1st reading Acts: 5:12-16
2nd reading Rev: 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19
Gospel John 20:19-31
The Cross of Christ! Who would have thought back at that moment in time what the cross would mean for all of humanity! This wooden cross-meant for torture and death. This cross-where Mercy in the flesh hung. This cross- where Jesus conquered sin and death because of the greatest love we could never imagine, the love of God for his creation, for us!
Divine Mercy Sunday comes at an appropriate time in our church year, the Sunday after Easter. In a way, through our reflections on the Triduum and Easter Sunday, we have been preparing for God’s Divine Mercy and the impact it can have on us as individuals and as a Church. As St. John Paul II said in a homily given on the 1st universal celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2001: “In the humiliated and suffering Christ, believers and non-believers can admire a surprising solidarity which binds Him to our human condition beyond all imaginable measure. The cross, even after the Resurrection of the Son of God, speaks and never ceases to speak of God the Father, who is absolutely faithful to His eternal love for man. Believing in this love is believing in Mercy!”
Yes, the cross of Christ, where he conquered sin and death, why, because of Divine Mercy for us in a love that is unfathomable to comprehend, a love so deep that He suffered and died and rose for you and me.
I can’t help but imagine what the Apostles were thinking and feeling in that upper room that first day of the week. How they lost sight of who they followed for so long, learning the way of love and mercy, losing sight of what that cross meant after Jesus’ crucifixion.
When I was going through formation to become a deacon, we were asked to reflect on this same gospel passage and what it meant to each of us. What I came 2 up with I wrote in my diary, I guess you could call it my formation journal. It went like this: Dear father diary: I apologize for not writing for so long on your lines. However I was charged with writing on what a particular scripture passage meant to me. Please accept what I have written on your pages.
“I am in the upper room. I’m dressed in a burlap garment. Beads of sweat slowly cascade down my face only to be met by my sandaled and dusty feet. Every step I take dust from the floor of bamboo woven reeds fog them.
I’m pacing, wondering what to do next. The room is dark with only gray and blackened colored images. The darkened images represent uncertainty, loneliness, fear, abandonment.
Suddenly, Jesus appears! The once darkened images become bright and full of color. I see Jesus’ hands and feet, the nail holes that are the remnant of his suffering for my sins. I feel ashamed and a tear traverses down my cheek only to be caught by Him. The uncertainty is now belief, the loneliness-joy, the fear-hope and the abandonment- compassion, forgiveness, love and mercy.”
You see, God’s mercy even shows in that upper room with Thomas and the rest. Jesus goes to great lengths to help Thomas realize the Father’s love for him even to the point of offering to have Thomas put his fingers into the nail marks on his body. Like Thomas, we waiver in our belief and sometimes that is what it takes to bring us back-a movement deep within us-The movement of the Spirit that is telling us, wake-up, the Father’s embrace is upon you!!!!
God’s mercy is all around us and the greatest way of receiving His mercy and love is through the sacraments, especially through Baptism, Reconciliation and Eucharist – The true gift of Himself to us!
Baptism is the sacrament that opens up the door to all the other sacraments. Baptism is the sacrament of new birth. The sacrament of baptism which cleanses our souls of all sin, especially original sin, puts the baptized in a purified state, a gift of Divine Mercy. We are now freed to have that relationship with God through Jesus Christ where there is no limit to His love.
We are so graced to be part of this new birth as we baptize (d) Henry Joseph Maragulia, son of Chris and Rachael and brother to Isabelle at the 8 A.M. Mass.
This is Divine Mercy in action and we share the responsibility to act in a way that promotes our faith especially in the presence of this little child, this gift of love from God. Let us, sometime today, offer a simple prayer for Henry and his family that God bless them and keep them in his grace.
The sacrament of Reconciliation is where we can experience God’s Divine Mercy in a very deep way. Again, his love has no bounds and because of this love we are cleansed once again and at that moment in time we become pure and are free to pursue holiness. This is our challenge, isn’t it? To become Holy? Yes, it is not easy but definitely attainable. Just take a look at the life of Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, foundress of EWTN, The Eternal Word Television Network, who passed away this past Easter Sunday night.
The sacrament of the Eucharist is where we receive in His fullness, the body, blood, soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ himself. How can we look at the cross and not think of the Eucharist- God’s greatest gift of Mercy, his Son’s body and blood given up for us! This Eucharist that nourishes and sustains us. This Eucharist which is the ultimate relationship with Jesus Christ. What a sign of God’s mercy that comes from His great love for you and for me.
Once the Apostles realized what that cross stood for, once Jesus breathed on them the Spirit of truth, did they come to accept his Mercy through love for them and so accepting the responsibility of Reconciliation. What did Jesus say to them: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them. What sins you retain are retained.” This is the birth of the sacrament of Reconciliation.
Jesus wanted a church that emanated his Father’s Mercy. The scriptures tell us this. We heard today how mercy was offered by the Apostles for healing not only physical but also spiritual healing. We heard in our 1st reading from Acts of the Apostles how there were many physical healings but also how many came to believe. We heard, “great numbers of men and women, were added to them.”
As I picked up the book titled Pope Francis’-The Name of God is Mercy, and I started to read, I came across this: “Mercy is in reality the core of the gospel message. It is the name of God himself, the face with which he revealed himself in the Old Testament and fully in Jesus Christ, incarnation of creative and redemptive love. This love of mercy also illuminates the face of the Church and is manifested through the sacraments, in particular that of Reconciliation, as well as in works of charity, both of community and individuals. Everything that the Church says and does shows that God has Mercy for Man.”
My sisters and brothers, because of this love, this Divine Mercy, we are able to receive Jesus Christ in his fullness and we, because of God’s mercy, are able to open ourselves for that deep relationship the He yearns to have with each one of us. So, let us be open to the possibilities. Let us be open to proudly acclaim Jesus Christ as our Lord and our access to the Father’s unlimited love and mercy. I now invite all of you to say with me three times, Jesus I trust in you!