Mission Intention for March That the importance of forgiveness and reconciliation between individuals and peoples be understood and that through their testimony the Church may spread Christ’s love, the source of new humanity. CLOTHING STORE: For your information the St. Joseph Church, Treadwells Mills Used Clothing Store is opened on Mondays and Fridays: 10 AM to 2 PM, and Wednesdays: 4 PM to 8 PM DIOCESAN SCOUT GATHERING: The Diocese of Ogdensburg is calling all Girl and Boy Scouts to a Catholic Scout Retreat at Holy Ghost Academy, Tupper Lake on October 17-19, 2008 on the theme: The Sacraments, Signs of Grace, Tools for Life. Part of the Retreat is a trip to The Wild Center. The Retreat concludes with the 14th Annual Diocesan Scout Gathering Mass with Bishop Cunningham at 2 PM on Sunday, October 19th. For information and registration contact George Herbert (Herbert@northnet.org) or Bob Buholtz (315-376-3327). EASTER JOY: It is not so difficult to believe in Jesus’ resurrection as it is to believe in our own resurrection because of fear. And that fear can screen us from the risen Lord among us and from the growth in new life to which he calls us. It’s important to recognize this fear, because it is so insidious it can make our celebration of Easter of celebration of a past event, and a once a year wonder. This Easter, reject fear. Embrace resurrection -- Christ’s and your own. Change is challenge, but it is also life. With Christ, we die and are reborn. This is a more-than-active verb, not a past participle. Christ is Risen! He will banish all our fears. EASTER EGGS: Did you know that Easter Eggs originated in northern Europe soon after Christianity was established there? Always regarded as symbols of spring and new life, the egg also represents the stone tomb left empty when Christ rose from the dead. At one time, eggs were even forbidden during Lent. To eat an egg on Easter became something to celebrate. It is little wonder the custom of decorating eggs for such a festive occasion became a custom we still follow today. EASTER LILY: Did you know that the Easter lily has always been a traditional symbol of beauty, perfection, purity and goodness? With a beautiful spring bloom known as a trumpet, and such a sweet fragrance, it has become a true symbol of jubilation. It is as welcome after the winter snows as the Easter Alleluia! DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY: The Second Sunday of Easter (March 30) has been named Divine Mercy Sunday, a yearly invitation to Catholics to face, with confidence, the difficulties and trials that persons experience throughout the year. Devotion to Divine Mercy was promoted by Saint Faustina. Maria Faustina Kowalska of the Most Blessed Sacrament, commonly known as Saint Faustina, was born in Glogowiec, Poland, on August 25, 1905. The third of ten children from a poor family, Saint Faustina had little formal education, because she had to work to support her family. After applying to various convents in Warsaw, she was finally became a nun in the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy on August 1, 1925. Beginning on February 22, 1931, and through her death in 1938, Saint Faustina received revelations and visits from Christ. In 1934, she began recording these in a diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul. THE ROSARY OF DIVINE MERCY: The Divine Mercy Rosary is a relatively recent but popular devotion introduced by Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. A standard rosary can be used to pray the Divine Mercy Rosary. It is prayed as follows: After making the sign of the cross say: You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us. Pray the following: O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You! (three times) Pray the Our Father Pray the Hail Mary Pray the Apostles Creed On the OUR FATHER BEADS say the following words: Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. Amen. On the HAIL MARY BEADS say the following words: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. At the conclusion of the five decades recite three times: Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. A BLESSED EASTER! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA!