“The title of Mother of Mercy is one of Mary’s greatest” Archbishop Sebastian Shaw
2nd two days Annual Marian Convention was held at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Gujranwala on October 28-29, 2016. The biggest event of the Parish with more than 3500 faithful believers attended this event.
Gujranwala, Pakistan (Asif Nazir): The organizer of this program was the highly devoted and enthusiastic priest in Archdiocese of Lahore; Fr. Francis Chaman, Parish Priest of St. Joseph’s Parish, Gujranwala. Fr. Francis was assisted by the all the Pastoral team and Youth Groups of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Gujranwala. The organizers and youth group worked with devotion, under the zealous leadership of Fr. Francis Chaman, to make this program a success.
St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Gujranwala is one of the 27 Parishes of the Archdiocese of Lahore. It is situated approximately 80 kms west of Lahore, which is the Provincial Capital of Punjab, Pakistan. This is one of the oldest mission stations of Archdiocese of Lahore founded by the great Capuchins missionaries from Belgium in 1953. The Parish consists of 350 rural and 30 urban localities scattered in different areas.
First day, October 28 was started with the recitation of the Holy Rosary, prepared and organized by Sisters of Charity Jesus & Mary, Gujranwala. The Holy Mass was presided over by His Grace Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw, Archbishop of Lahore, who was assisted by Fr. Francis Chaman, Parish Priest and Fr. Tariq George, Assistant Priest at St. Joseph’s Parish Gujranwala. St. Joseph’s singing choir, Gujranwala assist in singing during the Holy Mass.
Homily was given by Bishop Shaw. He said, “The title of Mother of Mercy is one of Mary’s greatest”. “Mercy is not the same thing as mere emotional pity. Mercy is in the will, pity is but a good inclination of the sensibility. Pity , which does not exist in God Who is a pure spirit, leads us to suffer in unison with our neighbour as if we felt his suffering in ourselves. It is a good inclination but usually a timid one, being accompanied by fear of harm to ourselves and often helpless to render effective aid, he added.
She is the Mother of Mercy as we can see at the Wedding Feast at Cana in Galilee, when the first of the Lord’s “signs” occurred – in a response to and as a fruit of – her intercession. It is the greatest example of Her mercy for that family.
“As Mother of Mercy, Mary reminds us that if God is Being, Truth and Wisdom, He is also Goodness and Love, and that His infinite Mercy, which is the radiation of His Goodness, flows from His love and anticipates His vindicatory Justice which proclaims the inalienable right that the Supreme Good has to be loved above every other object: ‘Mercy exalt itself above justice’ (James ii, 13). she teaches us, though, that if mercy is not justice it is not opposed to it as injustice is, but unites itself to it and goes beyond it: most of all in pardoning, for to pardon is to go beyond what is demanded by justice in forgiving an offense “, he ended.
After the Holy Mass, Fr. Tariq George presided over the Healing prayer session with his group “St. Gerard Charismatic Prayer Group”. In the end Fr. Francis Chaman thanked all the parishioners for their donations and support, the Priests, Choirs, Pastoral team of the parish, Security Groups from Gujranwala & Sialkot, Rosary Groups, Police officials, and Rescue-1122, Elite Force for emergency services.
