SATURDAY MORNING MASS HOMILY – FATHER SHANNON 

On this first Saturday, which also has an optional memorial in honor of St. Joseph the worker, Father spoke on Our Blessed Lady. The focus now during this Easter season is on our Lady.  There is a definite connection between our Lady and the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit came from the love between the Father and the Son (who existed from all time).    The Holy Spirit is the last person of the Holy Trinity.  The Father brought forth the Son, and the Father and the Son brought forth the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to generate life. So it is that through the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Spirit brings forth fruit.  The Blessed Virgin Mary plus the Holy Spirit equals Jesus Christ. The same Holy Spirit continues to produce Christ through Mary even today.

Mary becomes central to Christian life.  In God's design, Mary's presence is necessary so that the Holy Spirit can be fruitful and produce Jesus Christ.

St. Louis de Montfort – The more the Holy Spirit finds Mary, his spouse, in souls, the more active He is in producing in that soul.

Mary's fiat – "Let it be done."  Only by Mary's consent was it done to Her. God created by fiat – from all the darkness and confusion of the world God said – Let it BE – and there was light. "Fiat"- the word is also found in the consecration prayer. Under the original creation fiat of the world there was original sin – thus there needed to be another fiat – Mary's fiat.

On Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down upon Mary and the apostles and the age of the Holy Spirit began.  Remember this formula: The Holy Spirit and Mary with Her fiat equals Jesus Christ.

SATURDAY MORNING INSTRUCTION – FATHER SHANNON 
 
It was not so long ago when we had the Triduum – Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday. This began a time of tears being shed. Our Lord was betrayed and evil would have its hour. The hour of darkness has its time of triumph, Good Friday. There were great sorrows on that day and would increase, especially for the Mother. She grieved in a way that was accepted of the Passion and death of Her son. The Blessed Sacrament from Holy Thursday until the Easter vigil is removed from the tabernacle. He is missing, and we feel the grief of Mary in some way. This is the Easter season. The tears that were shed during that time is to water the tree of the cross. Our Lady did go home after the crucifixion. Words cannot begin to express our Lady's sorrows. 

Christ always fulfils prophecy to the absolute T. They stabbed Her son's body also. This fulfils prophecy of Simeon when he said that Jesus Christ would be a sign of contradiction and told Mary that a sword would pierce Her heart. 

The rejoicing of someone's Easter is in proportion to one's sorrow. Our Lady would have the greatest joy of all during the Easter season. Our Lady should have died on Good Friday because Her sorrow was so great. Tradition of the Church was that Mary was the first to see Jesus. She must have been the first to see Her son. She would have experienced a union seeing Her son that we cannot imagine. For those who mourn or weep and embrace the crosses that ultimately come from God, joy will come.  Would we do penance during Lent, embrace the cross during Lent, would we experience family problems, sickness or death. If we give up on Lent, we will not have as many joys. Mary is our example of this. 

Our Lady was there every step of the way with Her son, always in the background. How could She not have been at the crucifixion. Our Lady is co-redemptrix. This is a controversy and should not be controversial at all. All the feast days of Mary are the mystery of Mary. Something is being worked out in Her sorrow. Whether it will be proclaimed by the Pope, we do not know. It has always been the teaching of the Church that She is co-redemptrix. Mary is with Christ. "Co" means with. Always depend upon Her. Christ, Her Redeemer. Co-redemptrix in what way? Quo Vadis? Where are you going?  We are the ones who will take that victory on the Cross to others. Mary is always in union with Christ, always subordinate to Christ. 

St. Bernard said that Mary was a martyr by the bitter sorrow of heart (not by sword or execution). The Mother of the Redeemer. The Mother of the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.

Even after the Ascension, Mary still missed Her Son. In many ways She was still the Mother of Sorrows. Mary is holding Her son – Her sorrow. Far greater sorrow than we can ever imagine.  The more difficult something is the greater the joy when accomplished. She experienced the greatest sorrow and She experienced the greatest joys. The amount of sorrow is in direct proportion to the amount of joy. 

HEALING SERVICE – FATHER SHANNON 

On the cross Jesus said "I thirst"; "It is finished" to fulfil Scripture. What came forth from the side of Christ on Good Friday? They afflicted His dead body on the Cross, but this final insult did not bring happiness or satisfaction to His persecutors. Some were converted that very day. Many people walked from Mount Calvary striking their breasts.  An ocean of mercy flowed from Christ. He spoke to St. Faustina about the two rays which came from His heart. Two rays – blood and water. The pale rays, water, and red rays, blood. The red rays stand for the drops of precious blood which flowed from His wounds. The pale rays are the gift of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord told St. Faustina what these rays do. They shield souls from the wrath of God. The Divine Mercy Chaplet which He also gave to her says – to atone for our sins.    

We confuse mercy with pity today, that is, natural disasters, violence, war.  We pity victims, but this is not mercy. Mercy goes beyond being sorry for someone. Mercy brings full relief and does something for someone. Mercy seeks to lift up the fallen man. It shields us from the fire of hell. It brings hope to those in despair. We celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday on the second Sunday of Easter. Christ is a living person in the Blessed Sacrament. His open side is still pouring out an ocean of mercy.  The two crosses on either side of Jesus, on which the two thieves were, represent all of the human race. We are all thieves. "Jesus, I trust in You" is Jesus' signature. Part of mercy is correcting the sinner. Seek correction, seek to transform is mercy. Many of us forget what mercy is, the work of mercy. We at times want to call down thunder on people. We do not understand. How little do we trust in the Divine Mercy and ourselves and others. The Lord is all-powerful, all-merciful. We can jump in that ocean of mercy as long as we live. Mercy is now while we live. Justice happens at death. The Lord said that before that day of justice, He is sending mankind His mercy. And that day is now.