"JESUS LOVES YOU SOOOOOO MUCH. You cannot imagine it. His HEART is bigger than AN OCEAN OF LOVE AND MERCY! HE will always love you. HE will never, never abandon you! HE is always ready to FORGIVE YOU: REPENT! COME TO CONFESSION! COME TO MASS: BE PREPARED TO RECEIVE HIM In the EUCHARIST. COME AND ADORE HIM in the Blessed Sacrament... HE is waiting for you. Set aside time to come and spend time with HIM...IMMERSE yourself in HIS HEART: AN OCEAN OF LOVE AND MERCY!"

My written words cannot describe the powerful message of FATHER MARTIN SCOTT who blessed our entire parish with a three-day mission this Lent. On the first day, we were also blessed to have 12 PRIESTS for our Lenten Penance Service. MANY OF YOU came and experienced JESUS' MERCIFUL LOVE! Do not wait another year. COME REGULARLY TO CONFESSION: encounter Jesus Heart to Heart, HE is the only one who can give you PEACE: HE is the only one who can help you to RECONCILE with God the Father and with your own brothers and sisters. HE is the only one that can give you the GRACE to FORGIVE THOSE WHO HAVE HURT YOU! Come to confession and tell Jesus the sins you may have never dared to tell a priest in the confessional. Do not be afraid: The priest acts in the person of Christ while in the confessional: come to confession and be ready to receive JESUS in the EUCHARIST!

On the second day, Father Martin Scott gave an emotional talk about the LOVE OF THE EUCHARIST. The Blessed Sacrament was exposed on the altar. I had chosen to sit in the front row. This allowed me to look at Jesus while listening to the talk. It was an unexpected and powerful experience. Compared to the first day, this was a quiet evening. I was disappointed that we did not have a large crowd to listen to Father Martin's passionate reflection that evening, but God had a plan: this allowed us to have a dialogue with Father Martin through a series of questions and answers at the end of his one-hour talk. God had chosen a few to come. He wants them to be our leaders in Eucharistic Adoration.

I am writing this column in the morning before the closing of the Mission with the HEALING MASS. It is all grey outside. A light rain is falling. The birds are singing enjoying some freshwater. From the deck in the back of our rectory, I can still see the OCEAN beyond the pine trees and the lower roofs of our neighboring houses. Since one of our generous parishioners decided to "give" a deck for our OLHOC priests (who looked pale because of staying indoors), this deck has been my joy: every morning, I can breathe the fresh air, listen to the birds, and admire the best possible view of Waldorf: seeing the OCEAN beyond the horizon. This is not a joke. As you know, I have no sense of humor. When I showed Father Martin Scott our view of the Ocean on the first day of his stay at the rectory, he was puzzled just for a few seconds...on the same evening in the church, he talked to us about the OCEAN OF LOVE AND MERCY. lt took me three years to become aware that the Ocean I could see every morning has a name: JESUS, OCEAN OF LOVE AND MERCY!

As we continue our Lenten Journey, let us pray with Saint Faustina to JESUS DIVINE MERCY:

"You expired, JESUS, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and THE OCEAN OF MERCY OPENED UP FOR THE WHOLE WORLD. O FOUNT OF LIFE, unfathomable DIVINE MERCY, envelop the whole world and empty YOURSELF out upon us.

O BLOOD AND WATER, which gushed forth from THE HEART OF JESUS as a FOUNTAIN OF MERCY for us, I TRUST IN YOU.

O BLOOD AND WATER, which gushed forth from THE HEART OF JESUS as a FOUNTAIN OF MERCY for us, I TRUST IN YOU.

O BLOOD AND WATER, which gushed forth from THE HEART OF JESUS as a FOUNTAIN OF MERCY for us, I TRUST IN YOU.

One in Christ,

Fr. Alain