WHEN TWO ELEPHANTS FIGHT, THE GROUND TELLS THE STORY. DIVINE MERCY MANIFESTS ITSELF THROUGH RECONCILIATION.

"Jesus said to them [Apostles] again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,“Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”  (John 20: 21 - 23).

Sunday April 24th, 2nd Sunday of Easter. Sunday of Divine Mercy.

The universal Church celebrates today the Solemnity of Divine Mercy. (Always 2nd Sunday of Easter).  Jesus is the Face of Mercy of Abba Father.  Mercy is the name and essence of God the Father revealed to us through His Only Son, Jesus the Christ. The open Heart of Jesus is the symbol and seat of Mercy.  Mercy is promised to all.

To demonstrate that the powerful gift and message of Mercy that Jesus shared in His public ministry will remain in the Church after His Ascension, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation and gave His Apostles and their successors the power to forgive sins.

To prepare ourselves to receive and retain Mercy, the ABC OF MERCY is very useful.  It is called  ABC because, it is an acronym that can be remembered easily and secondly it is as simple as ABC.

A:  Ask for Mercy.
B:  Be Merciful.
C:  Completely Trust Jesus for Mercy.

God is rich in mercy and is waiting for us to turn to Him to blot out all our sins and receive us in His merciful love.
Mercy, mercy. Nothing but mercy!

"Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection.
I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by."  (Psalm 57: 1)

"Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself." (The Diary of St Maria Faustina, #950).

To learn how to recite the Divine Mercy Rosary, click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2020/10/how-to-recite-divine-mercy-rosary.html?m=1

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

GOD CREATED THE SMART PHONE, INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE NEW EVANGELIZATION. THIS MAY INDICATE THAT THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST IS IMMINENT.

"Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16: 15.... 20).

Monday 25th April 2022, 2nd Week in the Easter Season is the feast of St Mark the Evangelist. (AD 12 - 68 AD).

Cyerene from Libya in North Africa. Also called John Mark. Son of Mary who provided her home as a place of meeting for the early Christian community in Jerusalem.
Mark worked with Saints Paul and Barnabas and later with St Peter the Apostle. St Mark founded the Church in Alexandria where he is honored with a beautiful Basilica.
St Mark is the patron saint of Egypt, Copts, Mainar, Venice and Barristers.

St Mark is the writer of the  Gospel according to St Mark.

The Holy Spirit commands us in today's Gospel:
"Go into all the world, and proclaim the Gospel to every creature."

Today, this mission of universal evangelization is very urgent. Recent Popes are insistent that the Church mobilize for New Evangelization.

Why did God create the Internet and cell phone at this time? Probably over 50% of mankind today can be reached through social media groups, viz: Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc.

It is possible for most people to share the Gospel with family, friends, colleagues, etc.
Not everyone is called by God to be Mark the Evangelist. Not everyone of us can write like St Augustine. Most people receive the word of God daily from different sources. What inspires you can inspire a family member, a friend or colleague. Share it through text, email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Do not be afraid. You may be surprised how much it will be appreciated. The Holy Spirit will help you.

Most of my ministry in evangelization is sharing content created by others. All I need is the help of the Holy Spirit to discern the material as the truth. It will be terrible to distribute error or untruth. I share blogs, music, photos, videos and any content that contains the truth and can help people grow their faith and relationship with God. The word today encourages each of us to share the Gospel. Practice makes perfect.

"Go into all the world, and proclaim the Gospel to every creature."

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE SPIRIT OF EVANGELIZATION AND POWER. PRAYER IS THE ACTIVATOR OF POWER. FAITH AND PRAYER GO TOGETHER. I BELIEVE, THEREFORE I PRAY. I PRAY BECAUSE I BELIEVE.

"But later,[on the First Day - Sunday] as the Eleven were at table, Jesus appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every ­creature.” (Mark 16: 9...15).

Easter Saturday 23rd April, 2022 in the Octave of Easter.

Jesus said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16: 15).

I like the way the AMPC translation renders the Great Commission, our key Scripture for today.
"And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the good news (the Gospel) to every creature [of the whole human race]." (AMPC).

Preaching and publishing become two sides of the same coin.  A lot of evangelization today is done through all types of non-verbal communication through publishing media: blogs, podcasts, videos and zoom apps, newspapers and magazines, radio and television. All are necessary to bring the Good News to everyone, everywhere in the world. Our task is not done until the whole human race has heard the amazing grace of Jesus Christ, the Good News. This task has become more urgent today than ever.

Abba Father wills that everyone must come to the knowledge of truth and repentance. He equipped the Church for this mission by sending down the Awesome Holy Spirit to drive this mission.

We see the power of the Holy Spirit in the moving testimony of Peter and John before the entire Supreme Court of Israel in the first Reading:
"Peter and John, however, said to them [the Justices] in reply, “Whether it is right in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges. It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4: 19 - 20).

With the presence and gifts of the Holy Spirit, we have all we need to fulfill the Great Commission. May the Lord grant us success. Amen.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com