International Divine Mercy Feast in lockdown

Viering met Spaans, Pools, Engels en Nederlands

Zondag beloken pasen, Feest van de God­de­lijke Barm­har­tig­heid, hebben we in de ka­the­draal een speciale inter­na­tio­nale vie­ring gehou­den. De pries­ters van de Poolse pa­ro­chie en de Spaanse pa­ro­chie waren bij de Eucha­ris­tie­vie­ring, pastoor Ruben Torres heeft de aanbid­ding geleid die daaraan vooraf ging. De pastoor van de Poolse pa­ro­chie bracht een verras­sing mee...

Pastoor Andrzej Szczepaniak van de Poolse pa­ro­chie en pastoor Giancarlo Rizzo van de Spaans­ta­lige pa­ro­chie con­ce­le­breer­den om aan dit feest voor hun eigen ge­meen­schappen toch een bij­zon­der accent te geven. Sinds enkele jaren is in de ka­the­draal de Engels­ta­lige vie­ring die wordt geor­ga­ni­seerd door the Divine Mercy Apostolate Holland, terwijl er in Heiloo een Neder­landse vie­ring is. Malou Pimen­tel van dit Apos­to­laat deed de eerste lezing en voor­beden, pastoor Ruben Torres is even­eens met dit apos­to­laat verbon­den.

Pastoor Andrzej Szczepaniak bracht een reliek van Sint Faustina mee, de heilige aan wier visioenen we de zon­dag van de God­de­lijke Barm­har­tig­heid te danken hebben. Dit jaar is het twin­tig jaar gele­den dat zij heilig verklaard is.

Een viertal zan­gers van de El Shaddai ge­meen­schap (Am­ster­dam) luisterde de vie­ring op, alles na­tuur­lijk op Corona-afstand en zon­der deelname van gelo­vi­gen in de kerk, maar wel verbon­den met veel mensen thuis die de vie­ring hebben gevolgd op de ka­the­draal TV (zie banner met link op deze web­si­te).

Het altaar in de ka­the­draal dat is gewijd aan de God­de­lijke Barm­har­tig­heid, aan H. paus Johannes Paulus II en H. zr. Faustina is versierd met rood-witte bloem­boeketten en noveen­kaarsen (zie foto)

Hier volgen de twee delen van de preek, eerst een deel in het Spaans, daarna in het Engels.

Homilie

Sermón en español

Rezamos...

Queridos hermanos y hermanas:
estamos espiritual­mente unidos unos con otros.
Me alegra poder estar conectado con nosotros hoy
y participar así en esta celebración.
Vivimos en una situación de crisis
debido al Corona­vi­rus.
Esto nos entristece y por eso
en esta celebración rezamos por cada uno de vosotros,
por todas las víctimas,
por las personas que están solas
o que se preocupan
por su trabajo e ingresos;
¡rezamos por todos!
¡Ten piedad, Oh Señor!

Una invitación

Pero toda esta situación
es también una invitación
para que tengamos más confianza
en la misericordia de Dios
y para ver más claro
que no podemos construir nuestras vidas
sobre el dinero, nuestra salud,
nuestras fuerzas y nuestra inteligencia.
Todo eso es frágil.
Toda esta difícil situación que estamos viviendo,
es una invitación para recordarnos:
Hombre, mujer, no eres tan grande, tan fuerte ni tan poderoso.
Todo lo que puedes hacer pasará, non permanece,
pero el amor de Dios dura para siempre.
Su amor permanece también cuando mueres.
Su misericordia, su amor no tiene fin, es eterno
y El te dirá: eres mi hijo, mi hija;
te quiero mucho.
Queridos hermanos y hermanas,
¡hoy queremos celebrar ese amor!

Homily in English

Lord have mercy!

“Lord have mercy”,
this is what the blind and the lepers
and the crippled and the poor
cried out when they met Jesus.
So many people in need,
with real physical need or spiritual distress,
approached our Lord,
asking Him, beg­ging Him for mercy.
We too pronounce these words
at the begin­ning of every Mass:
“Lord, have mercy,
Christ, have mercy on us”.
And so many millions of people
around the world
pronounce these same words
and ask for mercy.

At the pews

A Haar­lem artist, Simone de Groot,
has recently attached this exclamation
“Lord, have mercy”!
at the side of the pews of this ca­the­dral church.
In these times of crisis
it is an expression
of the prayer of some many people:
Have mercy, o Lord,
and let this pandemic stop!

The importance of prayer

Today, dear friends,
we have come together, you and I,
not physically
but spiritually united we are;
and especially today
in our fervent desire
to experience the mercy of the Lord,
we feel united
in prayer, in thanksgi­ving,
in the celebration of His paschal mystery:
the Lord Jesus is truly risen!

Brothers and sisters,
prayer indeed is very important now
we are in urgent need
of a spiritual renewal in our society
that has drifted so far
from the love and mercy of God.

A world without God...

A world without God
does not see His image
in the unborn, the poor, the disabled,
the afflicted, the elderly, the sick, the dying,
it becomes a culture of death.

It is not that a Christian is a better person,
but a Christian knows
that if he has sinned,
he did wrong
and that he depends comple­tely
on the grace and the loving mercy of Our Lord.
Please, stay close to the mercy of God,
you will bear life,
you will radiate mercy and love!

A relationship that fades away?

Yes, let’s have a close relationship
with Our Lord!

If you never talk to your hus­band,
if you never visit your parents and dear ones,
if there is no act of charity towards them,
if you don’t celebrate their anniversaries
if you are not there at important moments of their lives,
how will this relationship develop?
Of course, such a relationship will fade
and be extinguished at the end.

Dear friends,
things are not different
in our relationship with the Lord.
He is lon­ging for our love, our acts of charity,
our spiritual connection with Him,
our response to His mercy.

So, let us pray for our self, our dear ones,
our society - often so far from God -
that the bond with the merciful Lord,
may be renewed and become deeper,
that our prayers become more ardent,
that faith, hope and charity may revive.

Have peace!

That is what we need now
in this pandemic.
Many people have fear,
many feel lonely,
others are ill and stay at home
or in a hospital
or they are struggling now a lot
in their families.
In the name of all those who suffer,
we pray to the Lord:
“Lord, have mercy”!

But, have peace in your hearts:
The Lord is merciful,
He will be with us,
He stays at our side,
whatever may happen,
that is why we celebrate today.

Why did this happen?

But why then,
did He let this happen?,
some people may ask.
How is it possible
that this occurred,
that He let this happen,
He, who is our merciful Father?

I cannot give a full answer
to that question;
since at the end,
we’ll always have to say:
inscrutable are the ways of the Lord.
We are like a grain of sand
and He is all the beaches of the world;
We are like a little drop of water
and He is all the oceans of the world,
We are human beings,
limited in space and time
and He is God,
boundless and for all eternity.
If a little child
is not able to understand
the reaso­ning of its parents,
how could we be able
to understand the depths of wisdom
of an eternal and infinite God?

Yet, He showed us His love and mercy
in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father.

Have confi­dence!

What we really need is confi­dence,
faith and trust in His mercy,
like a little child is trus­ting in its loving parents,
without understan­ding them really.
Abandon your ways of reaso­ning,
your proud and self-reliance,
don’t put your trust in your money,
your health, your abilities;
throw yourself comple­tely
in the arms
of your merciful God and Father!
That’s the Lord’s invitation to all of you
on this feast of the Divine Mercy.

Saint Faustina and Saint John Paul II

This is a special occasion.
Twenty years ago
Saint Faustina Kowalska,
the great apostle of Divine Mercy
was canonized by pope
saint John Paul II;
fifteen years ago
Saint John Paul II passed away
at the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday
and this year it will be hundred years ago
that this pope was born.
Pope John Paul II was a great apostle of Divine mercy too;
he said:
"The message [saint Faustina] brought
is the appropriate and incisive answer
that God wanted to offer
to the questions and expectations
of human beings in our time,
marked by terrible tragedies”.
And Jesus said to Sister Faustina one day:
“Humanity will never find peace
until it turns with trust to the Divine Mercy”.

Apostle of Divine Mercy

Let us do so and put our trust
in the Divine Mercy
and let us invite others
to do so as well.
Yes, I invite you to become
apostles of Divine Mercy.

Si, los invito a convertirse
en apóstoles de la Divina Misericordia.