Homily for the Octave of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, April 24, 2022. The Gospel of St. John 20:19-31. Theme: The Three Easter Gifts of Mercy
In the year 2000, Pope St. John Paul II declared the Second Sunday of Easter to be celebrated as “Divine Mercy Sunday”. He did this to fulfill a request made by Jesus through the spiritual experiences of St. Faustina Kowalska, a 20th century Polish nun and mystic. In addition to Mercy Sunday, Jesus also asked that a special image of himself be painted and distributed (point out picture) along with a short prayer, “Jesus I trust in You.”
Jesus told Sister Faustina that he wanted to reawaken in his Church a renewed awareness of his love for every person. He lamented that so many found it difficult to draw near to him because of the preaching of the time which made people feel as if they were too sinful and unworthy of a relationship with Christ. But told her that the opposite was actually true. He said that the greater a sinner a person is, the greater is that person’s claim to his mercy. He said that he is drawn to wounded, powerless and struggling hearts the way iron shavings are irresistibly attracted to a magnet. We clearly see this kind of a merciful Jesus in today’s Gospel, wherein St. John shares with us the memory of his personal experiences of the very first Easter week.
The story opens with the Apostles huddled together in a securely locked house. They are filled with fear and terrified that what happened to Jesus was going to happen to them. But you know, they were also trapped in their own sinfulness, in their own remorse over how they had abandoned Jesus. They needed to be set free not only physically from that room but also spiritually from what they had done.
Then, suddenly and inexplicably, the Risen Lord appears in their midst. It’s the first time they have seen him since the night of the Last Supper. What strikes me so much about this experience is that Christ does not say one word about how they had treated him. He doesn’t even make the slightest reference to their infidelity and abandonment. Instead, he reaches out to them with words of pardon and peace. No condemnation, just mercy. And they, having been deeply touched by this mercy, are changed men from the inside out! They have been given new life, a spiritually resurrected life, and so the Gospel tells us that they rejoice and believe!
The story then moves fast forward a week to the Sunday after Easter, to what we now call Divine Mercy Sunday. Jesus suddenly appears among them again and St. John emphasizes three things he remembers about this event: the uplifting presence of the Risen Jesus, the power emanating from his holy wounds, and the invitation to trust in him. Pope Francis has called these three things the “Easter gifts of mercy” and he reminds us that Jesus still offers these gifts to each one of us today.
The first Easter gift of mercy is the uplifting presence of the Risen Lord. Just as nothing stopped Jesus from entering into the locked room, so nothing - not even our worst sins - can prevent him from stepping into our lives. He comes to each one of us just as he came to those dejected disciples, bringing pardon and peace, offering a chance to be healed of sin and freed from fear. This presence of Christ can come to us in a spiritual way through the Divine Mercy image. We can enshrine it in our homes as a reminder that he is always with us. We can ponder it and see his hand raised in blessing us. Jesus promised St. Faustina that many graces and blessings would flow from prayer before this image which he called a “vessel of mercy”.
The second Easter gift of mercy are the wounds of Christ. It was the power of these sacred wounds that brought about a conversion within Thomas, transforming him from a doubter into a firm believer. And these same glorious wounds are available to us for our own conversion. They are for what they were for Thomas: proof of Christ’s deep love for us, a love that poured itself out to the very end. And so these wounds - now risen and glorious - cause us to rejoice! They encourage and invite us to let go of our sins, to accept mercy and experience an interior resurrection to new life with God. This is why the wounds of Jesus, especially the one radiating light from his pierced heart, are so prominent in the image of Divine Mercy.
The third Easter gift of mercy is the invitation to trust in Jesus. This is what Jesus asked of Thomas when he told him to “not be unbelieving, but believe.”. You see, in the original Greek language of the gospels, the very same word that means “believe” also means “trust”. Jesus is telling Thomas - and each one of us - to not be doubters, but to simply just place our trust in him. Trust in Jesus, faith in him as the truly Risen Lord, enabled Thomas to become a changed man, a new person. Trust is ultimately the real proof of our love for someone and this is why the Divine Mercy image has the prayer, “Jesus, I trust in You!” inscribed upon it. It is a short prayer that we all can memorize and repeat often from the heart to express our faith and love for the Lord.
Filled with mercy and fueled by trust in Jesus, Thomas went on to become one of the greatest of the twelve apostles. He carried the Good News of the Resurrection further in the known world than any of the others because he was totally on fire for Christ! History informs us that he brought the Gospel all the way from Jerusalem to India where he was martyred for Christ, and to this day the believers there are known as the “St. Thomas Christians”.
The presence of the Risen Jesus, the power of his sacred wounds, and the decision to trust him all sum up for us the message of Easter and the message of Divine Mercy Sunday. These gifts from God can totally transform us and enable us to finally become the people he created us to be. This was the experience of Thomas and it is meant to be the experience for each one of us as we live out our Christian journey through life.
No comments:
Post a Comment