Readings: Acts 4:32-35; 1 Jn. 5:1-6; Jn. 20:19-31
Be Merciful, for
Your Heavenly Father is Merciful
1. Easter is the celebration of the sacred and the secular, the celestial and the mundane, faith and doubt, the absence and the presence. It is a celebration of hate and love, the merciless and the merciful. It is a celebration of God’s mercy to mankind and man’s continuous abandonment of God’s love. Today, we mark Divine Mercy Sunday, a day that holds the transformative power of grace and forgiveness. On April 30, 2000, during the canonization of Faustina Kowalska, Pope John Paul ll designated today as the Divine Mercy Sunday. Sister Faustina received from Jesus the biggest promises of grace related to the Devotion of Divine Mercy, in particular, that a person who goes to sacramental confession and receives Holy Communion on that day shall obtain the total forgiveness of all sins. On April 22, 2001, Pope John Paul ll, in his Easter message, stated: “Jesus said to St. Faustina one day: “Humanity will never find peace until it turns with trust to Divine Mercy. Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ and offers to humanity.”
2. In the first reading, we see the community of God’s people bound together in mercy and love. They were not perfect! They were broken, yes, but full of hope. They enjoyed a communal life of prayer, breaking the word and the Eucharist, sharing, selling property, caring for one another, and sharing meals. They were not forced to share what they had; it was done freely and in the spirit of the risen Lord. Within the community, some people lied about selling their property, like Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). In that Christian community, some denied Christ, and others were absent from community gatherings and prayer. We even met two men on their way to Emmaus who left the community last week because they were disappointed with the death of Christ. They had their minds closed to the resurrection of Christ. Yet in the Gospel, Christ met them as a stranger, consoled and opened their minds to the Scriptures, and led them to the Eucharist. He appeared to the disciples together and wished them peace. There was no condemnation, judgment, malice, or anger, only love, forgiveness, and mercy. Because with the Lord, there is mercy and fullness of redemption. (Ps. 130).
3. In today’s gospel, though Thomas was absent from the community when he first appeared, Christ did not ignore him; he accommodated him with his weaknesses and shortcomings. He invited him to come to touch his wounds and be healed. Doubt no longer; it is I, so do not be afraid. Yes, there was healing and forgiveness; faith was restored, and a profession of faith was elicited: My Lord and my God! This is what mercy means: to have a heart of compassion for those who suffer or a heart willing to suffer for others. “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.” (1 Peter 2:21). But that is not all. The seven works of mercy demand that we instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful – we all have doubts and questions about our faith, like Thomas; that we admonish the sinner, that we bear wrongs patiently, that we forgive offenses willingly and finally, that we comfort the afflicted and pray for the living and dead. Christ also gave the Spirit to His Apostles and entrusted to them the power to forgive sins. “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (Jn. 20:23). We experience the mercy of God more when we humble ourselves and go to God in the sacrament of reconciliation and penance. There we meet, face to face with the God of mercy and love, a God of forgiveness, who said: “As I live, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, but rather in the wicked man’s conversion, that he may live.” (Ezek. 33:11).
4. With the mercy of God, we know and are convinced that good will always triumph over evil, that life is stronger than death, and that God’s love is more powerful than our sins. In the Paschal mystery we just celebrated, God our Father appeared to us as a tender-hearted Father who does not give up in the face of his children’s ingratitude and is always ready to forgive us. According to St. Paul, “Where sin increased, grace overflow all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 5:21-22).
5. Let me conclude with the words of Jesus. “Love your enemies and do good to them. Lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging, and you will not be judged. Stop condemning, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will, in return, be measured out to you.” (Lk. 6:35-38). So be compassionate, kind, forgiving, and loving. This is not just a suggestion but a call to action, a reminder of the core values of our faith. This is how we know that we are God’s children if we love one another. May God bless and keep you now and always. Amen.
Rev. Augustine
Etemma Inwang, MSP
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