This week Father Waters discusses the Hope of the Ressurection and how it applies to all of us including the priests whom Opus Bono supports. "Part of the hope of the Resurrection is the joyful expectation that Our Lord will return to abolish the reign of sin and death, along with all pain and anguish. The great English Mystic Julian of Norwich used to say of this eschatological hope, “All will be well, all will be well, and all manner of things will be well.” In the face of the triumph of Jesus over the forces of darkness, we know that it is only a matter of time until we, his disciples, participate in the full breaking-in of the Paschal Triumph. In the meantime, Jesus shows us the way in the Gospel to begin to participate in heavenly, resurrected life, and that way is through love. His commandment to love one another is bound up with his promises, because heaven is the place where the love of God reigns supreme in our hearts. To prepare ourselves for that fulness of joy, we must abandon hatred, spite and all grudges, in order to participate in what heaven has in store for us. We pray as Opus Bono especially for Priests who are burdened by resentment and pain because of how they are mistreated by certain elements within the Church; they, just like all Christians, have their own particular battles to undergo in regard to their relationship with the Church on Earth, which often is not easy. The Church’s ministers often suffer as much from the Church as they do for the Church. They too are called to the joy of the Resurrected Christ, whose promise is meant to touch the heart of all people. May he give us the grace to bask in the light of Easter joy." (fb)

This week Father Waters describes how the God's willingness to forgive all of our sins is a manifestation of his love for us. This Second Sunday of Easter marks what has been called Divine Mercy Sunday, named as such after the devotion to the Divine Mercy as revealed to Saint Faustina. Mercy is a strange aspect of the infinite love of God, since it is something which may never have been manifested (at least in the redemptive sense) if we were not fallen human beings. Every act of God is both just and merciful. All his acts are pure grace, since God is forced to act by no one. Yet he has willingly given us natural life out of nothing, and then gives us the life of grace through Baptism. This fact both humbles us and elevates us, as we face the magnitude of God’s goodness, and the unworthiness we ourselves possess. As we celebrate this day, it is imperative that not lose sight of the awe which we ought to have toward this extragavant goodness which God shows us. At Opus Bono, we also note that The Divine Mercy is also manifested in the Sacrament of Penance. This is a gift from Christ himself, to make his mercy accessible to all mankind, and to give us the peace and comfort of hearing the healing words, “I absolve you of your sins…” and know our sins are pardoned. Today, we remember Christ’s risen appearance to his disciples who were so afraid, and we ask him to see in his glorified wounds his triumph over all evil - including over the evil that is within ourselves. (fb)