Corpus Christi Blog

In entry 699 of St. Maria Faustina’s Diary, Jesus instructed her:

My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and 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. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the First Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.

You may or may not know, the Diocese of Phoenix is currently celebrating our 50th anniversary. To celebrate the past 50 years of blessings in gratitude, and to assure continued blessings and growth for years to come, Bishop Olmsted would like at least 100,000 Catholics in the Diocese to Consecrate themselves to Jesus through Mary, but also strongly encourages parishes to consecrate themselves. As your pastor, I would greatly like our parish to be one of those parishes, not only for the good of the Diocese, but so that we can be lead to become the Corpus Christi we are meant to be. Personally, I first consecrated myself when I was in college using St. Louis de Montfort’s Consecration. But a couple of years ago I consecrated myself to Jesus through Mary using Fr. Gaitley’s Consecration, which personally I find more inspiring. For those who don’t know, Fr. Gaitley describes 4 Saints- St. Louis de Montfort, St. Maximillian Kolbe, St. Mother Teresa, and St. Pope John Paul II- all who have all had a special devotion to Jesus through our Blessed Mother. As a parish we’ll have an introduction on this Thursday, May 2, especially if you haven’t Consecrated yourself in the past, and the 33 days of daily reading and praying will begin Thursday, May 9. You can purchase your own book to have for your own to renew each year, or we’ll give you a free handout to help lead you through the Consecration. In addition, we’ll meet each week on Thursday evenings, for those who can, to watch the video and discuss what we have read about that Saint’s devotion through Mary. Finally, we will Consecrate ourselves on Monday, June 10- the Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church- the Monday after Pentecost. Then we will reap the blessings.

The other day, I was talking to somebody about Jesus Christ and how some people don’t truly know or believe in who He really is, the Son of God. I asked if she had ever noticed why, especially in the Gospel of Mark, that many times after Jesus healed someone and after the Transfiguration, Jesus told his disciples not to tell anyone about who He is or what He did. Theologians say that Jesus knew that God the Father’s plan for what it meant to be the Messiah and Savior, was different than what the Jewish people of the time had in mind. In Mark’s Gospel especially, one cannot really know or believe in who Jesus is until after the Resurrection. God’s plan for salvation included suffering, death, and the resurrection from the dead. Therefore, what a difference the Resurrection makes, or should make in our lives.

Now that we’re at the end of Lent and have reflected on sin, virtue, suffering, and prayer, we may ask ourselves, “What is the ultimate point of all of this?” Certainly, we are all aware that our goal is to get to Heaven. But did you know that there are different degrees of Heaven and that we can actually merit a higher degree of heaven by increasing our holiness through our virtuous nature?

Before we get into that, let’s first see how the Catholic Church actually defines the basics of Heaven.

We spent the first few weeks of Lent looking at how we can grow in virtue in order to overtake the darkness of sin in our lives. We can consciously engage our intellect and will to actively choose virtuous behaviors and attitudes which direct us toward holiness. However, despite our human engagement, we can’t forget one very important thing: we cannot do anything good but by the grace of God. To think otherwise would be to suffer from the sin of pride, making our virtuous behavior inauthentic. In order to receive His outpouring of grace we need to be in constant and intimate relationship with Him through prayer. It is prayer that sustains our pursuit of holiness.