MARGAO: Taking the help of a heroic witness of Blessed Rani Maria, a Martyr in the Catholic Church, Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrão urged the faithful gathered to experience and be witness to the mercy of God as individuals and families.
The archbishop was delivering a homily at the Divine Mercy Sunday Eucharistic celebration held at the Carmelite Monastery Margao on Sunday evening. Fr Joaquim Loyola Pereira (Secretary to Archbishop), Fr Carmo Martins (Parish Priest, Our Lady of Grace Church, Margao), Fr Archibald Gonsalves (Superior, Carmelite Monastery, Margao), Fr Sylvester D’Souza (Secretary to OCD Provincial), and other priests concelebrated the Eucharistic celebration.
The Archbishop recalled the events in the history of salvation and said that God showed mercy towards His chosen people and sent his only son Jesus to continue His mercy. “Jesus is the face of God’s Mercy,” the Archbishop said quoting Pope Francis. He said that prayer, Word of God and Sacrament of Confession will help the faithful to experience God’s Mercy and become merciful. He congratulated the Carmelites for promoting the devotion of Divine Mercy. He requested the Divine Mercy Parish/Chapel Groups to deepen the dimension of Mercy in their lives.
Fr Mark Furtado (OCD) was the liturgical commentator. Participation of the representatives of the Divine Mercy Parish/ Chapel groups added more meaning to the liturgy. Mementos were presented by the Archbishop to the group representatives as a token of love and appreciation. Superior of the Carmelite Monastery Fr Archibald Gonsalves proposed a vote of thanks. Adoration which was conducted by Divine Mercy Group of Our Lady of Remedies Church, Betalbatim, held before the thanksgiving Eucharistic celebration. Divine Mercy Sunday celebration was also held in all the Churches of the Archdiocese in the morning.
The Archbishop has given permission to the Carmelites to promote Divine Mercy devotion in the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman. Accordingly, a team of Carmelites Friars went to the parishes on request and explained the true meaning of the devotion and formed 56 Divine Mercy Parish/ Chapel groups.
