Denver Catholic

2 APRIL 4-10, 2015 | DENVER CATHOLIC Archbishop's Page Vatican Denver Catholic (USPS 557-020) is published weekly except the last week of December and the fi rst weeks of January, and in June, July and August when it goes bi-weekly. Denver Catholic is printed by Signature OŸ set in Denver. Periodical postage paid in Denver, CO. SUBSCRIPTIONS: $35 a year in Colorado; $42 per year out of state. Foreign countries: $42 surface, all countries, 6-8 weeks for delivery; $135 air, all other countries (average). Mexico, $48 air; Canada, $55 air. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Denver Catholic, Circulation Dept., 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or email circulation@archden.org. EDITORIAL: 303-715-3215 or denvercatholic@archden.org | ADVERTISING: 303-715-3253 or denvercatholicads@archden.org CIRCULATION CUSTOMER SERVICE: 303-715-3230 or circulation@archden.org General Manager KARNA SWANSON Director ANDREW WRIGHT Business Manager MICHAEL O'NEILL Published by the Archdiocese of Denver, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 Archbishop's Column Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila ARCHBISHOP'S SCHEDULE April 4: Easter Vigil, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (8 p.m.) April 5: Easter Sunday Mass and confi rmation, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Concep- tion (10:30 a.m.) April 8: All-school Mass, Bishop Machebeuf High School, Denver (10:20 a.m.); Mass and confi rmation, St. Louis Church, Englewood (7 p.m.) April 9: All-school Mass, Sts. Peter and Paul School, Wheat Ridge (8 a.m.); Mass and confi r- mation, St. Catherine of Siena Church, Denver (7 p.m.) PHOTO OF THE WEEK Archbishop Samuel Aquila prays during Vigil Praise March 21 at Christ the King Chapel at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary. More than 200 young people fi lled the chapel for liturgy of the hours and adoration accompanied by a seminarian-run praise and worship band. The next Vigil Praise will be April 25. For more information, visit http://vigilpraise.weebly.com. PHOTO BY ZACHARY BOAZMAN @ArchbishopDen Mar 24 Column - There are always "Holy Saturdays"—times when God seems silent: ow.ly/ KKgQ0 #HolyWeek #StTeresaAvila +sja T he fi rst public trip St. John Paul II made outside of Rome after being shot in May 1981 was to the Shrine of Merciful Love in Collevalenza, Italy. The occasion for his visit was to launch an international congress dedi- cated to his encyclical on mercy, Dives in Misericordia, which was published one year before. "By my presence I wish to reconfi rm, in a way, the message of that encycli- cal," he said. "I wish to read it again and deliver it again. Right from the begin- ning of my ministry in St. Peter's See in Rome, I considered this message my special task. Providence has assigned it to me in the present situation of man, the Church, and the world. It could be said that precisely this situation assigned that message to me as my task before God." How fi tting it is that St. John Paul II's fi rst event outside of Rome after the assassination attempt was one dedicated to mercy. St. John Paul II's beautiful, lifelong testimony to the mes- sage of mercy was further underscored by God the Father calling him home on April 2, the Vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday. This week we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of St. John Paul II's death and the gift of God's mercy o• ered to the whole world on Easter. We should allow these two events to serve as a reminder to us of the importance of accepting God's mercy and letting it transform our lives. Anyone familiar with the life of the late Holy Father knows that his life presented many opportunities for him to respond to injustices and su• erings with anger or even hatred. Things are no di• erent today. The world of the 21st century is full of su• ering and oppor- tunities for mercy, which is why Pope Francis has called for a Jubilee Year of Mercy, beginning Dec. 8. For those of you unfamiliar with the message of Divine Mercy, it was fi rst given to Sister Faustina Kowalska in a series of revelations that she received from Jesus between 1931 and 1938. At her canonization in 2000, St. John Paul II noted that Jesus' message of mercy is not new "but can be consid- ered a gift of special enlightenment that helps us to relive the Gospel of Easter more intensely, to o• er it as a ray of light to the men and women of our time." People around the world today— Christian and non-Christian alike—are experiencing the scourge of violence and a sense of hopelessness. We see, for example, Christians being persecuted and brutally martyred in the Middle East and Africa. It is in this world that we are called to be messengers of his boundless mercy. Looking ahead to our cur- rent century, St. John Paul II said that by canonizing Sister Faustina he intended "to pass this message on to the new millennium. I pass it on to all people, so that they will learn to know ever better the true face of God and the true face of their brethren." The message of Divine Mercy for our time that St. John Paul II emphasized is that humanity must let itself be "touched and per- vaded by the Spirit given to it by the risen Christ." "It is the Spirit," he said, "who heals the wounds of the heart, pulls down the barriers that separate us from God and divide us from one another, and at the same time, restores the joy of the Father's love and of fraternal unity." As we refl ect on these words, our hearts should be moved to see the Father's providential love in Pope Fran- cis and his constant call to encounter the mercy of Jesus Christ, especially in the upcoming Jubilee Year of Mercy. In his homily announcing the year, he stated, "I have often thought about how the Church might make clear its mis- sion of being a witness to mercy. It is a journey that begins with a spiritual conversion. For this reason, I have decided to call an extraordinary Jubilee that is to have the mercy of God at its center. It shall be a Holy Year of Mercy. We want to live this Year in the light of the Lord's words: 'Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful'" (cf. Luke 6:36). May we hear this invita- tion that has been given to us so strongly, fi rst in the Gospel, and then in the voices of the saints, and now by Pope Francis. May we grow in our trust of God's merciful love for us, even when trials come our way, and may we become messengers of mercy to everyone we encounter! Saints Faustina and John Paul II, pray for us! Boundless mercy and two great saints journey that begins with a spiritual conversion. For this reason, I have decided to call an extraordinary Jubilee that is to have the mercy of God at its center. It shall be a Holy Year of Mercy. We want to live this Year in the St. John Paul II PHOTO COURTESY OF WHITE HOUSE

• Cover