC2 (energy equals mass times the speed of light squared). If a similar scientific genius could devise a corresponding formula for Divine Mercy, she would write it DM=ML(I)2 (Divine Mercy equals measureless love times infinity squared).

Oh, what an exciting way to be blown away!

What the Lord Wants From Us

In a letter that, in no uncertain terms, links the North American Congress on Mercy (NACOM) with the revelations of St. Faustina Kowalska, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna, Austria, has defined NACOM’s goal as spearheading a new missionary front in the name of The Divine Mercy.

Cardinal Schönborn, president of the first World Apostolic Congress on Mercy (WACOM), held in Rome last year, addressed his letter to participants and planners of NACOM, which was celebrated Nov. 14-15 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. [Learn more.]

In his letter, Cardinal Schönborn quotes the words of Pope Benedict XVI upon the close of WACOM when the Holy Father called the participants to “go forth and be witnesses of God’s mercy.”

“Since this remarkable event with thousand of believers from all over the world,” Cardinal Schönborn writes, “we are witnesses to how Divine Mercy is spreading throughout the world.”

He adds, “The Lord wants us to do these works of mercy. Jesus Himself calls us to deeds of mercy, by words and by prayers.”

Through NACOM — two days of presentations, concluding with Holy Mass — planners sought to sure up an apostolic beachhead in which the zeal of WACOM can take root and flourish in North America.

To that end, in his letter, Cardinal Schönborn quotes from St. Faustina’s spiritual Diary, in which the Polish nun records the extraordinary revelations she had in the 1930s that have sparked the modern Divine Mercy movement, including the Mercy Congress itself.

The passage is the following:

I suffer great pain at the sight of the sufferings of others. All these sufferings are reflected in my heart. I carry their torments in my heart so that it even wears me out physically. I would like all pains to fall upon me so as to bring relief to my neighbor. (1039)

“In these words,” Cardinal Schönborn writes, “we find the true love of Christ that must inspire our humanity today. How many souls have been consoled by the prayer ‘Jesus, I trust in You,’ which Providence intimated through Sr. Faustina!

“Let us pray to the Lord that our heart may be merciful so that we feel all the sufferings of our neighbors,” Cardinal Schönborn continues. “Let us begin to trust in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. Then we can bear all our own sufferings to the merciful Lord.

He added that Pope John Paul II canonized St. Faustina “as a gift of God to our time” — a gift that keeps on giving.

“She can help us to have a living experience of the depth of Divine Mercy and to bear witness to it among our brothers and sisters,” Cardinal Schönborn writes. “May the message of Divine Mercy, which is the message of light and hope, spread throughout the world: Jesus, I trust in You!”

The letter, dated Oct. 7, was read aloud at NACOM, which was one in a series of continental congresses across the globe that serve as a prelude to the second World Mercy Congress, set for Krakow in 2011.

A Church congress is a Vatican-approved gathering focusing on a particular aspect of the faith. NACOM aims to bring greater awareness of — and participation in — the mercy of God as a source of hope, healing, and renewal for all people, all creeds, all families, all communities, and all nations on all continents.

Cardinal Schönborn himself, served as the master of ceremonies for WACOM. During the five-day-long congress last year, he often invoked the Holy Spirit and asked those gathered to allow Jesus, The Divine Mercy, to transform their lives so that they could, in turn, transform the lives of others, particularly those in greatest need of God’s mercy.

“The mystery of Divine Mercy is merciful love, which seeks intervention in our lives,” he said at one point.

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Humble servant of God’s Love and Mercy – Dec 1, 2009

O Most Sweet Jesus, we trust that You will hasten the joyful day when the Limitless Love and Inexhaustible Mercy that is in the Triune God is in all our hearts.

O most sweet Jesus, our contrite hearts either rejoice in You or are tormented for You, but use us for Divine Mercy’s end.

kiyolaw@yahoo.co.uk – Nov 13, 2009

This is beautiful! I pray the Lord continues to inspire you and you give us more. May mother Mary continue to be our advocate. Seminarian Lawrence from Uganda.

Mrs Stanley W (BonnieAnn M) Stevens – Oct 31, 2009

Let us remember to pray for the many marriages that suffer, due to a person’s inability to forgive himself or herself when a marriage suffers from
infidelity. These marriages are truly able to re ameliorated through the Divine Mercy.

S. Sullivan – Oct 30, 2009

Thank you. This was very inspirational!!

Were You There? Share Your Thoughts on This Historic Weekend of Mercy

Did you attend the North American Congress on Mercy on Nov. 14-15? Or the Divine Mercy Networking Forum on Nov. 13?

We invite you to share your thoughts and reflections on these historic events!

Fr. Joe Roesch, MIC – Dec 3, 2009

I was blessed to be able to participate along with my community, the incredible staff at the Marian Helper’s Center, the Mercy Ministries associated with the Marians and my parents and sister. I was filled with peace as a result of the Congress. My parents and sister were also very glad they had attended. The following weekend. I attended the Asian Congress in Manila – another blessing! And I was able to share some ideas from the North American Congress there.

Br. Michael Gaitley, MIC – Dec 2, 2009

One memory from the Mercy Congress sticks in my mind: The hard work of the lay staff and volunteers who support the Marians. They gave their all to make the Congress a success. The Marians are blessed to have such dedicated help.

Kim – Nov 30, 2009

This Mercy Congress was my own private “spark” that has ignited my life to receive God’s mercy and to spread it to through words and deeds with those people who are a part of my life.

I particularly loved the Divine Mercy Networking event on Nov. 13, sponsored by the marians. I met so many people who have turned their lives around — the greatest sinners who have come to know Jesus as our merciful Lord. Very inspiring! Thanks to all those who helped put this congress together.

DAN VALENTI – Nov 24, 2009

As a writer, I am privileged and blessed to cover events like this. “Like this,” I say? Actually, I would be hard pressed to come up with an analogous happening. I’ve covered many conferences and gatherings, but NACOM was (is) unique. This brought mercy to a continental level. From Mexico, Canada, and the United States they came — a qualified band of pilgrims taking seriously their obligation to be people of goodness and compassion. I’m certain they lifted the spirits of a continent.

A writer doesn’t “cover” an event like this. He uncovers it to reveal the stories. Blessings to all those who attended.

Sandra, Anna, Maria – Nov 24, 2009

Thank you to all involved with the wonderful Divine Mercy Congress in D.C. What a blessing! What a grace! Not only was in beautiful and holy surroundings, but what was talked about and taught was absolutely AWESOME!

It was certainly not a cooincidence that the Congress took place in between the House of Representatives and Senate voting on the healthcare bill and in the actual city in which all of this was taking place.

I felt a deep sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit and our Beloved Pope John Paul II and of course St Faustina. What a blessing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To also be present at the Basilica in the octave of the Jubilee was an additional THRILL and GREAT & MERCIFUL BLESSING from GOD! Thank you again.

The Pre-Congress meetings were wonderful and it was evident that the work you put into and the prayers offered were answered. We can not wait for the next National Congress.

God bless you all and THANK YOU AGAIN!

Sandra Maola
Anna Ianni
Maria Vozza

Susan – Nov 24, 2009

Dear Editor,

Please pass on my deep thanks to all who organized the
NACOM.

Last year I attended the first World Congress on Mercy in
Rome. I left with a sense of deep peace, but a feeling that
there was more.

This past weekend I attended the NACOM in DC and I left completely filled!! Thank you, thank you!

As a mother, to leave my family is a big deal for me. This congress was so well organized, peaceful, joyful, prayer-filled, and informative. I can’t say enough.

Those who greeted, directed, spoke, and assisted were the most joyful and helpful people I have had the pleasure to meet.

My sincerest thanks to all! They certainly used the gifts God gave them. My cup was overflowing. God is so good! (and Merciful!)

Peace,
Susan Kinnane

What’s Now and What’s Next?

By Dan Valenti (Nov 14, 2009)
As globetrotting general secretary of the World Apostolic Congress on Mercy (WACOM), Fr. Patrice Chocholski should have trouble keeping his time zones straight. From Madrid to Washington, D.C., from Africa to Asia, Fr. Patrice has been attending each of the continental congresses that have proceeded as an extension of the first WACOM, conducted in April last year in Rome.

Father Patrice gave the concluding reflection of the historic first North American Congress on Mercy (NACOM), Nov. 13-14, held in the nation’s capital at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

‘A Source of Renewal’
In an interview before his address to the Congress, Fr. Patrice of France said that NACOM has become “a source of renewal for the Church in North America that the Holy Father has been following closely, given the continent’s importance for the universal Church in focusing the world’s attention on God’s mercy.”

He said that, as general secretary of WACOM — commissioned by Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of the Archdiocese of Vienna, Austria, acting for Pope Benedict XVI — “my first duty is to be present at each of the national and continental congresses that will lead up to Krakow in 2011.” The reference was to WACOM II, scheduled for Krakow, Poland, again under the direction of Cardinal Schonborn.

“The national and continental congresses serve as an important bridge [between WACOM I and II],” Fr. Patrice said. “It is wonderful to see the different expressions of creativity in the different congresses, as each interprets this key mission in a unique way, yet still expressing the universal value of God’s mercy. God’s love for us is at the heart of the Christian message.”

Father Patrice said he was most impressed by the North American Congress on Mercy, especially for its theme of “Mercy: Our Hope.”

“This hope is essential to the Christian mission of evangelization. There is no doubt that the North American Congress has taken on a leadership role in the growth of Divine Mercy in the United States, in Canada, and in Mexico.”

Praise for NACOM President
He praised the direction of Fr. Matthew Mauriello, NACOM president. “Father Matthew brings a style of exuberance that is [infectious]. I commend Bishop [William] Lori for his choice of Fr. Matthew to lead this effort.”

Expanding on the key role of NACOM in the Pope’s efforts to spread God’s mercy to the world, Fr. Patrice said, “I have the feeling that in North America, Divine Mercy is helping to grow the Catholic faith and better integrate it into the daily life of people. The message of mercy has credibility. Even those who are not Catholic or Christian — even those who may not have faith at all — hunger for love.”

He said that the evangelization that is behind both WACOM and the national and continental congresses around the world must, however, be done “first and foremost out of a spirit of love. In being here in Washington for [the first NACOM], it is apparent to me, and there can be no doubt, that such love is present. It is being done out of love, and only out of love. This is beautiful to witness.”

Church Needs to ‘Reconnect’
Father Patrice concluded by emphasizing the need for the Church to “reconnect” to those faithful who have been driven away by the unfortunate events of the recent past” (a reference to the child abuse scandal). He said the continental and regional congresses that lead up to Krakow 2001 are playing “a key role” in this effort.”

They are doing so “by bringing credibility to what we profess, which is a message of love, of life, of justified hope, which is only possible because of God’s mercy for the human race,” he said.

Be a part of the discussion.

MaryS – Nov 30, 2009

Father ,thank you for your time for the Filipinos people, you gave as an inspirations the 3 days events of AACOM was one of the most memorable one meeting our Asian brothers and sisters. This bridged us into one family of the Divine Mercy as Mama Mary acts as our intercessory God bless .

‘The Medicine of Mercy’

Really, this couldn’t be some fluke.

A couple miles north of the United States Capitol, where our nation’s elected Congress is debating universal healthcare coverage, sits another stunning, domed edifice — the Basilica of the National Shrine of The Immaculate Conception, where the North American Congress on Mercy convened Saturday, Nov. 14.

While the politicians down the road at the epicenter of our democracy debate the dispensation of healthcare for the body, 700-plus people gathered at our nation’s epicenter of Catholicism to immerse themselves in the only sensible cure for the soul.

It was no debate at all. The curative is contained within the Sacraments of the universal Church. And, as the Mercy Congress keynoter Dr. Scott Hahn pointed out in his talk, titled “Lord, Have Mercy,” the Sacrament of Reconciliation is the means by which we can bring hope and healing to our own lives and to the whole world.

“Penance. Confession. Whatever you want to call it,” said Dr. Hahn. “I call it the medicine of mercy.”

Indeed, St. Faustina Kowalska, the Polish nun whose revelations in the 1930s have sparked the modern Divine Mercy movement, would have no qualms with that prognosis. Jesus explains to her that by means of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, our lives can be restored to the divinity that God intended for us at the beginning of Creation.

Christ tells St. Faustina that when we go to confession, “the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy” (Diary of St. Faustina, 1602).

‘A Debt is Paid’
Dr. Hahn, an internationally known author, speaker, and Catholic convert, spoke of how years ago when he was studying Scripture to become a Baptist minister “everything kept coming up Catholic.” He said Scripture — both the Old and New Testaments — speaks of the need to confess our sins and pay restitution through penance.

The first time he went to confession — the first time he heard those words that he was absolved from his sins — he came out knowing “Christ paid a debt He didn’t owe me because I owed a debt I couldn’t pay. I had never experienced the liberating power of His mercy like I did that day.”

Through confession, we do not reveal any secret that “God Himself doesn’t already know,” Dr. Hahn said. Rather, God is letting us in on His secret, “and that is the power of His mercy, which is a medicine that can heal you.”

Indeed, it can heal us in a way we cannot do on our own.

What ails humanity is not debatable. Our misery is due to our sins, and our sins are what separate us from God, and in that separation, true lasting joy is unattainable.

Through sin, “we have, in effect, run away from home,” Dr. Hahn said. “We have done what the Prodigal Son did. We’ve disinherited ourselves.”

He added, “When the priest says I absolve you, God is restoring infinite life to the soul of the Prodigal Son in us.”

‘A Sure Cure’
Dr. Hahn urged Congress attendees to go to confession on a regular basis. And don’t be frustrated.

He shared how one time he told his priest how he could have just photocopied the list of sins he committed from the previous week’s confession. The sins were the mark of repeated struggles, week after week.

“So what are you telling me? Are you looking for new sins?” his priest asked.

“No, Father,” Dr. Hahn replied. “I’m looking to get rid of old sins.”

“Well, if you stop coming in and confessing, I can guarantee you’ll have new sins!”

“That man’s insight drove right to my heart,” Dr. Hahn told the Congress attendees. “I knew it was right.”

Confession is meant to be humbling, he said. Being humbled leads to humility, and humility is a virtue that “takes out the source of all sin, which is pride.”

“This isn’t a quick fix,” Dr. Hahn said. “It’s a sure cure, but it’s long-term therapy. You’re in rehab, and you’re in it for the life long. We need long-term therapy. That’s what we have in the Sacraments, and that’s what we have in all the saints, and especially what we find in the Blessed Virgin Mary, the masterpiece of Divine Mercy.”

Dr. Hahn also urged Congress attendees to be assured that Christ Himself is present in the confessional. Indeed, Christ told St. Faustina, “Make your confession before Me. The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyze what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light” (Diary, 1725).

“The Lord is not outdone in generosity,” Dr. Hahn said. If you are led to accept responsibility and make restitution, “do not give in to fear. Give in to faith,” he said.

He added, “When you tell Him what’s bothering you, he’ll give you the medicine that will cure you. So why go to confession and withhold any known mortal sin? That’s stupid. That’s self-destructive, especially when you know you have a divine guarantee of omnipotent mercy that will work long term, not only in your life but in the lives of your loved ones, too. This is what it means to be Catholic. Plain and simple. And this is what it means for us to come to a better understanding of mercy. Mercy is simply the most important truth of our faith.”

And it’s also the most misunderstood, he noted.

‘Divine Leniency’?
The common misconception, Dr. Hahn said, is that mercy is equivalent to “divine leniency.” That is, that God let’s us get away with sin without any consequences.

Sure, God is patient with us. Sure, He extends His forebearance. And sure, He looks upon us with great mercy because He sees us in our misery. But Jesus’ suffering on the cross does not absolve us from suffering.

“Jesus not only bears the cross, He also bestows a cross,” Dr. Hahn said. “He doesn’t bear the cross as a substitute so we don’t have to suffer and die, so that we don’t have to obey.”

Rather, the cross is an invitation for us to participate, through the Holy Spirit, in God’s original plan for us. That plan requires us to obey His commandments.

“God is not raising brats, but saints,” he said. “The Church is a hospital, not a place for people who refuse to grow up.”

For a world that’s suffering, the cure has not been lost, but merely mislaid. May this message echo from dome to dome, from sea to shining sea.

Be a part of the discussion. Add a comment now!

Mary Lou – Nov 18, 2009

This is a masterpiece on why confess. Dr. Hanh, you explained it so greatly. Now, the proddings of my late mother to go to confession humbles me. She understood it rightly having walked the journey of the Divine Mercy. The unprescribed and cheap medicine of our depress time. Lord, how great is Your Mercy ! Heal us oh Lord !

Masterpiece of Mercy

By Dan Valenti (Nov 14, 2009)
What force of God can tame beasts, soften steely hearts, and through tenderness and compassion serve as object lessons in the practicality of day-to-day mercy?

Why, femininity, of course.

A gifted, young Marian priest injected a serious dose of the feminine into the North American Congress on Mercy in a stem-winding talk on Saturday, Nov. 14, centered on “Mary, Mother and Masterpiece of Mercy.”

Perfect in Virtue, Thrice-Created by God
Father Donald Calloway, MIC, borrowed his motif from Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s book on the Blessed Mother, The World’s First Love. Father Donald noted what happened with the Holy Trinity and Mary: “God the Father made His own daughter. God the Son made His own mother. God the Holy Spirit made His own spouse.”

How could such a creature not be perfect, something the Church recognizes in its teaching on the Immaculate Conception? Mary, Fr. Donald said, personifies “the superlative of all virtues.”

Our Lady is tenderness at its best, maternity at its most loving, and purity at the apogee of spotlessness. Even with that, though, Mary doesn’t remain at a spiritual distance. Far from being a woman so perfect we can’t relate to her, Mary cemented her bond with us by assenting to become the Mother of God. For this reason, she is venerated, not worshipped. For this reason, she is our mother as well.

‘The Depository of All Graces’
“She is the pattern of what it means to be a Christian, a disciple,” said Fr. Donald, the Marians’ vocation director.

Like Jesus, “we have to be born through her, for she is the depository of all graces. What you can say of Mary, you can say of the Church. She is the blueprint, the model.”

As we all are, Mary “is dependent on mercy, and mercy [Jesus as The Divine Mercy] is dependent on her. It’s a paradox,” Fr. Donald said. “So it is with us. We can’t live without [God’s] mercy, and we can’t be born again without Mary. We will never know Jesus Christ’s fullness without His mother.”

Father Donald then went in an unexpected though fruitful direction, turning to science, specifically, the phenomenon of fetal microchimerism. This recent biological finding strongly suggests that when a woman has a child, cells of that child will continue to live in the mother the rest of her life.

Amazingly, these microchimeric cells come to defend her life when she is sick. In fact, they are among the most aggressive defenders of the mother’s health. Likewise, we retain cells in our own bodies that come from our mothers. As the mother of Jesus, Mary retained her Son’s cells throughout her life (“The Church has never dogmatically declared that Mary ever died. She never died because she had the cells of the God-Man”).

Say ‘Yes’ to God
We, too, as children of Mary, retain her spiritual cells in us and ours remain in her. We can use that for strength, Fr. Donald said, because, “in some mystical way, you were born from her at Calvary, from her pierced heart.” God “planned it that way.”

Father Donald told NACOM pilgrims, “The greatest thing that we can say [to God’s call] is ‘let it be done to me according to Your word.'” Say “yes” to God; give Him your “fiat,” as Mary did. “That is the stamp of mercy.”

Visit Father Donald’s website, fathercalloway.com.
Be a part of the discussion. Add a comment now!

Humble servant of God’s Love and Mercy – Dec 1, 2009

O Most Sweet Jesus, we trust that You will hasten the joyful day when the Limitless Love and Inexhaustible Mercy that is in the Triune God is in all hearts. O Lord, our contrite hearts rejoice in You or are tormented for You, but use us for Divine Mercy’s end. So be it.

Sophie – Nov 22, 2009

Thank you, Fr. Donald for always preaching the truth about how important Mary is in our relationship with Christ. She truly is the pattern of Christian discipleship and you Father are a great model for us as well. God bless you.

Erica T – Nov 22, 2009

I’d never heard of fetal microchimerism until Fr. Calloway brought it up. Amazing!! Thank you so much for all that you do, Father. I wish I could have gone to the congress. Maybe you can have one on the West Coast.

Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC – Nov 20, 2009

Wow! Great news, David! Being Catholic is the best thing on earth. Blessings to you!

David – Nov 19, 2009

Thank you. I have been a Protestant my whole life but am now entering the Catholic Church at the age of 49 because for some time now our mother Mary has been in my heart whenever I prayed to her Son. Now I can comprehend it in a way I could not before. Microchimerism will be an image that stays with me the rest of my life. God bless you Fr.Donald.

Mike – Nov 18, 2009

Huyen from Holland…
definitly get a copy of NO Turning Back, its awesome. Holland is starving for mercy!!!
You can sense it all over Europe but especially right now in Northern Europe for some reason…

immerse yourself right now in Gods mercy and immerse your entire country!

Thats the incredibly cool thing.. you can do it now! 🙂 God has handed you the power through the divine mercy image. Face it out the window. I cannot tell u how strong it is..
then trust and wait for amazing things to happen!

God bless you.
huyen – Nov 18, 2009

I don’t normally post comments on here…but I come from Holland .Father Don, I just only want to say that you are truely ‘the knight of our Lady’ gathering young souls like us to her and Jesus. Lots of my friends have been talking about you and we all think that you are a star..bling bling bling!!
we have seen your video clip via utube and we think your conversion story is really amazing. hope to get an order of your dvd and book soon Father. we hope to see you one day in Europe Father.
God bless you and everyone over there.

maryS – Nov 17, 2009

Fr.what a beautiful talked the spirit of grace in your heart is flowing YES to HIM.I hope and pray the we will a priest like so dedicated to our mother Mary.God bless.

Seven Highlights from a Weekend of Mercy

By David Came (Nov 14, 2009)
Opening Reflection: Grand Sweep of Mercy in Salvation History
As the Divine Mercy Networking Forum opened the morning of Friday, Nov. 13, Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC — the director of the Association of Marian Helpers and an expert on the Divine Mercy message and the life of St. Faustina — set the tone by reflecting on the grand sweep of Divine Mercy in salvation history. He described the great mercy of God being made up of three stages: our “being created out of nothing,” our “redemption from sin,” and our ultimate call to be “partakers of the divine nature.” In passages from the Diary of St. Faustina, Fr. Seraphim emphasized how both Jesus and Mary told Sr. Faustina — the great Apostle of Divine Mercy — that her mission was to prepare the world for the Lord’s Second Coming. And all of us who open our hearts to Divine Mercy and seek to live the message share in that mission. As Fr. Seraphim said in concluding his reflection: “The good Lord and the Holy Spirit have drawn you to be zealous instruments of [this] saving work [of mercy]. May we sing of the mercies of the Lord forever.”

Youth and Young Adults: Be ‘Courted by Jesus Christ’
At the forum’s morning workshop titled “Inspiring Youth and Young Adults,” Marian seminarian Br. Richard Mary Dolan, MIC, shared through the lens of his own conversion how young adults are looking for their identity, intimacy, and security, which can only be found in Christ. This is the “root” of the problem for young adults in today’s society, and until we address it, we will not be effective in reaching them with the Gospel message. For example, a key moment for Br. Rich came when he was discerning the call to priesthood or marriage. At that time, a priest told him, “Rich, it’s not between marriage and priesthood. It’s God’s fullest will for your life.” For Br. Rich, for young adults, and for all of us, the question then becomes, “Have I really been courted by Jesus Christ?” The reality for Br. Rich, then, in discerning his vocation came down to confessing that he wasn’t placing the Lord first in his life. As he put it, “I wasn’t letting the Lord court me.”

Evangelizing: Respect the Dignity of Those You Serve
At another morning workshop titled “Evangelizing When You Are Not Preaching to the Choir,” the famous quote of St. Francis of Assisi on evangelization helped establish the theme: “Preach the Gospel always and when necessary use words.” In that spirit, Ted Hanley, a man of action, used words sparingly in sharing about his ministry. He is the founder of one of the nation’s most effective organizations performing community-based works of mercy. It’s called the Jesse Tree and is located in Galveston, Texas. After Ted briefly shared how his ministry has been crucial in helping Galveston area residents recover from the devastation of Hurricane Ike (Sept. 12, 2008), Fr. Kazimierz Chwalek, MIC — the workshop leader and the Marians’ director of Evangelization and Development — shared how Ted’s ministry there started with a special approach to serving the poor that respected their dignity. “Ted set up a restaurant for the poor where they could make reservations for their meal a day ahead,” said Fr. Kaz. “The day before, they were given showers and needed medical attention. It was a way of taking care of their dignity before they appeared for their dinner at the restaurant the next day.” For Ted and for each of us, the message is clear: Our actions speak louder than our words in ministering to those in need.

Evangelizing: The Contemplative Outlook
At the workshop titled “Evangelizing When You’re Not Preaching to the Choir,” Marian seminarian Br. Michael Gaitley, MIC, shared briefly about another way we can evangelize while using words sparingly. It’s called the “Contemplative Outlook” and the idea comes from Pope John Paul II’s encyclical The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae). “The key to winning the battle for the Culture of Life is seeing each other with awe and amazement,” (based on recognizing our innate dignity as children of God, created in God’s image), said Br. Michael. He noted that Pope John Paul II practiced this contemplative outlook. “His look at others told them that they were great. Everywhere he went and with everyone he met, John Paul would see Christ in them,” said Br. Michael. The call is to delight in everyone we meet simply by the way we look at them, recognizing Christ in them. It can revolutionize all of our relationships and be particularly effective in evangelizing. Here’s one of the main passages on the contemplative outlook in The Gospel of Life:

Because we have been sent into the world as a “people for life,” our proclamation must also become a genuine celebration of the Gospel of life. This celebration, with the evocative power of its gestures, symbols, and rites, should become a precious and significant setting in which the beauty and the grandeur of this Gospel is handed on.

For this to happen, we need first of all to foster, in ourselves and others, a contemplative outlook. Such an outlook arises from faith in the God of life, who has created every individual as a “wonder” (cf. Ps 139:14). It is the outlook of those who see life in its deeper meaning, who grasp its utter gratuitousness, its beauty and its invitation to freedom and responsibility. It is the outlook of those who do not presume to take possession of reality but instead accept it as a gift, discovering in all things the reflection of the Creator and seeing in every person His living image (cf. Gen 1:27; Ps 8:5). This outlook does not give into discouragement when confronted by those who are sick, suffering, outcast or at death’s door. Instead, in all these situations it feels challenged to find meaning, and precisely in all these circumstances it is open to perceiving in the face of every person a call to encounter, dialogue and solidarity (83).

Experts on the Panel: Tips Shared on Evangelization
During the afternoon panel discussion titled “Ask the Divine Mercy Experts,” questions about evangelization seemed to top the list. For instance, the first question (paraphrased) was: How can programs to reach lapsed Catholics inspire us? The questioner mentioned a program called “Catholics Come Home,” which has been launched in the Diocese of Sacramento, Calif. In response, Joan Maroney of Mother of Mercy Messengers said, “If people are coming back, they need to come back to the Sacraments. We need to embrace them and get them involved. We should find ways to incorporate them into the community.” When a similar question about reaching alienated Catholics was asked later in the panel discussion, Ted Hanley of the Jesse Tree ministry said, “A very simple thing we can do is to give an invitation [to come to church]. You are welcome. Come with us.” Father Joe Roesch, MIC — who is a councilor to the Marian General in Rome and the Marian responsible for Eucharistic Apostles of The Divine Mercy — shared from his pastoral experience as a priest. “People need reassurance of God’s love and mercy, so we have to be careful at Christmas and Easter [the only times when many Catholics come to church]. I try to encourage and not castigate,” he said. “I also try to take advantage of [evangelizing opportunities at] funerals and wakes. We need to be alert and have an evangelizing heart.”

Fr. Donald at NACOM: ‘Mary: Mother and Masterpiece of Mercy’
The afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 14, at the North American Congress on Mercy, Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC — the Marians’ U.S. vocation director and a Marian Press author — spoke on “Mary: Mother and Masterpiece of Mercy,” His presentation literally blew me away! It was chockfull of insights on the Blessed Virgin Mary and Divine Mercy. Here are several of his key insights, based on my notes:

• Drawing from Archbishop Fulton Sheen in The World’s First Love, “Imagine that you being divine had the power to create your own mother, you would make her the kindest, gentlest, most compassionate, most understanding, holiest, and most beautiful woman … .” Further, imagine that you being divine had the power to create your own daughter. Imagine that you being divine had the power to create your own spouse. [This is what happened with the Holy Trinity and Mary:] God the Father made His daughter; God the Son made His mother; and God the Holy Spirit made His spouse.
• What a creature [Mary] is! And it is precisely the mercy of God that did it. God has the power to do for us what He did for Mary.
• We have to be born again, and it has to come through a mother. No one can truly come to Jesus except through Mary. It can only happen in its fullness through Mary.
• [Because of the Immaculate Conception,] Mary is dependent on Mercy, and Mercy [Divine Mercy Incarnate] is dependent on Mary. It’s a paradox. So it is with us: We can’t live without Mercy, and we can’t be born again without Mary.

Homily at Closing Mass: Divine Mercy, the Marians, and Pope John XXIII
At the closing Mass for the Mercy Congress on the morning of Sunday, Nov. 15, Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC, shared some fascinating facts about the history of The Divine Mercy message involving the Marian Fathers and Pope John XXIII. First, he connected the Marians and their history in the United States in spreading the message with the location chosen for NACOM:

It appears to me not to be void of significance that the first North American Congress on The Divine Mercy, which we have just celebrated, following upon the First World Congress, which was held in Rome in April of 2008 under the auspices of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, should have taken place here, in the host city of Washington in the District of Columbia, and that, at the National Shrine of The Immaculate Conception, of the Patroness of the host country. For it was from this city, more precisely, from the House of Studies of the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, located at that time on the corner of Lawrence Street, North East, opposite the former site of the Newman Bookshop, very near to this august center of worship, that the message of Jesus — The Divine Mercy — was first begun to be propagated on this continent in the Western Hemisphere, hardly two- and-a-half years after the passing into eternity of our Savior’s confidante, the now Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, while most of the religious sisters of her own community had not yet learned that their humble sister of the second choir of their Congregation was in any way involved in the matter.

Second, he shared an incident involving Pope John XXIII shortly after his enthronement in 1958 and the 20-year ban on the message and devotion, which not many people had heard before. The incident shows that at that time, there was a good chance the ban could have been permanent:

[Nonetheless] there was an effort on the part of some individuals in the Vatican to suppress the writings of Sister Faustina Kowalska, together with the devotions based on them. While I was working with an Italian priest, Don Carlo Vivaldeli, on a translation into Italian of Sr. Faustina’s Diary, he informed me that a friend of his from seminary days became a secretary to Pope John XXIII, and from him he learned that a decree was prepared to prohibit forever the spreading of Sr. Faustina’s Diary and the devotion to Jesus — The Divine Mercy, based on the “supposed” revelations recorded in it. Knowing that Pope Pius XII gave signs of being in favor of the writings of Sister Josepha Menendez of Spain on a similar topic of God’s mercy, the individuals not in favor of the subject awaited the seriously-ailing Pontiff’s demise.

The friend described to Don Carlo what followed. On the first day the successor to Pope Pius XII entered his office after his enthronement, he sat down at the desk on which a pile of documents was awaiting the new Pope’s signature. The Pope made the sign of the Cross and turned the pile of documents upside down, and proceeded to read the documents. The first one he picked up was the decree prepared against Sr. Faustina’s writings. It was evidently placed at the bottom of the pile so that, perhaps tiring from reading the preceding ones, the Pope would trust the work of his collaborators, and just sign it. Instead, John XXIII read the document carefully, and shook his head saying, “No, no, no!” And he indicated that this decree will not do — the Polish bishops should be consulted for their opinions. The document must be revised. It became a “Notification,” setting the matter aside until clarifications could be obtained. (Communication between Communist Poland and the Vatican was stopped by the Polish government. Even telephone communications were intercepted.)

These are both entries for the annals of Divine Mercy, thanks to Fr. Seraphim.

David Came is executive editor of Marian Helper magazine, the flagship publication of the Association of Marian Helpers, which is headquartered in Stockbridge, Mass. His new book is Pope Benedict’s Divine Mercy Mandate.

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michael – Nov 22, 2009

Fr Don its so true…Mary is total-gift-given and she gifts totally back to us!

I wanted so much to be at this conference but could not be..

Can the talks be purchased online for those who want to see the entire conference?

Blessings in Christ,
Michael

The Building Blocks of Faith

By Dan Valenti (Nov 13, 2009)
In one sense, one of the most memorable presentations at the Divine Mercy Networking Forum on Friday, Nov. 13, came not from a person but from a building.

The bricks and mortar that is the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., itself spoke a message of mercy. It did this through its architecture and in its exhibits.

Architecture is the art of cementing into physical form a building’s conceptual theme and its function. The theme driving the center is the controlling idea of Pope John Paul II’s papacy: God’s mercy for humankind. The function of the building serves as both a repository for and an expression of that theme.

A feeling of goodness exudes from a peculiarly enticing blend of intimacy and grand scale. Lots of glass means lots of light, the perfect symbol of God. High ceilings invoke the interior spaces of grand basilicas. A gradual marble walkway sloped to a subtle incline takes the place of stairs, signifying the gradual process of walking the spiritual journey. “Steps” are not what one walks on to ascend but the action one takes to reach the top.

Other Faiths, Same Destination
Of the many exhibits, one stands out, on the lower level, devoted to the religions of other faiths. The world’s major faiths are presented in a respectful treatment, each shown as alternate paths yet viable to the same ultimate reality of God.

Baha’i, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Shintoism, Confuscianism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Taoism, according to the exhibit, share seven major qualities or beliefs:

1. The reality of a higher power
2. Surrender to the higher power
3. Reciprocity, summed up in the Golden Rule (here we find the need to show mercy to others)
4. Worship
5. The human spirit, that is, the concept of the soul
6. Other worlds, or a belief that humans can move from one world to another, for example, from earth to heaven or moving through the stages of reincarnation to nirvana.
7. Paths to God, or the notion that human nature can be changed for the better through the teachings of faith.

The display presents a refreshing, multicultural, interfaith statement on the powerful drive in all humans to find their way from the tangential experience of life on earth to the absolute realm of a Supreme Being. The destination is one. The paths are many. The journey is to Home.

As Terry Muzones, one of the presenters in the Divine Mercy Networking Forum put it, “If we have God in our hearts, He leads us to where we are going,” that is, where He wants us to go, ultimately, back to Him.

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