Thursday, March 31, 2011

The time must be right

After several attempts, it appears I will finally get to see the inside of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Fresno this evening! I've been trying to get to confession for about 3 months now, and every time I make plans, work gets in the way. I AM going to make it tonight! OLMC has the Sacrament of Penance on Thursday evenings at 7PM. (According to the diocesan website--I also tried to attend a Mass there once based on the same website and when I showed up, there was no Mass--but I trust the Holy Spirit will not let me down tonight!) God knows I need forgiveness and the grace to keep going on the best I can.

While I always feel better and more in touch with Jesus after confession, it will be especially cool to actually partake of a SECOND Sacrament in the church about 57 years since my first one! (I was baptized at OLMC in late1953 or early 1954--Knowing Mom, it was probably not long after my November '53 birth!--but I'll have to look it up when I get back home on the weekend.)

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"I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.

I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor:
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.

Many souls ... 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 permissions nor 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 judgment. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy".