Divine Mercy Sunday was celebrated April 16 in Saint Brendan the Navigator Parish with many priests of the Diocese hearing confessions in the hours before Mass. Father William Kelly, VF, above, pastor of the Avalon parish, was the main celebrant, with Deacon Joe Murphy of Saint Joseph Parish, Sea Isle City, preaching the homily. The Taylor brothers – Louis, 13, and Eli, 11, pictured below – took part as altar servers, which was especially notable this Easter season as Louis hand-delivered five CRS Rice Bowls with coins adding up to $225 for the Lenten campaign. He says he’s already saving for next year.
In 2000, Pope John Paul II declared the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday and canonized Maria Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun who, in the 1930s, received private revelations concerning Divine Mercy. (Photos by Rich Hundley III)