Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy

Women and Men Seeking Holiness as the Answer to Abortion

  • Welcome
  • Seeking Holiness
  • Membership
    • Directors
    • Special Prayer Partners
  • Sacraments
    • Holy Mass
    • Eucharistic Adoration
    • Frequent Confession
  • Prayer
    • Morning Offering
    • Devotion to Mary
    • The Holy Rosary
    • Lectio Divina
    • Chaplet of Divine Mercy
    • Examination of Conscience
    • Annual Retreat
  • Mercy
  • Patron Saints
    • Our Lady of Mercy
    • St. Augustine
    • St. Margaret of Cortona
  • Resources
    • Articles from other websites
      • Horror of Sin & the Mercy of God
    • Recommended Books
    • Brief Quotes from Saints
  • Contact
  • Prayer Requests
You are here: Home / Spiritual Teaching / Divine Mercy Sunday in a time of Plague

Divine Mercy Sunday in a time of Plague

April 18, 2020 by Fr. Ben Cameron Leave a Comment

One of the very special graces that the Lord Jesus promised to St. Faustina for the “Feast of Mercy” is a “complete remission of sins and punishments” for those who will receive Holy Communion in the state of grace (several passages mention going to Confession in preparation for this Holy Communion) with “complete trust” in His Divine Mercy. Our Lord equates this “special grace” to being a renewal of the grace of baptism — in other words, our souls are cleansed once again, just as they were at our baptism.

Now, this grace is NOT a sacrament, and we are not being “baptized again,” but our souls are being cleansed again, and this is, indeed a very special grace. But some might ask: how is this any different from obtaining a plenary indulgence? Doesn’t that also remit all the punishments (temporal punishment, that we would need to take care of through penances and/or purgatory)? Yes, a plenary indulgence also cleanses us, but here is the difference:

With a Plenary Indulgence, we must fulfill the following conditions (if we fall short on any of them, we receive a partial indulgence, not a full, or “plenary” one):

  • Go to Confession within two weeks before or after the day that we want to receive the indulgence.
  • Receive Holy Communion in the state of Sanctifying Grace.
  • Perform the indulgenced “work” — Eucharistic Adoration, Rosary before the Blessed Sacrament or with our family, make a pilgrimage, etc. (there are many possibilities).
  • Pray for the Holy Father’s intentions (usually an Our Father and Apostles Creed)
  • Have Complete Detachment from all of our sins.

Now, the hardest one to do is to be completely detached from our sins, and this is where many of us fall short! So Our Blessed Lord makes things easier for us on Divine Mercy Sunday; you could say that He “lowers the bar” by requiring only:

  • Holy Communion in the State of Grace (Confession to prepare us for that).
  • Complete Trust in His Infinite Mercy
  • Performance of an Act of Mercy — so doing one of the Corporal or Spiritual Works of Mercy on behalf of another person. An easy one: pray for the living and the dead — so pray for someone who you know is in need of Divine Mercy.

But what about now, in this time of the Coronavirus Pandemic, this time of plague in which most Catholics are not allowed to receive the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion? Well, God’s Mercy is not going to be stopped by any government officials who have ordered the churches closed, nor by any prudence or fear of our Shepherds who have restricted access to the sacraments! God’s Mercy, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, is His Love, but turned toward Sinners — and, as St. John tells us, “God is Love”! So the Infinite Love and Mercy of our Divine Savior will not be stifled by restrictions on the public celebrations of Mass or the distribution of Holy Communion — so have that Complete Trust, and make an Act of Spiritual Communion, asking the Lord Jesus to come and to fill your heart and soul with His Grace, Love and Mercy on this great Feast of Divine Mercy!

Filed Under: Spiritual Teaching, Works of Mercy Tagged With: Confession, Divine Mercy, Holy Communion, Holy Eucharist, Trust

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

Viral Retreat

At a time when many of our normal activities have been shut down, or have been modified due to the need for “social distancing,” we might be asking if things will ever “get back to normal,” or how soon they will do so. Maybe we should be asking another question: “How can I turn this […]

Lent: Why Fasting Matters

“Don’t give up chocolate for Lent. Do something else, like pray more, or do something positive.” How many of us have heard this — even from our pastors and trusted Catholic sources? The tradition of the Catholic Church is that there are three special “works” that we should engage in during Lent: prayer, fasting, and […]

Recommended book: Practical Theology

On this Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, who is the greatest theologian in the history of the Church, we might think that his insights are beyond our reach. After all, he was a tremendously smart writer, who wrote the Summa Theologiae, which has around 4,000 articles in which he answers objections to his theology, and […]

Christ the King: Lord even in the worst times

Sometimes when we find ourselves living in times of darkness — political and social upheaval, economic uncertainty, loss of our jobs and the means to provide for our families — it can be easy to forget that Jesus Christ is still our King, and that He is ultimately in control. St. Paul tells us that […]

Blogroll

  • Testimony from a Woman Healed from Abortion
  • The Power of God's Mercy to Heal even the Deepest Wounds
  • Women of Grace: Part one of interview with Fr. Ben Cameron

Devotional Links

  • Chaplet of Divine Mercy
  • How to Pray the Rosary
  • Miraculous Medal
  • The Green Scapular

Post-abortion healing

  • Entering Canaan Retreats
  • Hope After Abortion – Project Rachel
  • Rachel's Vineyard – International Site
  • Rachel's Vineyard Kentucky
  • Rachel's Vineyard Kentucky Facebook page

Religious

  • Fathers of Mercy

Posts: Listed by Topics

  • Art in Honor of the Unborn (2)
  • Latest News (27)
  • Liturgical Prayers (2)
  • Prayer requests (1)
  • Radio/TV interviews (2)
  • Reflections from Saints and Holy Persons (34)
  • Spiritual Teaching (74)
  • Testimonies (4)
  • Uncategorized (5)
  • Works of Mercy (16)

Post Archives: By Month

Copyright © 2021 Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy · All Rights Reserved · Website built by Spears Marketing · Admin