The news of this young priest, Fr. Evan Harkins, who took his life the other day has really shocked my core. I can’t help but to cry for him.  To beg God for mercy on his soul.

And His mercy if everlasting and never ending.

We, Catholics, have to remember one thing about suicide, that it isn’t the end for those who took their lives.

We can’t understand God’s mercy nor we should try to say we do.  We just need to believe in it as we pray and beg for His mercy.

Fr. Chris Alar, a Marian Father,  wrote a book, After Suicide: There’s Hope For Them and For You, that the teaching of the Church, the message of Divine Mercy, and his own experience of losing a loved one to suicide, shares two key forms of hope: hope for the salvation of those who’ve died by their own hand, and hope for the healing of those left behind. 

 Based on the fact that God is all-knowing (omniscient) and all-powerful (omnipotent), they explain how God’s eternal being “outside of time” enables one’s prayers to be effective to any point in time, including the past. This gives hope to all who have lost a loved one — that we can make a difference in the salvation of someone we love with our prayers and offerings, even years later, to assist them at the moment of their death. Supported by saints, theologians, and the liturgical prayers of the Church, these teachings, when applied, can result in amazing grace and the salvation of millions of souls who may have otherwise been lost. –  

Learn more at Suicideandhope.com 

 OH, how beautiful is our faith and God’s merciful love! 

Another thing that Catholics need to remember is that we can’t stop praying for our priest.  We have forgotten that they are real humans, with a fallen nature as well.

We are quick to bring them down with our words, our heavy words but do we really pray for them? Fast for them?

We know that the devil is after souls and he wants most of all these men that bring Christ’s body and blood as well God’s mercy to sinners.  Oh, does he hate them!

So many of them live alone and the pressures of the world along with the determination of the devil might be enough for them to leave the priesthood or even leave this world.

We can’t let down our guard. We must pick up the powerful weapons of prayer and fasting for them.

Just as we do for our husbands on Wednesdays, we must do the same for these men of God.

Please join us, Every Thursday to pray and fast for our priests.

It is the least we can do for them since they bring us, Christ and the Sacraments with their holy hands.

Please, fast as you see fit in your life and recall that you can use other ways of fasting than food.

Therefor, leave the names of the priests in the comments, so that they can be united along  with the Holy Church in our prayers and fasting. 

Using the prayer of St. Faustina to pray for the priests (download the prayer).

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With the love of Christ, 

Maria Cecilia