Homily for the Octave of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, April 16, 2023. 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. And so the Scriptures and prayers of our liturgy today proclaim the merciful love of Jesus which is symbolized for us in the image of Divine Mercy that is enshrined in our church and in many of our homes.
The story opens with the Apostles (minus Thomas) huddled together in a securely locked house. They are filled with fear, terrified that what happened to Jesus was going to happen to them. But I’m sure they were also trapped 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 their guilty consciences. Suddenly, the Risen Lord appears in their midst. It’s the first time they’ve seen him since His arrest in the Garden on Holy Thursday. What strikes me most about this Resurrection experience is that Christ doesn’t say so much as 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.
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 but this time Thomas is with them. St. John emphasizes in his Gospel today three things that probably impressed him the most about this event: the uplifting presence of the Risen Jesus, the power emanating from his holy wounds, and the invitation to trust. Pope Francis has called these three things the “Easter gifts of mercy” and he reminds us that these gifts are still offered 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 guilt-ridden disciples, bringing pardon and peace. He offered them and He now offers us a chance to be healed of sin and freed from fear. This scene is captured for us in the Divine Mercy image which is like a supernatural snapshot of how the Risen Lord appeared on that first Easter night. We can enshrine the image in our homes as a reminder that Christ is always with us. But it is best to enshrine the image on our hearts so that we can bring the Lord’s uplifting presence into the lives of others by our words and deeds 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, as well as in the other apostles, transforming them into firm believers in the Resurrection. And these same glorious wounds are available to us now for our own on-going conversion. They are for us what they were for Thomas and the others: 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 - invite us to let go of our guilt, to confess our sins, to accept mercy and experience a renewed life with God. The precious wounds of Jesus, especially the one radiating two rays of light from His pierced heart, are prominent in the image of Divine Mercy so that we will never forget that He considers us worth dying for.
The third Easter gift of mercy is the invitation to trust in Jesus. This is basically what Jesus asked of Thomas when he said to him “do not be unbelieving, but believe”. You see, in the Bible the words “believe” and “trust” are interchangeable so what Jesus is asking Thomas (and us) is to trust in Him. As you probably know, history has given Thomas the unfortunate nickname of "Doubting Thomas” which I think is really quite an unfair assessment of the man. All of the others also doubted the holy women when they came back from the Empty Tomb on Easter morning with news of the Resurrection! But Thomas grew to become strong in faith and as a result he went out as a missionary all the way to India, traveling the farthest away from Jerusalem than any other apostle. This shows us what amazing and positive changes can happen in our lives by trusting in Christ who strengthens us!
The presence of the Risen Jesus to encourage us, the power of His sacred wounds to enliven us, and trusting in Christ Who strengthens us, all sum up both the message of Easter, and that of Divine Mercy Sunday. These three mercy gifts from God can totally transform us and enable us to become the persons he created each one of us to be. This was the experience of St. Thomas, and it’s also meant to be our experience as we continue on with our journey through life hand-in-hand with Jesus, our Risen Lord, God and Savior.
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