Dear Family of God,

What is the complete forgiveness of sin during the Divine Mercy Sunday?

Our Lord gave an extraordinary promise to St. Faustina, and said that, "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.

Dear Family of God,

Why is resurrection so important?

According to Dr. Peter Kreeft, from his book, “Food for the Soul”, there are three reasons: First, because the Resurrection means that Jesus is still alive and really present and really doing things—first of all saving souls. We can’t be saved by a dead Savior!

Dear Family of God,

Why Passion? Why Suffering?

In this side of heaven, there are things that we will learn only through suffering. Suffering in itself is not bad, it can be instrument of conversion of better future. Ask the athletes how they go through so many sacrifices to achieve their goals, a gold medal. But for us, it is eternal life with God, saints, friends, and relatives in heaven.

Dear Family of God,

Why does the Lord write with his finger on the ground twice?

It was the remind them that as God gave them a second chance with Moses when he gave them the Decalogue, so they too must give the woman another chance.

Dear Family of God,

This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday of Lent which we also call Laetare Sunday. “Laetare” is the Latin word for ‘’rejoice,” which is the first word in the Entrance Antiphon. We can rejoice because we are midway thru our Lenten journey towards Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. The Gospel for this weekend is the Parable of the Prodigal son.

Dear Family of God,

Jesus’ message this third Sunday of Lent is that we acknowledge our need of repentance and do it. We may ask, what is repentance?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed.

St. Thomas Aquinas said that friends share three things: time, possessions, and secrets. For example, how do I know if you’re my friend? Well, let’s say we’ve been to Mexico together, you’ve tried my shaky attempts at pasta carbonara, and you know what ridiculous costume I wore in a music video I filmed in my early twenties. We, dear reader, are definitely friends. We’ve shared time, possessions, and secrets.

One of the most fascinating moments in American history is when George Washington could have become the king of the newly liberated United States and didn’t. At the height of his power and fame, on Dec. 23, 1783, he resigned his commission as Commander-in-Chief, and went home. The astonished King of England remarked that in doing so, Washington was “the greatest man in the world.” Greatness is often defined by what we could do but don’t. Greatness is measured by the temptations we overcome.

Dear Christians of Our Lady of Joy Catholic Parish,

Greetings to you all. Many of you have been asking about me. I am Fr. John Paul Aisu of Soroti Catholic Diocese in Uganda. I was ordained on July 31, 2010. I come from a family of 7 siblings, four girls and 3 boys. Unfortunately, one girl passed on at the age of 12.

One of my favorite new singers/songwriters is Noah Kahan. I’m a little biased because, like me, he is originally from Vermont. In a fine song entitled “Stick Season,” he sings of his hope to “cancel out the darkness I inherited from dad.” This lyric articulates his painful recognition of a dark spiritual “inheritance” from his father, and his hope to be free of it. We all inherit some degree of evil from our earthly forebears. It’s easy to feel doomed to repeat their darknesses.

I craved four things as a teenager: success in sports, food, fun, and the attention of popular people. However, I noticed that as I acquired them, I was more unsatisfied than before. So, I’d strive even more energetically, achieve more, and the sense of emptiness was greater still. These four things started to feel like burdens or even curses. Soon after, I encountered Christ in my high school youth group. Experiencing his love was totally different than anything those four things previously produced. It produced a lasting happiness.

My parents’ garage is full of old junk that no longer serves any purpose in my life. As a 46-year-old man, I admit that’s pretty lame. Either due to my sentimentality or laziness (or both, probably), I just couldn’t get myself to throw things away. But a few days ago, by a grace of God, I thought: “I’ll hire my nephew Ryan to throw a bunch of my stuff away — he couldn’t care less about my junk!” And you know what? It worked.

What is the secret to sharing in God’s power to overcome our difficulties? Mary teaches us this in the prophecy of her pierced heart. This Sunday, the old man Simeon prophecies that when her son faces opposition, Mary’s soul will be pierced by a sword. The seemingly pointless agony of a mother helplessly watching her son be mocked, tortured, killed, and then cruelly desecrated in death by a spear — somehow this piercing of her heart releases a power by which “the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:35). What to make of this?