CHURCH OF DIVINE MERCY Parish Bulletin 20/21 MAY 2017 • VOL. 21 SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER Divine Mercy Apostolate Neighbourhood Christian Community (NCC) Prayer for the Sick & Dying Funeral and Wake Services Please contact the Parish Office or email [email protected] Weekday 6:30am, 6:15pm Saturday 6.30am, 5:30pm Every 1st Saturday of the month 7.30pm Syro-Malaba Mass (Chapel) Every 3rd Saturday of the month 7.30pm Tagalog Mass Sunday 7am, 9am, 11.30am, 5.30pm Confessions 15 min before Mass. Public Holidays 8am only Divine Mercy Devotion Daily at 6.45pm (Chapel) Saturday at 5.00pm (Main Church) Prayer for Priests Every Thurs 5.15pm followed by 6.15pm mass Parish Priests Fr Johnson Fernandez Tel | 6583 6393 Fr Terence Kesavan Tel | 6583 8789 Mass & Prayer Times Community & Pastoral Care General Office Raymond Tan/Luke Teo/Maria Lim/ Teresa Tan Tel | 6583 3378 • Fax | 6583 1694 Email | [email protected] Opening Hours Mon - Fri |11am- 7pm Closed for lunch | 1pm - 2pm Sat | 12.30pm - 5.30pm Sun | 9am - 1pm Closed on public holidays Parish Secretariat + REFLECTION SUNDAY, 21 MAY 2017 • 6TH SUNDAY OF EASTER Acts 8: 5-8. 14-17 Ps 66:1-7, 16, 20 1 Pt 3: 15-18 Jn 14: 15-21 “Lord, lead me not into temptation. Deliver me from every evil harassment.” Today’s first reading tells us three things: evil exists (Acts 8:7); we have the Holy Spirit in us (8:14-15); and we can experience “great joy” as God manifests his power (8:8). Ever since the time of the Enlightenment, there has been a tendency to dismiss belief in the devil. Yet Scripture gives us plenty of evidence to the contrary. Jesus confronted demonic forces when he met a man with an unclean spirit (Mark 1:21-28), a blind demoniac (Matthew 12:22-29), and the daughter of a Canaanite woman (15:21-28). Evil spirits are real, and they are most effective when we are indifferent to them. There are real-life situations of people who are possessed by evil spirits through witchcraft, curses, and the like. These people need the help of an exorcist. But those are rare cases. For the rest of us, Satan tends to harass us, not possess us. He whispers thoughts that tempt us to be negative, resentful, or self- condemning. We may think these thoughts come from ourselves, and partly they do. But at the same time, they are fostered by Satan’s negative accusations. So what can you do? First, have faith that the Holy Spirit is in you, helping you fight Satan’s temptations. Second, pray. Hold on to the words of the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Then, pay attention to what is going on in your heart. Look for signs of how the temptation is diminishing. Rejoice in even the smallest sign of freedom! Jesus has already conquered Satan. Now he wants us to step into the freedom he has won for us. By following these three simple steps, we can begin to know the “great joy” that comes when we resist Satan’s temptations. May 22 Mon: St Rita of Cascia, Religious Acts 16: 11-15 Ps 149:1-6, 9 Jn 15: 26 - 16: 4a May 23 Tue: Easter Weekday Acts 16: 22-34 Ps 138:1-3, 7-8 Jn 16: 5-11 May 24 Wed: Easter Weekday Acts 17: 15. 22 - 18: 1 Ps 148:1-2, 11-14 Jn 16: 12-15 May 25 Thu: ASCENSION OF THE LORD Acts 1: 1-11 Ps 47: 2-3, 6-9 Eph 1: 17-23 Mt 28: 16-20 May 26 Fri: St Philip Neri, Priest Acts 18: 9-18 Ps 47:2-7 Jn 16: 20-23 May 27 Sat: St Augustine of Canterbury,Bishop Acts 18: 23-28 Ps 47:2-3, 8-10 Jn 16: 23b-28 Daily Readings To offer feedback, email us at [email protected] Subscribe to our e-bulletin at www.divinemercy.sg Like our Facebook Page www.divinemercy.sg/facebook Tune in to our channel - Church of Divine Mercy @churchofdivinemercy Staying Connected A GENTLE REMINDER Petitions to Divine Mercy All petitions to the Divine Mercy will be offered up on the last Saturday of every month during the 5pm Divine Mercy devotion. Please place your petitions in the Petition Box at the Divine Mercy mosaic inside the main church. Helping Hands Needed We need more hands to clean the church. Just come by every Saturday from 8:00am to 10am at the main Church. All are welcome! For those who have not yet registered as parishioners of CDM, please do so at the Parish Office. Parish Census Ascension of The Lord Day of Obligation • 25 May 19 PASIR RIS ST 72 SINGAPORE 518771 • www.divinemercy.sg Christ’s Ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus’ humanity into God’s heavenly domain, whence He will come again. Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father’s glorious kingdom so that we, the members of His Body, may live in the hope of one day being with Him forever. Jesus, having entered the sanctuary of heaven once and for all, intercedes constantly for us, and assures us of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Staying Quiet in the Lord The ancient monastic word for the state of prayer was quies, being in a state of silence, “staying quiet in the Lord”. This state of being quiet suggested complete confidence and ease at being in the presence of God. In our society, we are so used to striving for things, to owning things, to earning the approval of others that it is hard for us to think of ourselves as usefully employed if we are just “resting in the Lord.” being quiet. But what we must always strive to remember is that just being in God’s presence is all-sufficient. When we are wholly present to God, we are wholly present to ourselves and the whole of creation. As you know from experience, being present to ourselves and wholly present to another requires ease, confidence and relaxation. You cannot have a very up-building conversation with another if you think the chair you are sitting on is about to collapse any moment. So being present to another requires confidence in our own capacity for relationship, confidence that the other accepts us, loves us”. - Fr John Main, O.S.B. in “Silence and Stillness In Every Season