2nd Sunday of Easter

Today the Church observes Divine Mercy Sunday. The central focus is our celebration of the Resurrection of Christ and the floodgates of God’s mercy being opened upon us, and is based both on Scripture and the revelations made to Saint Faustina Kowalska.  

In today’s Second Reading (1 Peter 1:3-9), Peter says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” Pope Saint John Paul II instituted this feast day into the Church calendar during the Mass for the canonization of Sister Mary Faustina Kowalska to sainthood. In his homily, the Holy Father said: “It is important that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church will be called ‘Divine Mercy Sunday.’ In the various readings of today’s Mass, the liturgy indicate the path of mercy which, while reestablishing the relationship of each person with God, also creates new relations of fraternal solidarity among human beings. Christ has taught us that ‘man not only receives and experiences the mercy of God, but is also called ‘to practice mercy’ towards others. ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Mt 5:7)” (Dives in misericordia, n. 14).

That mercy is easily seen in the many healing miracles recalled in the Gospels. In each one, whether physical or spiritual, the power of Christ to renew, forgive, and heal bursts into the life of someone and, at times, even turns upside down the very laws of nature.    

In today’s Gospel (John 20:19-31), that specific ministry of forgiveness and mercy is passed to the disciples, when Jesus says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them…” This is Divine Mercy!  

When Thomas, broken and distraught at the at the death  of Jesus cannot, or will not, bring himself to accept the Resurrection, Jesus gently takes him from obstinate refusal to a graced moment of faith. He coaxes from Thomas one of the great confessions of faith: ”My Lord and my God!” At that moment, Thomas is healed and changed — healed of his grief and pain, and changed from doubt to belief. This is  Divine Mercy. 

The need for those gifts of mercy and healing is as great today as it was in apostolic times, as Pope Saint John Paul II noted. Without it we are lost — still in our sins, unable to be reconciled with God. So as we continue to celebrate the Resurrection, let us each open our hearts to those gifts and then commit ourselves to be conduits of them to others.
This is Divine Mercy!