Resurrection in Rwanda

As we hear the stories this week at Mass from the Acts of the Apostles of the crowds of 5,000 accepting baptism, for example on Pentecost, and after the cure of the cripple on the steps of the Temple, we are astounded at the enthusiasm of those early followers. Evidently that enthusiasm is still alive and well in, of all places, Rwanda, where on Sunday 40,000 people are expected at a charismatic parish in a little town called Ruhango, where a former student of mine, now Fr. Jean-Baptiste, is the director of the renewal center there. He is superior of the community of Pallotine priests and brothers who staff the center, and as he wrote this morning, they are bracing themselves for the influx of these thousands who will be coming to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast instituted by Blessed John Paul II a few years before his death.
Pope John Paul was very devoted to St. Faustina, who began devotion to Jesus as the author of Divine Mercy, and her Divine Mercy chaplet has become widespread. Even in this country, Divine Mercy Sunday is notably observed with pilgrimages, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and recitation of the Chaplet. But, I don't think we've reached the level of numbers that Rwanda can boast of, where 18 years ago, the Genocide was rampaging through the country. When things look down and out, let us not be discouraged, but remember the impact of the Resurrection. Death first, then new life!
Bro. Rene