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Archive for the ‘Easter Season’ Category

Strive not for the passing things, but for those which endure

Saturday, May 12th, 2012

Fr. Joseph Eddy. Go to Fr. Joseph's bio.Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 13, 2012
Fr. Joseph Eddy, O. de M.
Gospel: John 15:9-17 That you should bear fruit and your fruit should abide….

(Full text of sermon) As a child I would spend my time always looking forward to the next “big event,” the next holiday, or the next trip. In January, I began looking forward to baseball season. In March, I looked forward to summer. During the late summer, I thought about football season or Halloween. And, yes, after Halloween my focus turned to Christmas. Yet, as the years passed I began to notice that my day-dreams were always better than the reality.

St. Peter Nolasco. Click to read more.

He was “cut to the heart” in discovering Christian captives

St. Peter Nolasco was shocked and moved in finding Christians held captive and in danger of losing their faith. Read more about his heroic life and what he did about it on the website of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy.

Visit the Mercedarians’ Facebook page.

This is an experience of many of us. When we are teenagers we want to be adults. When we are young adults we want to be married. Then, we look forward to moving up in society or getting that dream job or position. After years of hard work we long for the day when we can retire. Yet, the fact is that we are never truly satisfied with things in this life. This “restlessness” points to an eternal desire within us all for a fulfillment that cannot be experienced in this life of limitations. We are truly “restless” creatures, but God allows us to be “restless.” He places within us the desires that can only be fulfilled in the Divine life. These desires spur us on or they leave us in an endless futile search for fulfillment in created things. Continue Reading…

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The Risen Christ will lead you and others to conversion

Saturday, May 5th, 2012

Fr. Joseph Eddy. Go to Fr. Joseph's bio.Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 6, 2012
Fr. Joseph Eddy, O.de M.
Gospel: John 14:7-14 “I am in the Father and the Father in me”

(Full text of sermon) We see in the first reading a true conversion. St. Paul, who was one of the worst persecutors of the early Church, is changed 180 degrees. It was a true miracle. So much so that the other disciples of Christ could not believe that he had truly changed. St. Paul was a man of firm convictions whose life and beliefs turned totally around.

St. Peter Nolasco. Click to read more.

He was “cut to the heart” in discovering Christian captives

St. Peter Nolasco was shocked and moved in finding Christians held captive and in danger of losing their faith. Read more about his heroic life and what he did about it on the website of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy.

Visit the Mercedarians’ Facebook page.

Only an experience of the Risen Lord can do this to a person! St. Paul was knocked to the ground by the appearance of the Risen Lord. He tells us in the first reading that he “had seen the Lord” and “spoken to Him.” This was a real tangible powerful experience of God. This does happen in our times. People have deep conversions all the time. Continue Reading…

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The Church needs no government permission to carry on its mission

Saturday, April 28th, 2012

Photo of Fr. Brankin. Go to Fr. Brankin's bio.Second Sunday of Easter, Apr. 15, 2012
Fr. Anthony Brankin

(Full text of sermon) What an unspeakably beautiful gospel. How often I have pictured that scene—how often artists have painted it—where the once-dead Jesus—appears to doubting Thomas and asks Thomas to inspect the wounds in Jesus’ hands and in His side—to see if it is really Jesus. And Thomas falls to his knees and says the words that have echoed through the centuries for the next two thousand years: “My Lord and my God.” Now Jesus appeared for forty days to the Apostles and the Disciples. Hundreds of people actually saw Him. And that story was told to us a hundred years later—a thousand years later and two thousand years later as proof that Jesus did truly rise from the dead—and for no less a reason than that we might come to believe that He is the Son of God and that through Him we might have life. Continue Reading…

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Jesus has become the cornerstone of salvation

Friday, April 27th, 2012

Fr. Joseph Eddy. Go to Fr. Joseph's bio.Third Sunday of Easter, Apr. 29, 2012
Fr. Joseph Eddy, O.de M.
Gospel: John 10:11-19 “There shall be one flock, one shepherd”

(Full text of sermon) As a child, one of my favorite things to do was to build towers. Give me a few blocks and I would immediately start on the Empire State Building. As I got older, I graduated to more mature ventures such as making towers with dominos and cards. Ultimately, though, towers are made to be “knocked down” (sometimes by us and other times by onlookers).

Deacon Scott Brentwood

Ecce homo! This man attends classes taught in Latin

Think it’s difficult being taught in Latin or Italian? Read about the Mercedarian Deacon Scott Brentwood as he muses about his experiences in his priestly training in Rome. Click for his Rome update.

Is God calling you to become a Mercedarian friar? Visit the Mercedarians’ Facebook page.

There are many ways that we can go about this demolition project: hit it high, hit it low, or pull one the objects out. The thicker the material the harder it is to knock down all at once. If we hit it too high, then often the foundation is left. But, take the cornerstone out and the whole tower goes toppling to the ground. Continue Reading…

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Divine Mercy Sunday sheds light on captivity and mercy

Friday, April 13th, 2012

Fr. Joseph Eddy. Go to Fr. Joseph's bio.Divine Mercy Sunday, April 15, 2012
Fr. Joseph Eddy, O. de M.
Gospel: John 20:19-31 He said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Full sermon text: Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. It is based on a private revelation of Jesus to a Polish religious sister before World War II. The private revelation was accepted by the Church and the devotion has rapidly spread throughout the world. Christ appeared to Sr. Faustina over a period of several years and taught her to pray for an outpouring of Divine Mercy on sinners throughout the world.

Deacon Scott Brentwood

Classes in Latin for deacon in Rome

Think it’s difficult being taught in Latin or Italian? Read about Deacon Scott Brentwood, who was ordained earlier this year, as he muses about his experiences in his priestly training as a Mercedarian in Rome. Read his March 25 Rome update.

Is God calling you to become a Mercedarian friar? Visit the Mercedarians’ Facebook page.

One of the most popular aspects of the devotion is the Image of Christ with white and red rays bursting forth from his wounded side. The Doctrine of God’s Divine Mercy expressed in St. Faustina’s diary is not a new teaching, but only a reminder to the world of God’s greatest attribute, His mercy. Continue Reading…

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