All the 2012 Divine Mercy conference attendees en-joyed the day according to our survey results. In fact, many people related that it was the best conference ever. Was it the special blessing given by Bishop Jaime Soto? Was it the invoking of the Holy Spirit, or the caliber of our speakers? The survey did not reveal the answer but we were very happy to get that feedback. Attendance was down this year but, fortunately, we did record all the speaker sessions. Judge for yourself on the quality of the conference by ordering a CD or two from the conference using the form on our web page, www.DivineMercySacramento.org

Bishop Soto with Knights of Columbus Bishop Soto at DM Conference 10/13/12

Conference Survey Results:

Keeping Christmas Spiritual

With commercialism in the forefront during the Christmas Season, taking over our focus and direction, it was our intention to pray a nine-day novena to remind ourselves of the true reason for the season. Christ, Our Lord, came into this world to bring us into the fullness of the Divine Life of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, to unite His Divinity to our Humanity for all time, once and for all. To remind ourselves what God has truly done for us, we spent these nine days, from “Black Friday to Saturday, Dec. 1st, praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, as well as the Divine Mercy Litany, and Invocation to the Heart of Jesus with an act of Oblation; Thirty-three Petitions in Honor of the Sa-cred Humanity of Our Lord Jesus, and the Litany in Honor of Jesus, King of All Nations. This beautiful reminder of Jesus’ love for us instills the desire to dedicate this entire Advent season to Jesus by serving His people!

It’s Unanimous

Divine Mercy Mission at St. Stephens

On Feb. 24, 2013, over 50 parishioners at-tended the Divine Mercy mission at St. Stephen the First Martyr parish on a blus-tery first Saturday morning. The church was full for mass and for the traditional Latin liturgy. At the conclusion of the talks by John Doering and Mike Solton, pastor McNeely led the Divine Mercy

chaplet, which was followed by a benediction service. Mike Trainor volunteered to be a parish point of contact and keep the group going. God bless Mike. If you would like a two-hour introductory Divine Mercy mission at your parish, contact John or Mike.

Divine Mercy Prayer Group, Holy Trinity

Diary of a Journey to Mercy:

How one parish grew a Cenacle

We never know when God’s grace will burrow into our hearts, light a fire and cause wondrous changes! This hap-pened last year for Jackie Griswold of Our Divine Savior Parish in Chico, CA. Jackie, her brother and sister-in- law were all drawn to attend the 2012 Divine Mercy Confer-ence in October, especially to the message of Dr. Bryan Thatcher, M.D., founder of the Eucharistic Apostles of Di-vine Mercy (EADM). Dr. Thatcher spoke on Divine Mercy Cenacles, a structured formation program for parishes in every diocese. “Cenacle” refers to the meetings of Our Lord’s followers — in the upper room for the Last Supper, and where His disciples received the Holy Spirit at Pente-cost, pouring grace upon them, giving them power to spread the teachings of the risen Jesus throughout the world.

Following the conference, Jackie did more research and met with her Pastor, Rev. Renier Siva, who readily gave Jackie his approval to implement the Cenacle formation program in his parish. Using the Church-approved “Cenacle For-mation Manual #1”, the pioneer Cenacle group held its first meeting after responding to a church bulletin invitation. This was the beginning of a new way for adult Catholics to study the Catholic faith, get to know each other, and enjoy being together, while reaching out to others in the commu-nity. The curriculum is guided by the Cenacle Formation manuals and uses as reference the Holy Bible, the Cate-chism of the Catholic Church and St. Faustina’s “Diary: Di-vine Mercy in My Soul.” Meetings which began just this Lenten season are held once weekly for 90 minutes, with six members attending regular-ly, sometimes growing to nine. The beauty of this program is that one does not have to attend each session, or feel “lost” when returning. Each session is independent, fo-cused on a theme. Each Formation Manual holds 50-60 lessons, and at one per week, can be completed in a little more than one year. If a Cenacle group decides to meet less often, the Manual will extend into the chosen timeframe. The Our Divine Savior Cenacle participants are eager for others to discover the growth they experience at each meet-ing. All agreed that…”The wonder of group sharing inspires insights and food for thought”. Carol offered that, “The cen-acle means more awareness and understanding of divine mercies” and as Tim added, “Divine Mercy is a message that

It is easy to see how Cenacle groups foster learning the faith, living the faith and building the Church. As Jackie Griswold said, “Hopefully this will encourage others to join. We need to spread this wonderful message of mercy that Jesus gave us through St. Faustina. I feel so fortunate to know about it and continue learning as I go.” Our Divine Savior-Chico is just one example of how a par-ish can work together to form Cenacles for its members. To learn more about Cenacles, contact eadm@marian.org or call 877-380-0727 or write to: EADM, 10016 Park Place Ave, Riverview, FL 33569

Eucharistic Apostles of the Divine Mercy Offer Guidance in Forming Cenacles

…….E A D M……. When you begin the regular meeting you will find that the initial lessons are general in nature. It is important that each member has a Holy Bible, a Diary and Formation Book. EADM finds that groups that keep to the recom-mended format have the most success. Works of mercy as a group can be scheduled for a projected time when the group is ready; these normally begin 3-6 months after starting the group. Group Cenacle Format and Guidelines (10-15 people) “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without waver-ing, for he who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglect-ing to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encourag-ing one another, and all the more as you see the Day draw-ing near” (Heb 10:23-24) (…..Note that some Cenacles shorten the total time to 90 minutes, depending on the group and meeting times.) 15 minutes – Song (praise and worship) 5 minutes – Prayers of gratitude (not petition) 30-45 minutes – Follow the Formation guidelines from the Manual, relating the teaching to our own lives, struggles and spiritual walk 15 minutes – Prayers of petition 10 minutes – The Divine Mercy Chaplet 30-45 minutes – Social time/ Fellowship

Our Divine Savior Church,

Chico Cenacle Group

Dr. Byron Thatcher

(Continued from Page 2) Suggestions for Cenacles

1. Come prepared! (Do readings beforehand) 2. The lay leader will be the main facilitator, encouraging

full group discussion and participation. 3. The presenter should include Scripture and the Cate-

chism so that over time, members will better understand their Faith. This should be a dialogue among members, not a lecture.

4. Persevere! Attend regularly. God will reward you for your efforts.

5. The prayers of Gratitude following the opening song are prayers of Thanksgiving. Prayers of Petition, asking God for certain favors, are to follow the group discussion.

6. Community is built by calling and meeting members outside of the Cenacle meetings, especially when reach-ing out to others in need.

7. After three to six months of meetings, pray and discuss with your parish priest about corporal and spiritual works of mercy the group can do to build up your local church with a focus on the marginalized of today.

For full information, visit the EADM web site: www.thedivinemercy.org/eadm/cenacle/index

Or email eadm@marian.org or call 877-380-0727…Located at 10016 Park Place Ave., Riverview FL 33569

April 7, 2013

DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY

Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament

Divine Mercy Sunday at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament with Bishop Soto was a "sell-out" event. Over 800 came to venerate the image of Divine Mercy, sing the chaplet, and receive the sacraments of mercy; confession and Eucharist. The program was broadcast to untold thousands over Immaculate Heart radio. St Faustina made a guest appearance in the form of her 1st class relic which the bishop used to bless us all. Bishop Soto was impressed by the size of the crowd and expressed a desire to expand it to the Spanish speaking

community.

Bishop Soto at Conclusion of the Mass Veneration of the Divine

Mercy Image

After completing the Novena from Good Friday thru the triduum and the first week of Easter, what a way to culminate this holy feast of Jesus’ Divine Mercy!

Pope Francis Embraces

Message of Mercy

Pope Francis is now the 3rd pontiff to humbly sup-

port devotion to The Divine Mercy, following

Blessed John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI. In

2008, well before his Papal election, Cardinal Jorge

Mario Bergoglio, SJ, Archbishop of Buenos Aires,

Argentina, was devoted to Jesus in The Divine

Mercy. He addressed the World Apostolic Congress

on Mercy held that year in Rome, when thousands

of Divine Mercy apostles attended from around the

world. Commenting on Pope Francis’ devotion to

The Divine Mercy, the Very Rev. Fr. Kazimierz

Chwalek, MIC, the Marians’ Provincial Superior of

the United States and Argentina said, “It is my belief

that he recognizes the importance of the Divine

Mercy message for the world today and that’s why,

right from the beginning, he supported the Congress

whole-heartedly.”

his mixed-age audience, quietly urging us to “Repent, Ask for Mercy and Come to The Lord”. Silky Easter drapings on the risen Christ adorned the larger than life-sized crucifix above the glowing tabernacle lamp as Mark told us that “Jesus said to let go of this world and come follow Me”. Our sin makes us miserable and Jesus came to bring hope to the hopeless. Fear can become courage and sinfulness can become freedom if we will only trust in Jesus and go to Him.” We must acknowledge our great need and ask for mercy. Canadian Mark Mallett travels with his missionary message to churches, Catholic schools, retreats, conferences and all gatherings needing information and spiritual nourishment. Mark left an award-winning Canadian TV journalism career where he headed his own reporting group. While praying in adoration, Mark heard a call from Jesus to go and speak to this lukewarm generation. It was a natural evolution to add music, since he has been playing guitar and singing since the age of nine. Mark be-lieves “music is a doorway to evangelize”. As a proud and loving father of eight children, Mark has a personal stake in the future of this world and he shared his observations about the decline of fam-ily life and the lack of real male leadership in it, the fear of young people to give their lives to God, the disintegration of liberty and religious freedom and the growth of socialism in America and Canada, as well as the rest of the Western world, and the world’s overwhelming need for spiritual nourish-ment. At one time, everyone — kings, rulers — all believed in God. Then Satan came in strong with the Enlight-enment Period, and mankind became in awe of his own reasoning powers, turning his back on past cul-ture, slowly deteriorating into a society of not life, but death.” What do we do about this? Mark said, “We become little, trust in Jesus, ask for His mercy and consecrate ourselves to His Blessed Mother. He also said that we must become informed in order to find ways to counter the evils around us. It’s our Catholic responsibility to do so. “We should never underestimate the value of one soul!”

Continued from Page 3)

who emphasizes the primacy of having a personal relation-

ship with Jesus Christ, which is exactly what I believe God

is calling us to rediscover as Catholics during this Year of

Faith.”

In 2001, shortly after Blessed John Paul II elevated

him to the cardinalate, Cardinal Bergoglio said,

“Only someone who has encountered mercy, who has

been caressed by the tenderness of mercy, is happy

and comfortable with the Lord.”

During his first homily as Pope, Francis addressed the

value of service to others and our works of mercy. “Let us

never forget that authentic power is service, and that

the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more-

fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on

the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and

faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like

him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people

and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity,

especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important,

those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love:

the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the

sick and those in prison. Only those who serve with

love are able to protect!”

As part of the Body of Christ, let us remember our Holy

Father in our daily prayers as we ask Jesus and The Holy

Spirit to mercifully keep him from harm, through grace to

inspire him as our leader and for God’s glory to assist in

rebuilding the sanctity of our holy Church. Jesus, we trust

in You!

Mark Mallett Sings His Message of Hope and Mercy

In the soft April evening light of Holy Cross Church in West Sacramento, Mark Mallett, a modern day evangelist, sang, prayed and declared his message to

(Continued from Page 4)

There were times during the two-and-a-half hour presentation that we joined in song and became one heart, guided by the Holy Spirit. The evening ended with prayerful adoration before the Body of Christ in the monstrance. Afterward, others at-tending remarked that they had been drawn clos-er to Jesus through the work of this singing evan-gelist, Mark Mallett. Some wished their teenagers had been there. We should all be there when Mark Mallett returns to this area. His message and music are needed now, more than ever, and to this end he continues to write both music and spiritual blogs. He has also sung at the Vatican for then Pope Benedict XVI. For strength and truth, Mark relies on his spiritual guide, weekly confession and an active prayer life. Mark's most recent musical release is the Divine Mercy Chaplet, featuring Father Don Calloway and prayed to Pope John Paul II's Stations of the Cross. It was released on Divine Mercy Sunday in 2007. Mark published his first book, The Final Confrontation wherein he lays out the reality of our times, and uses words of the Church Fa-thers, modern Popes, and approved apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The end result is une-quivocal: we are facing The Final Confrontation. It is up to us to be ready. It’s good that Mark will be among us offering hope and a pathway to Jesus through his musical ministry. Mark freely quotes St. Faustina and statements of Jesus to her, that “This is the time of Mercy” and “next comes the time of judgment”. To learn more, go to http://www.markmallett.com/embracinghopetv/bio and http:www.markmallett.com/blog/

ST. CLARE PARISH CELEBRATES SECOND DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY

Fiona Silverio, St. Clare, Roseville Parish POC (sharing POC duties with Daisy Laurente), reports that more than 150 people joined at 2PM on Divine Mercy Sunday to honor Jesus, The Divine Mercy in this Feast Day Holy by praying the Chaplet, and adoring Him

during Benediction. Only through the strong and inspired leadership of Fr. Martin Ramat and the many talented, faith-ful DM planning group members was this event so suc-cessful in only its 2nd year. Special thanks to Al Laurente for his photography and new prayer booklet design, and Edgar Burgos and Bill Durborough, for “general magic”. As part of the Feast’s observation to perform acts of mercy and kind-ness, parishioners heard Fr. Ramat’s request and brought many bags and boxes of non-perishable food for needy broth-ers and sisters. Afterward, all gathered for a reception in Morris Hall East for light ethnic and traditional food, beverag-es and fellowship. Everyone is looking forward with anticipa-tion to larger parish participation in 2014 as the word spreads about this most merciful day! To see photos of the beautiful celebration please use this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/allaurente/sets/72157633188762989/ As a reminder, all are welcome every First Friday at 3PM for Divine Mercy Holy Hour and prayers in the church during Eucharistic Adoration. Prayers for mercy are di-rected to lost souls, lukewarm souls, those suffering, and for the sick and dying, as well as for other Divine Mercy Novena intentions. The St. Clare Divine Mercy ministry also leads the Sacred Heart of Jesus Novena and prayers on First Fri-

days after the 8:30 AM daily Mass.

DMSN BOARD LAYS OUT PLANS FOR ACTION

During April’s Board meeting, the Divine Mercy Support meeting, the Divine Mercy Support Network of Sacra-mento Board, under the leadership of John Doehring, discussed likely opportunities for improving community involvement through a variety of projects. 1. Host a DM info table at the 8th Annual Napa

Valley Catholic Men’s Conference on April 20, 2013, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Napa Valley

Expo, 573 3rd St., Napa CA 94559 2. Join in support of Divine Mercy for America

“Fortnight of Prayer” beginning June 21st , 14 days and nights leading up to July 4th . For more info: http://divine mercy for America.org.

“Have Mercy on and on the Whole World!” 3. Lead and promote more prayer in every parish

during this Year of Faith, especially the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

4. Sponsor and host a diocesan-wide 2013 summer picnic for all Divine Mercy devotees.

++See the Divine Mercy Support Network website for periodic updates:

http://www.divinemercysacramento.org

Parishioners Attend Parish Mission at

St. Theresa Church, So Lake Tahoe

Mike Solton reports that on Sunday, February 24, 2013,

Father Benedict De Leon graciously hosted The Divine

Mercy Mission at St. Theresa Church where a small crowd of

devout parishioners from this mountain resort town attended

and remained for quite some time afterward with questions

and a true interest in learning more about God's great gift of

Mercy. Those interested can contact Maureen Leonard, POC,

for further information. Maureen sang the Chaplet and provid-

ed piano accompaniment.

St. Theresa Parish Office: 530-544-3533

sainttheresachurch@yahoo.com

Mike Solton meets with old

friend Benedict DeLeon

Musical accompaniment enriched

the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

CALLING ALL DIVINE MERCY SUPPORT NET-WORK POCs!

Beginning with this issue, we will publish The Divine Mercy Newsletter quarterly, featuring articles of inter-est to everyone in our Sacramento Diocese. When you have news, items of interest, good ideas or recommendations, shared victories, urgent needs, or any related material, please contact the newsletter editor at:

lindainthegardent@comcast.net or (916) 961-7082.

You may write your info and email it or call and verbally relate your story, and I’ll take notes as you talk. This will save you the trouble and agony of composing the article. What could be easier?

Our goal is to use this newsletter space as a bulletin board where ideas are shared and the Divine Mercy movement grows and prospers. Your thoughts and information are important to all of us. We’ll ALL be waiting to hear from you!

Linda