Today the church celebrates the Feast of Divine Mercy and the end of the Octave of Easter. We have been celebrating Easter Sunday and the resurrection for eight days now, and today, the final day of the Easter Octave we acknowledge as the day of new creation.
It is a day on which the love of God is poured into our hearts in a very profound way. The Feast of Divine Mercy has everything to do with humility, trust and mercy.
When we look at the picture of the Divine Mercy, underneath the picture of Jesus are these words “Jesus, I trust in you.” That is something some do not do very well, to trust in our Lord. We like to think that we trust Jesus, but when it comes right down to it, some really don’t.
Some of us are afraid of letting go of things because we are not sure if God is really going to do what he promised. In the practical day-to-day existence, we trust far more in ourselves and far more in other people, and far more in money and material things than we do in God, which is a pretty tragic statement, especially in light of what Jesus did for us.
When we consider this point of trusting in our Lord, we know that he has made extraordinary promises to us: Promises of heaven, Eternal life, promises of being united with Him, Promises that our sins are going to be forgiven.
For some, the problem is that they don’t have clear evidence to support such trust. In the gospel today, we see Thomas in this very situation and saying, “I am not going to believe unless I see the holes in His hands and feet and the opening in His side.” Jesus appears in His mercy and shows Himself to Thomas and says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Thomas is our proof. He is representing all of us who doubt.
How often do we struggle with the question with whether or not our sins are truly forgiven? The problem is that we have no evidence, no proof, no sign that our sins are gone. We cannot see our sins on our soul, and we cannot see them removed.
But in the gospel the Lord breathes on the disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them.” “He didn’t say whose sins you forgive are swept under the rug. He didn’t say whose sins you forgive I’ll keep them in mind and I will hold them against them later. He said, “They are forgiven.” That means they are gone.
He made the promise, and the One who has promised is trustworthy, we simply need to place our trust in Him because he has made this promise. When we think about the Feast of Divine Mercy and we think about the Mercy of God, at first glance, one might think that this would be better if it were celebrated during Lent. After all, six weeks of praying and doing penance we were seeking the Mercy of God. Now all of a sudden, here we are on the octave day of Easter, the height of the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection, and suddenly we turn and we are asking God once again for mercy.
Today’s readings reveal the kind of heart in Jesus and in his followers. When Jesus appeared to his Disciples that first Easter, he said, “Peace be with you.” As you can imagine, that greeting meant more than just a hello or good morning. Jesus, in fact, desired to communicate to them something of enormous value.
The peace which Jesus won for us had cost him his blood, his very life. What that peace involved, Jesus tells them clearly, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sine you forgive are forgiven them.” To His Apostles Jesus communicates the Holy Spirit with the power to free us from our sins. The words of absolution comes through the sacrament of Reconciliation and frees us from the shackles that keep us from God.
From the Acts of the Apostles we glimpse mercy in action. The early Christians were so filled with the Holy Spirit that “no one claimed any of his or her possessions as their own.” Rather, they “distributed to each according to his or her need.” Mercy then involves the effort to provide every human being with access to this world’s blessings.
The readings from Acts in turn call us, calls our attention to the corporal works of mercy; Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, Give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, Bury the dead. Ultimately, mercy results not so much from human effort as from God’s free gift of Grace. As Shakespeare said, “It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.”
Where do you receive God’s mercy the most? I mentioned earlier how Christ gave the Apostles the power to forgive sin. Yes, the mercy of God is most evident in the sacrament of Reconciliation, Confession. You can’t help but feel the effect of your sins being lifted away as you hear those words of Christ of absolution coming from the priest.
At that moment we should feel the comfort, the peace be with you, the mercy of God upon us. Now free to receive Jesus in the Eucharist the effect on our lives is miraculous. We go out and are able to meet the world with our faith as our shield. We go forth with the power of the Holy Spirit as our guide and mentor. We go out with the food from heaven, Jesus himself. This is our proof.
What more evidence do we need? He has given all we need. We just need to throw fear away, find that humility that says, “yes God, I know you are in control of my life, not me and to bring trust into our hearts. That’s all it takes.
It is easy but we make it hard on ourselves to do so. Humble ourselves and make reconciliation a needed part of your spiritual lives and in return your life will be transformed. You will find peace in God’s Mercy.
God is offering his mercy to us. He has done everything for us, and he has given us the means by which our sins can be forgiven. Humble yourself, confess your sins, and trust in Him.