Divine Mercy & Moving Forward with Beacons of Light

As we celebrate the octave day of Easter, which has become the Solemn Feast of Divine Mercy, we thank our great God for the gift of His Mercy which was poured out for us by the shedding of His Son’s blood on the cross. God our Father never ceases to present us with the gift of salvation when we sin. We can despair of the Lord’s Mercy, but let us be reminded of the optional closing prayer to the Divine Mercy Chaplet which states that our Almighty Father’s “mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible.” But we can also take mercy for granted and treat it like some handout to which we are entitled. We then fail to give thanks for the gift of Mercy, which we cannot earn and has been freely offered to us. This leads us to living life as we always have and failing to thank God for the many benefits He provides for us, His children. So, give thanks for the kind and tender Mercy of God, our Father.

Many received the Lord’s Mercy in Confession this Lent and during the Triduum. In response to this wondrous favor, we will be having a Holy Hour today at Holy Angels starting at 3:00 p.m. to give thanks to God for the gift of His Mercy that has been provided for us by Jesus Christ’s Death and Resurrection. This is the point of the Feast of Divine Mercy: to give thanks and praise for what has been given to us, who do not deserve the gift of Divine Mercy. I also want to emphasize that this mercy should also become our everyday practice. In receiving the favor of Divine Mercy, we should then be merciful to our spouse, children, brothers, sisters, friends, family, co-workers, and those other people on the road. I would ask that as we begin Beacons of Light, please recognize that hurts, disappointments, and resentments towards others are bound to happen. You will even experience resentment against me, and I may be wrong about something, but I ask that you act mercifully toward me. Forgive me as the Lord has forgiven you. This I ask of you, not just for my good but also for the good of our Family of Parishes.

A big congratulations to Deacon Patrick Blenman who was ordained a deacon yesterday. I have no doubts that Deacon Patrick will do great things for Christ’s Church. He will be preaching at all Sunday Masses next weekend. If you would like to send him a note of congratulations (and gift of money) you can send that to him at the seminary address: 6616 Beechmont Avenue, Cincinnati, OH, 45230.

This weekend we have posted the new Mass schedule on the bulletin boards in church. This Mass schedule will not begin until July 1. The big things that we will be adjusting at Holy Angels is that we will now have only one daily Mass, no Mass on Monday, and no regularly scheduled Saturday morning Mass, although we will continue to have a First Saturday Mass. The Sunday Mass schedule remains the same. Adoration will move from Thursday to Tuesday, with Confession from 5:00-6:00 p.m. and Benediction at 6:00 p.m. The reason for the adjustment in days for Adoration is that Sacred Heart has Adoration on Thursday; meaning that by moving Holy Angels’ Day to Tuesday, we will have Adoration three days a week in our Family of Parishes: Tuesday at Holy Angels, Wednesdays at St. Michael, and Thursdays at Sacred Heart. I want to acknowledge that Holy Angels will experience a profound modification with this new schedule. The reason for these alterations is to allow for priests to be freer to pursue prayer, pastoral duties, and recreation. We are human beings after all.

Also, now that the Mass schedule is in place, we are accepting Mass Intentions for July 1-December 31, 2022. Please stop at the Parish Office to schedule. As we make adjustments in preparation for Beacons of Light, another modification will be that the Holy Angels Parish Offices will no longer be open on Fridays beginning Friday, April 29. Thank you for your willingness to move with the adjustments that are going to come from
Beacons of Light. That is a thank-you to the whole parish and the entire Family of Parishes. People have been wonderful and have seen that we must move and massively realign parish vision and resources to bring about the salvation of souls in Shelby County.

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Jarred Kohn