Jesus gives his disciples another beatitude in today’s Gospel: Blessed are those who have not seen and believed. Who here is blessed? We are all blessed for believing in the Risen Lord. Today we conclude the Octave of Easter with Divine Mercy Sunday. Last week on Easter Sunday, we heard about the empty tomb. Today Jesus appears to the disciples after his resurrection.
In the disciples first encounter with Jesus after the resurrection, they were together on Sunday locked away in hiding. They just experienced the death of Jesus and were in fear for their own lives. When Jesus appears to them, they were probably scared to death. Seeing someone risen from the dead was probably a shock to them. All of them except John, had abandoned Jesus and must have felt guilt for his death. They probably expected Jesus to be angry at them. But Jesus is not angry. In fact, he greets them in an unexpected way: “Peace be with you”. What a tremendous gift! He greets them as friends embracing them with forgiveness and love, which is what they really needed to hear.
Jesus then does something amazing. He breathes on them saying: “Who sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained”.
He sends his disciples to do His work of extending mercy through forgiveness of sins. Where else do we hear about God’s breath? In the second creation story in Genesis where God breathes life into the man formed out of clay. Jesus gives His disciples the power to breathe life into those who are deadened by sin through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In this encounter Jesus offers peace to those who have offended him and then sends them on a mission to offer His peace to others by forgiving sins.
The disciple Thomas wasn’t at the first appearance of Jesus and refused to believe unless he could touch Jesus’ wounds himself. Thomas is very much like people in our own culture who must experience something before they believe. When Jesus appears a second time, he offers Thomas to see and touch his wounds. We don’t know if he did, but we hear him proclaims his belief: “My Lord and My God”. Jesus came to Thomas, so he’d experience his presence to help him believe.
Jesus comes to us as well and is present in so many ways. One of the most healing ways we encounter Jesus is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The priest in the person of Christ extends His Mercy to us by saying, “I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Go in Peace.” Whenever I hear these words of the priest I feel renewed and burden free. My relationship with God has been restored and I’m embraced in his peace. It’s very healing. It’s good to know that I can receive it again because I’m a sinner. I do my best to keep from sinning but being a fallen human being, I’m going to sin again.
It’s fitting that on Divine Mercy Sunday we hear about Jesus giving his disciples the power to extend His mercy. Saint John Paul II decreed in May of 2000 that the Second Sunday of Easter be known as Divine Mercy Sunday.
He was very familiar with the message of Divine Mercy from St. Faustina, a native of his homeland of Poland. During the early part of the 20th century there were many evils going on through expansion of Nazism, communism, and a deep disrespect for the dignity of life. In the 1930s, Jesus chose a humble Polish nun, St. Faustina, to receive private revelations about Divine Mercy. In these private revelations Jesus requested that Divine Mercy Sunday be observed. As recorded in St. Faustina’s Diary Jesus tell her:
“The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain
complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. … Let no soul fear to draw near to
Me. … It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after
Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy. (Diary, no. 699)
Jesus also appeared to St. Faustina in a vision with his right hand raised in a blessing and his left touching his garment above his heart. Red and white rays emanate from his heart,
symbolizing the blood and water that was poured out for our salvation. The Lord requested the words, “Jesus, I trust in You”, be inscribed under his image, and that it be venerated around the world.
Jesus said about this image:
“I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish” (Diary, no. 48).
The Divine Mercy image is located in front of the altar is usually located in the confessional.
Our Lord also gave a prayer, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, to St. Faustina with this promise:
“Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. … Even if
there was a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once,
he would receive grace from My infinite mercy. I desire that the whole world
know My infinite mercy” (Diary, no. 687).
We’ll pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in the Church today at 10 am. You’re invited to join, but if you’re not able please pick up a Divine Mercy Prayer card after Mass. It’s easy to pray using a rosary. The traditional time to pray the chaplet is 3 pm if possible, the hour of our Lord’s death, but you can pray it any time. Please pray this often, especially for someone who is physically, mentally, or spiritually sick or in the process or dying.
We may know someone whose been away from the Sacrament of Reconciliation for a long time. They may feel that a sin they have committed is not able to be forgiven and are afraid to ask for Jesus’ mercy. This is a lie and what the devil wants them to think. That’s why we pray the Divine Mercy chaplet for them to ask for God’s mercy. These unforgiven sins are wounds on their heart that need healing and God’s mercy heals. Jesus knows all our sins and took them on so we can be forgiven, but we have to ask for forgiveness. The wounds in his hands and feet are a sign of His love that he wants to forgive us. If you know someone who thinks their sins can’t be forgiven, please invite them to receive Jesus’ infinite mercy through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, share the Divine Mercy message, and pray the Divine Mercy chaplet for them.
If you would like to explore more about Divine Mercy, I’d recommend looking into the Marians of the Immaculate Conception Divine Mercy web site. If you want to pray the Divine Mercy devotion, take it with you on the go and download an app to you Smartphone.
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