Scripture reading: Acts 2:42-47; Ps. 17:2-4, 13-15, 22-24; 1 Pet. 1:3-9; Jn. 20:19-31
Theme: Christ is risen to show his mercy. He wants us to proclaim it to nations.
Today, on the second Sunday of Easter, we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast instituted by St John Paul II in 2000. The devotion to the Divine Mercy of God spread from a mysterious revelation to St Maria Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun. She hailed from a poor family who suffered during the first World War. Although she was not very educated, yet the Lord gave her a mysterious revelation to write. They reveal the tender mercy of God. These revelations are compiled and known as the Diary of St. Maria Faustina: Divine Mercy in My Soul. This Apostle of Mercy gave to the church a new impetus to the devotion of Divine Mercy. It reminds us that the Lord pours out his mercy continuously; we are called to trust in his mercy. At the same time, we are also called to live life mercifully toward others.
Today’s liturgy helps us to understand that the Lord our God is merciful and he rose from the dead primarily to show His mercy. He not only shows mercy but has also asked us to preach and practise repentance so that we may draw mercy from Him.
In the Gospel today, after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to His apostles. And that encounter with His apostles offers us some insights. He greeted his disciples twice with the words ‘peace be with you’. He showed them his hands and his side and he imparted his mission to them. He breathed on them the Holy Spirit and he gave them the power to forgive sins. Each of his actions brought the apostles together who were living under the fear of the Jews. His presence gave them the confidence that Jesus was not dead, but he was alive.
It is interesting to note; 1) Jesus not only rose from the dead but also imparted his mission to his apostles i.e. to build the kingdom of His Father on earth. He gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit and the power to forgive sins. 2) All these things happened on the same day i.e. the day of Resurrection in the Gospel of John. 3) Even though the apostles were in a state of sin, yet Jesus entrusted them with such great gifts and responsibilities.
According to St. John, the evangelist, sin is not seen from the moral perspective but it is a theological one. A sinner was one who denied Jesus as the son of God. The apostles were sinners because Jesus had spent time with them. They knew his teachings. They had seen him perform many miracles. Despite everything that Jesus did for them, most of them left him alone during the time of his passion and death on the Cross. We even see that one denied him and another sold him, others ran away to save their lives. We can imagine, they had no face to see the Risen Lord when he appeared to them for the first time.
While it is not mentioned that Jesus forgave his apostles in the Gospel but the very act of Jesus (entrusting the mission to them and giving them powers to forgive sins) shows that Jesus had already forgiven them. Thomas who had refused to accept the verbal witness was not the only apostles who refused to believe in the resurrection of Christ. But all the apostles had reacted similarly when Mary Magdalene reported that the Lord rose from the dead. Even then, Jesus showed mercy to Thomas by appearing to him. Jesus offered him his side to put his figure which means to say he offered to be pierced in his side once again. The appearances of the risen Lord are testimonies of Jesus pouring out His mercy to his apostles and asking them to be merciful to others.
Having experienced the mercy of Jesus, the apostles went about preaching the Gospel of repentance and the doctrine of Resurrection. There are so many instances where the post- resurrection narratives tell us that Jesus and later the apostles asked people to seek mercy from God. St. Luke tells us in the post-resurrection narratives, Jesus asked his disciples to proclaim the repentance and forgiveness in his name to all the nations. (Lk. 24:47) When St. Peter was brought before the council, he spoke to the high priest that God raised Jesus at his right hand as Leader and Saviour, to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. (Acts 5:31)
The same thoughts are echoed in today’s first and second readings. The first reading from the Book of Acts of the Apostles tells us a brief account of the early Christian community. They lived in a community of fellowship. They were faithful to the teachings of the apostles, to the fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers. These were the signs of repentance. Each is a concrete expression of forgiveness of sins and reception of the Holy Spirit. Each of them could participate in these religious practices because they repented and experienced conversion. In the second reading which is taken from the first letter of St. Peter; he once again reaffirms that God’s great mercy has given us new birth as his sons and daughters. This new birth will take place when we repent for our sins, through the sacrament of penance (confession). The early Christian community followed the teaching of the apostles. They were the repented Israel receiving grace from the Risen Lord.
The feast of Divine Mercy helps us to believe in the mercy of God, and seek it. God earnestly waits for us and we need to turn back from our sinfulness. We must repent and approach the sacrament of penance. Lessons that we can draw from this feast is that we are called to be messengers of mercy. We are called to seek mercy from the Lord and extend our mercy to others in the same measure. God is not pleased with our sacrifices but he wants us to be merciful. He forgave a thief on the cross because he repented. He forgave all his apostles before they could show external signs of repentance. Because he saw their contrite and humble heart. The same disciples went about to proclaim the mercy of God. They told them that God has forgiven their sins because they have repented and believed in Jesus Christ. God sees our hearts too. Do we repent and feel sorry for our sinfulness? Do we cry to God for mercy? Do we believe in Jesus, the seat of mercy? If we have experienced the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, then we ought to proclaim it so that many more people can draw God’s mercy in their lives. St. Maria Faustina experienced Divine Mercy in her life and became the apostle of Mercy in this modern era. God wants us to do the same.
Fr. Alex D’Mello
