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Hello everyone,

Today, Sunday 18th April we have 2401 people from all over the world and from many Christian and some non-Christian denominations joining together in prayer.

The reflection for this week from Bob and Debbie Gass of The Word for Today is ‘What’s Your Concept of God?’

Many of us this week are focused on the Divine Mercy of God, thanks largely to a humble little nun from Poland who died in 1938. She was a mystic and her mission was to tell the world of the wonderful Mercy of God. In my Church the liturgical year is set with all sorts of Feast Days or commemorative days and today is a real beaut! It’s a very new one to the Church calendar, only having been added in 2000, on the day Pope John Paul II canonised the nun, known to the Catholic world as Saint Faustina. This one I love with a passion and look forward very much to the celebrations later today. It follows on nicely from the suffering redemption of Christ at Calvary, the joy of the Risen Christ at Eastertide and then a day to reflect on the Mercy of God.

Saint Faustina kept a diary writing of all her encounters with the Lord and this entry tells us of His request to have the world know about the Mercy of God:

“My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy.”

Reading the diary we can see just how much we are all loved by God and just how much He desires everyone to know that no matter what we can turn to Him in trust. The greatest sinner alive will receive His mercy if it is requested with a repentant heart. Remember those old fashioned scales with the pans on each side? One side held the goods and onto the other went the weights. Imagine them now with one side loaded down completely with the sins of the world’s greatest sinner. God’s Mercy is so great that all it may take on the other side to balance those scales is one tiny act of kindness at some stage through that person’s life, or a small sacrifice or prayer from someone else for their salvation. Last week we spoke about Redemptive Suffering. Your headache, or toothache, or hurt over a cross word, or embarrassment over a stray comment, if offered up to God for a soul in need could be the very act to place on that other side of the scales and save that soul from eternal damnation. Isn’t that just something else, when we think about it? That little act of kindness either from us or from them will open the door to the Grace of God to allow the act of repentance to occur. Of course, free will always prevails and that dying soul still has the free will to accept or deny the Mercy of God, as do we all.

When I was at school, and many of you reading this who have slipped into their second half-century will remember, we knew the Penny Catechism off by heart. In it we learned all about the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. We grew up knowing we had a responsibility to practice little works of mercy all the time. Sadly we don’t hear too much about them these days as religious education has changed beyond recognition, and in some respects not for the better. But let’s draw back the years and take a look at them.

The Corporal Works of Mercy are:

Feed the Hungry
Give Drink to the Thirsty
Clothe the Naked
Shelter the Homeless
Visit the Sick
Bury the Dead

The Spiritual Works of Mercy are:

Admonish the Sinner
Instruct the Uninformed
Counsel the Doubtful
Comfort the Sorrowful
Be Patient with those in Error
Forgive Offences
Pray for the Living and the Dead

Our Lord in addressing Sister Faustina explained how this could be done:

“I am proposing to you three means of exercising mercy toward your neighbour: The first – by deed, the second – by word, the third – by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means, a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy…. Write this for the many souls who are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permission no storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul. If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgement. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgement with their mercy”

Jesus has told us:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (Mt. 25: 31-46)

Since Jesus came to make the Father’s mercy present, our mission is the same. How can we be merciful each day?

By Deeds:

Visit the sick
Write a letter of encouragement
Cook a meal for a friend or one in need
Teach those who do not know Jesus about His mercy
Help out others in need
Volunteer your time for needed projects
Above all, forgive. Forgive those who have injured you or those who make you anxious or fearful. Broadcast forgiveness seven times seventy times a day. That’s 490 times each day. That is, every three minutes!

By Word:

Again, forgive those who have injured you or have persecuted you (Mt. 5:44). Forgive as you are forgiven by God’s Mercy
Speak a word of encouragement to a person in need.
Be silent when tempted to gossip.
Phone a needy person with a word of hope.
Encourage someone who does his daily work.
Thank everyone who is in any way merciful.

By Prayer:

Ask God’s mercy, plead for His mercy for the Church and the world, because the Lord has asked us to ask for ourselves and those in need (Lk. 11:9)
Pray the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, asking mercy “on us and on the whole world”
Pray the Rosary of Our Blessed Mother. She has asked for our prayers repeatedly and needs our prayers and sufferings offered to Her Immaculate Heart, which She in turns places at the feet of Her Divine Son.

Offer Our Sufferings (we discussed this last week):

“All this is as God intends, for it is your special privilege to take Christ’s part – not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for Him” (Phil. 1:29)

All of you reading this are already offering your works of mercy simply with your prayers for each other and for the world. Let’s look closely at the lists and see if we can step it up a gear. The offering of sufferings might take a bit of practice but you’ll be amazed how much comfort it will bring to you too – so two birds with one stone eh?

You can read more about the wonderful set of Divine Mercy prayers at:

http;//www.circleofprayer.com/divine-mercy-history.html

God Bless ‘till next week,

Mary in Galway

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What’s your concept of God?

"SO LET US COME BOLDLY TO THE THRONE OF OUR GRACIOUS GOD" HEBREWS 4:16 (NLT) 

Nothing is more important than your concept of God – the picture you have of Him in your mind. That (and that alone) will determine how you approach Him, not only in times of need, but every time.

As long as you see God as an auditor before whom your books never balance, or a teacher whose class you dread and whose tests you can never pass, or a parent who punishes you but never affirms you, you won’t ‘come boldly’. You probably won’t come at all!

If you need a new concept of God, listen: ‘…we have a great High Priest Who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to Him and never stop trusting Him. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same temptations we do, yet He did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it’ (Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT).

In ‘A Gentle Thunder’, Max Lucado writes, ‘If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He’d a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He’ll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, but He chose your heart. And what about the Christmas gift He sent you at Bethlehem? Not to mention that Friday at Calvary. Face it, He’s crazy about you!’ 

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Two little reminders again for this week - Eucharistic Adoration for Vocations, let's try and make it 1,000,000 hours of Adoration in 2004! You can log in your hours online at their own website below or do as we did here in our Perpetual Adoration Chapel, print off the poster and the forms and leave them in your own Chapel of Adoration, sending in the numbers every week via the website below.

http://www.circleofprayer.com/vocations-poster.html
http://www.circleofprayer.com/vocations-form.html

Here's the Vocations website.

And don't forget those prayers for the Holy Souls, there are some below. Please keep your deceased relatives, friends, neighbours and especially those who have no one to pray for them, in your prayers and at Masses you attend.

Here's the Holy Souls Crusade website,

And below is a great little morning prayer to start the day off and help us to keep focused on the Lord.

May God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit bless you and yours and may Mary keep you in Her heavenly mother's care.

Mary Mullins in Galway, Ireland

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Morning Offerings

Our Father Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen

Lord Jesus, I give You my hands to do Your work
I give You my feet to go Your way.
I give You my eyes to see as You do.
I give You my tongue to speak Your words.
I give You my mind that You may think in me.
I give You my spirit that You may pray in me.
Above all, I give You my heart that You may love in me, Your Father, and all mankind.
I give You my whole self that You may grow in me, so that it is You, Lord Jesus, who live and work and pray in me. Amen.

"Breathe in me O Holy Spirit that my thoughts may all be holy;
Act in me O Holy Spirit that my work, too, may be holy;
Strengthen me O Holy Spirit to defend all that is holy;
Guard me then O Holy Spirit that I may always be holy."

"O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me, tell me what I should do. Give me Your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and to accept all that You permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will. Amen"

Chaplet of the Holy Souls

This Chaplet can be prayed on a set of Rosary Beads.

Begin with: The Creed, then 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be for the Pope’s intentions.

On Large Beads Pray: 

O holy souls draw the fire of God’s Love into my soul to reveal Jesus crucified in me, here on earth, rather than hereafter in Purgatory.

On Small Beads Pray:

Crucified Lord Jesus have mercy on the souls in Purgatory

End with: Glory Be three times

Cardinal Newman’s Prayer for the Holy Souls

O most gentle heart of Jesus, ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, ever consumed with burning love for the poor captive souls in Purgatory, have mercy on the souls of Your servants. Bring them from the shadows of exile to Your bright home in Heaven, where we trust You and Your Blessed Mother have woven for them a crown of unfolding bliss. Amen.

Prayer of St. Gertrude for the Holy Souls

Eternal Father, I offer you the Most Precious Blood of your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with all the masses said throughout the world today for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen."

Prayer for Your Family

"O Dear Jesus, I humbly implore You to grant Your special graces to our family this day. In Your Divine Mercy make our home a shrine of peace, love and faith. I beg You, Dear Jesus, to protect and bless all of us and our families absent and present, living and dead. O Mary loving Mother of Jesus and our Mother, pray to Jesus the Divine Mercy for our family, and for all the families of the world. Ask Him to guard the tiny infant in the womb, the cradle of the newborn, the young in the schools and those about to start their vocations in life. Amen"

Prayer for Your Adult Children

"Heavenly Mother, keep us always in mind of Your Son's great mercy and understanding as we pray for our children. They are grown up now and have left us and are living their own lives according to their own ideals. We feel anxious and worried because they do not seem to feel the need for Christ. to understand the wisdom of His ways, or to be fully at ease with us or themselves. Intervene, dearest Mother, in their lives at the moment You know to be right and help them to understand the things that lead to their peace. Help them to see the need of Christ and to experience the greatness of His love, so that we may all proclaim as You did, that His mercy truly is from generation to generation. Amen"

Prayer to Saint Joseph, Patron Saint of Families

"Good Saint Joseph, Your life and love protected and nourished the Mother of God and Jesus Christ, her son. Your fatherly care led to maturity He through whom all creation began. Through your intercession, may God guide and protect all human life from conception to natural death, and lead our nation in the ways of truth and love. Pray for us, good Saint Joseph, that joined with Christ Jesus, we might give praise to God forever.  Amen"

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS & THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary, I consecrate myself and my whole family to You. We consecrate to You our very being and all our life, all that we are, all that we have and all that we love. To you we give our bodies, our hearts and our souls. To You we dedicate our home and our country.

Mindful of this consecration we now promise you to live the Christian way by the practice of Christian virtues without regard for human respect. O most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary accept our humble confidence and this act of consecration by which we entrust ourselves and our family to you. In you we put all our hope, we shall never be confounded. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on us. Immaculate Heart of Mary pray for us.

Prayer for the World

"JESUS of NAZARETH has triumphed over Death. His Reign is Eternal. He is coming to conquer the world and the time.

"Mercy, my God on those who blaspheme You,
Forgive them, they know not what they do.

"Mercy, my God, for the scandal in the world,
Deliver them from the spirit of Satan.

"Mercy, my God, on those who run away from You
Give them an appreciation for the Holy Eucharist.

"Mercy, my God, on those who come to repent at the foot of the Glorious Cross. May they find Peace and Joy in God our Saviour.

"Mercy, my God, so that Your Kingdom may come, but save souls, there is still time; for the time is near, behold, I am coming. 
Amen

Come, Lord Jesus."

Recite one decade of the Rosary

"Lord, pour out on the whole world the treasures of Your Infinite Mercy."

"Through the Mystery of Your Holy Incarnation,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Nativity,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Baptism and Holy Fasting,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Cross and Passion,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Death and Burial,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Holy Resurrection,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Admirable Ascension,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Him whose Name reigns eternal,
deliver us from all evil, Lord."

Prayer of Protection

Blessed Michael the Archangel, protect us in the hour of conflict. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God restrain him, we humbly pray, and do thou, Oh Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, by the Power of God, thrust satan down to hell and with him all the wicked spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen

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All of the Reflections to date are available to read in the Archives on the website for anyone who's interested.

The Weekly Intentions are available on a plain page to be able to print off and kept to hand for your own prayer time. The list has become too long now to include each week but please say the
two wee prayers below. The Loving Father knows the heart of each person requesting prayer.

"Father, bless all those who have requested prayers in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day! Father, we ask You to heal the broken bodies, broken minds, broken spirits, broken hearts and broken marriages and may all their lives be full of Your peace, prosperity, and power as they seek to have a close relationship with You. Amen."

"Thank You Jesus for answering our prayers because we know You hear every prayer and never refuse to answer. You are providing answers and healings from the prayers of all these wonderful people. Praise God!"

May God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit bless and guide you and yours and may Mary keep you in Her heavenly mother's care.

Mary in Galway

'The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace.' (Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta)