This section features reflections, meditations, and prayers to deepen our committment to our Lord by our offering of time and attention to Him.
Also selected updates about important events of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, the US or the world are posted here.
If you want to do a great favor to yourself, don’t miss SUMMIT – adoration nights at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Oklahoma City,
each third Thursday of each month, 7-9pm.
Summit will continue throughout the Eucharistic Revival (2022-2025) and is anticipated to remain on schedule as a perpetual event afterwards.
Everyone is invited! Jesus is waiting longingly for YOU!
When you experience His presence during Summit, you will live the entire month with great anticipation to meet Him again in this very special way.
https://archokc.org/events/summit
The Summit Experience
Solemnity of Mary Mother of God
(1/1/2024)
Mary, Mother of God and our Mother!
We offer and entrust ourselves to you at the beginning of this new year. We give everything into your holy hands. Pray for us, intercede for us, protect us every time and every place.
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.
(Image by RL George Studio)
Christmas at National Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague
(12/25/2023)
Happy birthday, our dearest Jesus! Welcome to our hearts and homes!
Rejoice and give thanks to God! Christ is born! Merry Christmas, peace, joy and love to all people of good will!
Our Lady of Guadalupe
(12/12/2023)
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Most Holy mother of God, Mother of all mankind and my Mother, I offer you my body and soul, my heart and mind, my life – past, present, and future – and my death and all that will follow it.
I place everything in your hands. O my Mother, cover my soul with your virginal mantle and grant me the grace of purity of heart and mind, body and soul.
O Holy Mother of God, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy hear and answer me.
[Mention your petition here]
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.
Hail Mary, full of grace ...
(Image by RL George Studio)
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(12/08/2023)
O Most Holy Virgin, immaculate in body and spirit, look kindly on me as I implore your powerful intercession.
O most Holy Mother, receive my prayers as I present them to God.
O Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, you intercede for us with your Son.
O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for us.
Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(11/21/2023)
Most Holy Mother Mary, enthroned in Heaven in the mystical union of love with the Most Holy Trinity, grants us – your children the grace of docility to the works of the Holy Spirit, so that purified on our bodies, minds, and souls, we come to resemble you and your pure heart.
Then, in this purity, present and offer us, o Mary, to your Most Holy Son as a sacrifice of love for Him and you.
Hail Mary, full of grace ...
6th apparition of Our Lady of Fatima
(10/13/2023)
In the last (sixth) apparition Mary reminded the seers to pray the Rosary daily and predicted the end of WWI.
Three scenes and supernatural phenomena took place in the skies starting with the miracle of the sun (“dancing sun” — the sun was rotating on its own axis, throwing out a variety of colors, and it appeared to approach the earth, making many gathered observers to believe that the world was ending. The sun was experienced as an immense silver disk shining with great intensity never seen before though it was not blinding). 70,000 spectators witnessed the miracle of the sun.
In the first scene, Saint Joseph appeared beside the sun with the Child Jesus and Our Lady of the Rosary as the Holy Family. St. Joseph blessed the crowd by making the sign of the Cross three times. The Child Jesus blessed the people in the same way.
The second scene contained a vision of Our Lady of Sorrows, without the sword in her breast, and of Jesus in sorrow on the way to Calvary. The Lord made the sign of the Cross to bless the people.
In the third scene, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, crowned as queen of heaven and earth, appeared holding the Child Jesus near her heart.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.
Our Lady of the Rosary
(10/7/2023)
Today is the Feast Day of Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrated in October – the month of the Holy Rosary, and the 1st Saturday of the month.
Let us pray to our Holy Mother:
Our Lady of the most Holy Rosary, interceded for us with your Holy Son asking to grant us strength and perseverance in imitating your virtues of charity, humility, prayer, mortification, obedience, wisdom, purity, faith and patience, so that we may grow more perfect in participating with you in the joys, sorrows, glories and lights of your life and the life of your Divine Son and our Lord, which we proclaim by meditating on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary. May they become a path of our lives strengthening us on our journey, following your example of obedience to God’s Holy Will.
Hail Mary ...
Our Lady of Sorrows
(9/15/2023)
My dearest Mother, my Mother of Sorrows, give me the grace to feel the pains and sorrows of your heart and those of your Son and my Lord, my Redeemer, and my God.
Make me one with you in suffering for love and out of love for souls to deliver them from eternal damnation.
May my heart resemble your heart and may the Lord see you in me and me in you, in prayers, supplications, sufferings, difficulties, sacrifices, and mortifications. Amen.
Exaltation of the Cross
(9/14/2023)
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
O Most Sweet and adorable Jesus, my Salvation, You carried the heavy Cross for me, so I can walk freely and lightly in You.
May Your Holy Name be glorified forever as I unceasingly sign my song of thanksgiving and praise to You!
5th apparition of Our Lady of Fatima
(9/13/2023)
Almost 20,000 people gathered to be a part of this apparition, and experienced numerous atmospheric phenomena as observed also in the previous apparitions. Holy Mother Mary urged people to continue praying the Rosary to obtain the end of the war.
She promised to appear next month as Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, together with Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus, to bless the world. She reassured the children that God is pleased with the sacrifices they were making for sinners.
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(9/8/2023)
Happy birthday, my dearest Mother Mary!
What joy and love must have filled the hearts of your parents Sts. Anne and Joachim when they held you in their arms.
What great gratitude to the Almighty God they felt and expressed in their prayers of thanksgiving.
What great plans they anticipated and cherished for your life since your infancy.
May the same love and joy from your nativity fill the hearts of all Catholics to thank God for the most precious immaculate gift of you to humanity.
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(8/15/2023)
Most Holy Virgin Mary, my Mother and Mother of the Church.
I extol you with all choirs of angels and saints, commemorating your glorious Assumption into Heaven.
Intercede for us, your poor and weak children, with your Most Holy Son and our Lord and grant us the grace to always remain strong in faith, hope, and charity, to trust your Son unconditionally and to spread your Marian devotion to all nations and corners of the world. Amen.
Hail Mary ...
4th apparition of Our Lady of Fatima
(8/13/2023)
On August 13, the day of the anticipated fourth apparition, the seers were imprisoned by the mayor who tried to force them to reveal the secret from the previous apparition. Even though the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared at Cova da Iria (the apparition place), no messages were conveyed until August, 19 when she appeared to the children again.
Mary promised to perform healings of sick people throughout the year and gave instructions on how to spend money brought by people to the place of apparition (make two portable stands for the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and build a chapel). Finally, Mary urged the children to continue practicing mortification, and left the following message: “Pray, pray much, and sacrifice for sinners, for many souls go to hell because there is no one to sacrifice and pray for them.”
True trust, faith, hope and love
St. Mary Magdalene Feast Day
(7/22/2023)It is easy to trust, when you have everything ... but it’s hard when you have nothing.
It’s easy to share with others and be generous when you have abundance of resources ... but it’s hard when you have nothing even for yourself.
It’s easy to believe when all goes well for you and you are well established and secure ... but it’s hard when everything goes against the grain, looks hopeless, and you are in dire straits.
It’s easy to say: “you are my friend” when they help you ... but it is hard when they need you to bat for them with no benefit for you.
It’s easy to say you love someone when they love you ... but it’s hard to love someone who hates you without a reason or abuses you.
It’s easy to commit to doing something good when you are paid to do it ... but it’s hard to do something as a sacrifice of self and a gift of self-giving love.
...
Or do we only speak with our lips that we trust, believe, hope and love God because we have everything we need?
Do we trust, believe, hope, and love because of material resources that sustain us?
Would we still trust, believe, hope, and love exactly the same way if everything was taken away from us and we were plunged into uncertainty and insecurity of our basic existence?
We don’t really know the answer and our behavior until (or unless) we find ourselves in such a situation.
This is what Jesus teaches us ... that:
True trust, faith, hope, and love are tested not when we abound in everything we need, but when we lack everything that we need.
True, perfect, and unconditional love for God will remain faithful in trust, faith, and hope until the last breath.
Lord Jesus, teach us and give us grace and strength to always love you and our neighbors with your perfect love and that of your Holy Mother Mary!
St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel - Carmelite Feast Day
(7/16/2023)
A Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Our Lady of Mount Carmel
O most beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel, Fruitful Vine, Splendor of Heaven,
Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity.
O Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein you are my Mother.
O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth,
I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart, to succor me in this necessity;
there are none that can withstand your power.
O, show me herein you are my Mother.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. (3 times)
Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands. (3 times)
Thanking God for each moment
(7/14/2023)
In uncertainties and sufferings of our lives, if we only knew how great God’s plan of love, perfection, and sanctification for us through these very same sufferings, we would be lying prostrate with thanksgiving for everything He sends each moment and admiring His Divine Wisdom.
Having this blessed understanding, I make my every moment a song of thanksgiving praising God for what He planned and which I don’t see yet.
With Jesus and in His embrace, my future can only be love, peace, joy, and tranquility in my soul, regardless of persecutions, sufferings, and struggles of this earthly journey.
Jesus, I trust in You alone, in good and difficult times.
Third apparition of Our Lady of Fatima
(7/13/2023)
Today we remember the 3rd apparition of our Lady of Fatima.
Mary reiterated the urgent need to pray the Rosary daily promising conversions of souls, cures, and other graces which Lucia requested during this meeting with the Holy Mother of God.
Mary said: “Sacrifice yourselves for sinners and say many times, especially when you make a sacrifice, ‘O Jesus, this is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.’ ”
“When you say the Rosary, after each mystery, pray: ‘O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.’ ”
During the third apparition the seers were given a vision of hell and the warning for chastisement for mankind’s sins with advice how to avoid it. Mary prophesized the WWII and the succeeding events in the world:
“You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war [World War I] is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI [World War II]. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father. To prevent this [World War II], I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world [Communism], causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal, the dogma of the faith will always be preserved, etc.”
[Words in brackets are from the website: americaneedsfatima.org]
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (6/16) and Immaculate Heart of Mary Feast Day (6/17)
Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus:
O my dear Jesus, my Goodness, my All:
When I come to You Who are hidden in the Blessed Sacrament,
I come to be Your loving guard and the vigilant ‘custodian’ of Your Most Sacred Heart.
My only task is to lean on Your chest,
Listen to the beat of Your Sacred Heart,
And meditate with gratitude how it pounds with great love for me.
Resting on Your breast, I have no other occupation,
But to repeat to the sound of your beating Heart,
I love You — I thank You — I adore You.
I love You for your great love for me,
For loving my heart more than Your own as You gave Your Heart as a ransom for me.
I thank You for giving me life in You, so I can dwell securely in the embrace of Your Sacred Heart.
I adore You for Your immeasurable goodness to me,
For being with me every day and every step of my earthly journey,
For making my little heart one with Yours,
So that our hearts can beat together and sing together
A canticle of love, thanksgiving, praise, and adoration to our heavenly Father.
Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
Most Holy Virgin Mary: your Immaculate Heart radiates your goodness over all the earth and makes angels in Heaven fall into ecstasy of love and adoration at your feet.
We thank and praise the Lord for your Immaculate Heart for we firmly trust and believe that no request from your children remains unheard. We thank you for your constant maternal protection, your intercessions before God for our needs and your unceasing support in our struggles as we journey toward the heavenly Kingdom of your beloved Son, and our Lord Jesus.
Strengthen us in the battle against the enemy of the human race, bring peace to our hearts, soothe all disagreements and conflicts, be our Hope and our Lighthouse, so that with your help we remain faithful to God’s precepts and follow His Will perfectly. We ask this in Jesus’ Name.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
Second apparition of Our Lady of Fatima
(6/13/2023)
Today, June 13th, we celebrate the second apparition of Our Lady of Fatima.
Responding to Lucia’s question Mary revealed: “I shall take Jacinta and Francisco soon, but you will remain here for some time yet. Jesus wishes to use you in order to make me known and loved. He wishes to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. I promise salvation to those who embrace it; and these souls will be beloved of God like flowers arranged by me to adorn His throne ... Do not be dismayed. I will never forsake you. My Immaculate Heart shall be your refuge and the road that shall lead you to God.”
Lucia later documented in her writings: “Upon saying these last words, she opened her hands, and for the second time she communicated to us the reflection of that intense light. We could see ourselves in it, as if immersed in God. Jacinta and Francisco seemed to be in the part of this light that went up toward heaven, and I in the part that was cast toward the ground. In front of Our Lady’s right hand there was a heart encircled by thorns that seemed to pierce it. We understood that it was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, insulted by the sins of humanity and which desires reparation.”
Mary’s promise to Lucia holds true for each one of us. Mary will never forsake us on our journey toward Heaven and her Immaculate Heart will keep us safe.
Let us come closer to Mary today and during this week in a special way as we prepare for the celebration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Feast Day on June, 17th.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
Sr. Lucia, Sts. Jacinta and Francisco, intercede for us!
Corpus Christi Feast Day
(6/11/2023)
This Sunday is the Feast Day of Corpus Christi (the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ).
Take a minute to think what you will tell Jesus in the church on Sunday, when you see Him in the priest’s hands in the consecrated Host, in the Blessed Sacrament in your adoration chapel or during the procession with the Blessed Sacrament.
There is so much to say to express our thanksgiving to Jesus that words will never suffice ...
But maybe He doesn’t want you to speak at all ... Maybe He wants you just to be with Him and dwell in His Presence in silence, to look into His eyes and say no word whatsoever. He knows what your heart contains, and the speech of love in your heart is more precious to Him than thousands of words.
May our hearts sing a song of love to Jesus every day, but especially on this Corpus Christi Sunday.
Let us all say together with the entire Holy Church on earth: Jesus I love You!
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
(6/04/2023)
Glory to You, my Most Holy Trinity!
O my Heavenly Father before Whom all creation trembles,
O my Jesus Christ Who are the greatest gentleness, compassion, and mercy,
O my Holy Spirit – Sweetness above all sweetness.
O Most Holy Trinity – Love unending, Love unfading, Love unfailing.
I adore You, I praise You, and I thank You for the bounty of Your Love.
May the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be always glorified in me through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Amen.
The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(5/31/2023)
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
The Blessed Virgin Mary – Mother of the Church
(5/29/2023)
Mary — Mother of the Church — Pray for us!
Let us pray together with Pope Francis:
Mother, help our faith!
Open our ears to hear God’s word and to recognize his voice and call.
Awaken in us a desire to follow in his footsteps, to go forth from our own land and to receive his promise.
Help us to be touched by his love, that we may touch him in faith.
Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him and to believe in his love, especially at times of trial, beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature.
Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One.
Remind us that those who believe are never alone.
Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that he may be light for our path. And may this light of faith always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord!
PENTECOST
(5/28/2023)
Holy Spirit, the Paraclete,
Who permeates the Universe and all that lives in it.
Strengthen and guide us;
Open our hearts and grant abundance of Your gifts to Your Holy Bridge – the Church,
So that united in minds, hearts and spirit
We may become vessels of Your inexhaustible love
And give You worthy praise and thanksgiving now and in eternity.
Veni Sancte Spiritus – Come, Holy Spirit!
Ascension of the Lord
(5/18/2023)
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for fulfilling Your promise and completing Your mission of our salvation as You ascended to the Father to reign with Him in His Love and intercede for us poor sinners.
Before Jesus’ Resurrection, the apostles and disciples experienced Him in the human (tangible and visible) form. After the Resurrection, they experienced Him in a transformed (glorified) human body and in spirit (as the Lord appeared despite the closed doors or revealing Himself to different disciples at the same time yet in different geographic locations). After the Ascension, most believers (not mentioning saints who got visions of Jesus) experience Jesus’ presence in a spiritual way only. And precisely so is our faith grounded.
As the Rev. John Hardon (Servant of God) (1914-2000) said, the disciples believed that “one who looked like a man, spoke and acted like a man, was really the living God.” In our times, we believe that Jesus Whom we don’t see in human form with our human eyes remains truly hidden in the Blessed Sacrament. We can see Him with the eyes of our faith, and we can touch and experience Him each time we receive Holy Communion until we see Him face to face when He calls each one of us by name to Himself to be with Him forever in the heavenly Kingdom of His Love.
Our Lady of Fatima
(5/13/2023)
On May, 13th, we celebrate the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima. Let us pray together to Mary:
Our Dear Mother, Our Lady of Fatima,
Today, on the feast day of your apparition at Fatima in 1917, we pray in union with all Christians around the world, and through the intercession of Sr. Lucia and Sts. Jacinta and Francisco, with the words which the Angel of Portugal taught them:
“My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You! I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You!”
“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference with which He Himself is offended. And, through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners.”
May we all follow the instructions of the angel in our lives with great zeal and love:
“Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High ... Make of everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners ... Above all, accept and bear with submission the sufferings which the Lord will send you.”
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
Sr. Lucia, Sts. Jacinta and Francisco, intercede for us!
Celebrations in Fatima, Portugal in 2019
Holy Mary – Queen of Poland
(5/03/2023)
On May, 3rd each year Polish Catholics celebrate the Feast Day of Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland. Mary was officially proclaimed the Queen of Poland by Pope Benedict XV in 1920 at the request of Polish bishops. The Black Madonna has been acknowledged for centuries as the country’s Protectress, Mother and Queen. Her miraculous image is located in the Shrine of the Pauline Fathers’ Monastery at Jasna Gora, in the city of Czestochowa, PL.
With joyful adoration, let us join all Catholics in Poland and around the world singing ...
Jak szczesliwa Polska cala – Matko Boska Krolowo Polska
(O how happy is the entire Poland – Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland)
Z Dawna Polski Tys Krolowa
(You have been the Queen of Poland for long)
Czarna Madonna
(Black Madonna)
MARY, QUEEN OF POLAND, PRAY FOR US!
St. Joseph the Worker Feast Day
May – the month of Mary
(5/01/2023)
Today we celebrate the glorious day of St. Joseph the Worker. We are also entering the month of May dedicated to Mary. Let us invoke St. Joseph and ask for his protection and guidance, while uniting our hearts with Mary as we continue daily Rosary prayers.
Prayer for St. Joseph’s protection
Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so prompt, so strong,
before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.
Oh, St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession,
and obtain for me from your Divine Son
all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power,
I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of fathers.
Oh, St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms;
I dare not approach while he reposes near your heart.
Press him in my name and kiss his fine head for me and
ask him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.
St. Joseph, patron of departing souls – pray for me. Amen.
Feast Day of St. Louis de Montfort
(4/28/2023)
Let us give a special praise to Mary on this day through the prayers of St. Louis de Montfort. In union with all members of the Association of Mary, Queen of all Hearts, let us ask our Holy Mother that our love for Jesus grows stronger and stronger each day and that the world comes to realize and accept the great grace and blessing of Mary’s intercession for us before God.
You can also become a member of the
Association of Mary, Queen of all Hearts
Spread the devotion to Mary, love Mary with all your heart because she loves you incomprehensibly.
Mary, our Mother and Queen of all Hearts, pray for us!
St. Louis de Montfort, pray for us!
Divine Mercy Sunday – 4/16/2023
Today we celebrate the Feast of Mercy – Divine Mercy Sunday
Speaking to St. Faustina, our Lord promised extraordinary graces on this day:
“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. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy.” (Diary, 699)
“I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy.” (1109) “Whoever approaches the Fount of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.” (300)
Prerequisites to receive extraordinary graces of complete forgiveness of sins and punishment:
1. Celebrate the Feast on the Sunday after Easter
2. Sincerely repent of all our sins
3. Place our complete trust in Jesus
4. Go to Confession, preferably before that Sunday
5. Receive Holy Communion on the day of the Feast
6. Venerate the Image of The Divine Mercy (i.e., perform some act or make some gesture of deep religious respect toward it because of the Person whom it represents, in this case, our Most Merciful Savior)
7. Be merciful to others, through our actions, words, and prayers on their behalf.
More resources can be found here: www.thedivinemercy.org
Divine Mercy Novena in preparation for Divine Mercy Sunday on 4/16/2023
Let us pray together
Divine Mercy NovenaDivine Mercy Chaplet
Dedication of the Bl. Stanley Rother Shrine, Oklahoma City
(2/17/2023)
On 2/17/2023 Archbishop Coakley of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City dedicated the
Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine.
The Tepeyac Hill and the statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Juan Diego were dedicated by Archbishop Coakley on December, 11, 2022.
Let us praise the Lord for this great blessing and gift to the Church and all the faithful who will come from near and afar to pray in this holy place.
Jesus with us
(2/16/2023)
Jesus Christ has lived with us and among us on earth for 33 years. Do we earnestly comprehend what it means?
Each person in Israel was expecting the Messiah as He was promised to be of the Jewish ascend, the descendant of King David, foretold by the prophets. He came to share in our human nature, but many people didn’t realize it; they didn’t recognize that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah the generations of their fathers and grandfathers have been awaiting for centuries.
They expected a king who will save them with the power of the sword, while He came to save the humanity with the power of love. They expected that only the Jews will be saved as the promised nation, while He came to save everyone in the world. They expected that He will save the Jewish nation only during the time of His reign on earth, while He came to save multitudes over all the ages past, present and future.
Crowds were following Jesus to see Him perform miracles, to listen to His teachings, or to simply look for arguments to believe in Him as the Messiah or to refuse to believe. It was but a very small number of people who got to touch Him physically as a man (Mary and St. Joseph, the lepers and the sick He healed, Thomas who touched His Hands after His Resurrection, among others). Even a smaller number of people got to look into Jesus’ eyes directly (Mary and St. Joseph when He was born in the manger, the young man who desired to be perfect /Mark 10:21-25/, Mary sister of Lazarus when He called him out of the tomb /John 11:40/, Peter after denying Jesus /Luke 22:61/).
How many people in Israel never got out of their houses to see Jesus? How many were occupied with their daily jobs and dismissed the news about Christ? Are we different nowadays than they were?
Jesus is coming to us every day in the Holy Eucharist, with the power of His Holy Spirit – the power of His heavenly Love. He lives silently in the Blessed Sacrament as He has lived silently for 30 years in Nazareth. But when He comes to us with the Holy Communion, and then takes us back to our daily lives and duties, He walks with us on the streets of this world as He walked during the 3 years of His earthly ministry in the Holy Land.
How many of us come to meet Jesus and to receive His saving power of love? Are we only by–standers on the road, are we too busy with our earthly tasks that we don’t even pay attention to Him Who is dwelling silently with us in every church? Or are we indeed going to Jesus to touch Him and look deeply into His eyes when we pray and receive Him at the Holy Eucharist?
He is waiting, He is GOD and He is LOVE. He longs to experience love from each one of us, but He never forces us to love Him. When we touch Him (receive Him Who is hidden under the species of the Holy Host at the Holy Communion) and look deep into His eyes, we can know His love for us and reciprocate it. And we need to know Him well. We need a personal relationship with Jesus. Only then, when we finally see Him as He is, face to face at the hour of our death, the power of His Love will carry us into eternity.
Say ‘Yes’ to Jesus today. Make a commitment to go to church today or tomorrow. If you procrastinate and delay, you will forget or get distracted, and you will be counted among the many people as of old in Israel who never got to meet Jesus because of their poor choices. They lost their chance. Don’t lose yours ...