SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER: DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY: 1st May, 2011

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER: DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY: 1st May, 2011

Acts 2:42-47; Ps. 117; 1 Pet. 1:3-10; Jn. 20:19-31

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

We celebrate today, the Sunday after Easter, the Feast of the Divine Mercy. This celebration of this feast, revealed privately to Sr. Faustina, was promulgated for the whole Church by Pope John Paul II who canonised her and himself is being beatified today.

The Latin word “misericordia” describes accurately the meaning of the word “mercy”. Miseri-cors means having a heart for the miserable. When we speak therefore of divine mercy we mean that God has a heart for us miserable sinners. But the history of “Divine Mercy” goes back to the book of Genesis. When Adam and Eve fell into sin and brought misery to themselves and to the entire human race, God showed them His mercy by promising them a Saviour. When the people of Israel were slaves in Egypt, God showed them mercy by liberating them from bondage. When the people of Israel forgot their God and took to idols, God showed them His mercy by sending His prophets to stir their conscience and bring them back. When the prophets were persecuted and put to death, God in His mercy, sent His only Son Jesus, who emptied Himself and became man. When Jesus was crucified, His side was pierced with a lance and blood and water flowed out. That pierced side is a refuge for us sinners and from that pierced side streams of mercy continue to flow in the sacraments which cleanse and purify us from sin. This is the gift that Jesus gives to the disciples as he breathes on them saying: “Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.” Nowhere do we understand our human misery better than when we make our confession; nowhere do we experience the mercy of God more than in the confessional. It is there in the sacred secrecy of the confessional that divine mercy meets human misery. The tragedy is that when God wants to show us His mercy, we who are miserable do not want to receive it.

We who receive the mercy of God must in turn channel it to others through spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Instructing and comforting others, bearing wrongs patiently and forgiving those who offend us, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick and the imprisoned and burying the dead – these are the works of mercy in which we must be engaged. This is indeed the context of today’s appeal as we make our offering in aid of the Church in Need. The Church throughout the world is suffering persecution. Three-fourths of all religious persecution in the world is against Christianity. Priests, religious and layfaithful are killed; Churches are being destroyed and their properties confiscated; freedom to practise one’s faith is suppressed. Our prayer and financial contribution can go a long way to assist those in need. Indeed, every little helps!

May we like the early Christian community described in today’s first reading learn to care for and share with others. Having been blessed by God, may we become a blessing to others so that no one may be in need. Amen.

[St. Tudwal Church, Barmouth – Msgr. Alex Rebello (533 Words)]