Our Lenten practice this year calls us to rejoice in God who is rich in mercy. His Holiness, Pope Francis, asks that the whole Church throughout the world, including Hartford, unite on March 4-5 to pray and seek mercy for us and the world. This worldwide act of prayer is called “24 Hours for the Lord.” For 24 hours, beginning at 5 PM on Friday, March 4 and continuing until 5 PM on Saturday, March 5 there will be exposition and adoration of the Eucharist and the opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation throughout the world.

 In the Archdiocese of Hartford this will take place at three parishes:  St. Peter Claver in West Hartford, Resurrection in Wallingford, and St. John the Evangelist in Watertown.

This initiative needs your involvement. Please come to one of these parishes to pray and unite with the whole world in seeking God’s mercy. Please come and experience the grandeur of God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and place mercy and the center of your life. Please come knowing that when you seek the mercy of God you will surely find it.

This is a time, as Pope Francis writes, “to gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father’s action in our lives.” May we all continue to be transformed by mercy.