Homily for The Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy, Year B, April 7, 2024.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” (Mathew 5:7).

“All grace flows from mercy, and the last hour abounds with mercy for us. Let no one doubt concerning the goodness of God; even if a person’s sins were as dark as night, God’s mercy is stronger than our misery. One thing alone is necessary; that the sinner set ajar the door of his heart, be it ever so little, to let in a ray of God’s merciful grace, and then God will do the rest.” (No. 1507) -St Faustina

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My Dearest Friends in Christ,
I joyfully welcome you into God’s Presence on this great feast of DIVINE MERCY. It is Divine Mercy and not worldly pity. Mercy is Godly; it is an attribute of God. Psalm 118 of our responsorial psalm today says “…for His mercy endures forever.” Mercy is an indispensable quality of a true disciple of Christ. Mercy, compassion, and forgiveness are all related in the sense that each seeks the good of another, heals the wound of another, and pays the price for another, demanding nothing in return even when one deserves to pay the price. William Shakespeare once said, “The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice as blessed. It blesses him that gives and him that takes…” This means that mercy must be freely given and not forced. God demonstrated the gift of His Mercy by sending His only Son to die for us and to redeem us, sinners, through His sufferings, death, and Resurrection. We never deserved nor merited God’s saving grace, but God gratuitously shows His Mercy because He loves us, not because He stands to gain anything from us.

How Divine Mercy Became a Feast

The feast of Divine Mercy began on April 30th, 2000 to commemorate Our Lord’s appearances to St. Faustina. This is when St. John Paul requested that this feast be established in the Church to propagate the Divine and incomprehensible Mercy of God; to tell the world that no sin is beyond God’s Mercy, whoever asks for His Mercy must surely find it. You too can also be a member of this pious society of Divine Mercy. It is open to everyone.

The Early Christians Community and The Practice of Mercy

The first reading of today reminds us of the early Christian Community and how they lived out the Mercy of God through their merciful corporal works, practicing the sharing of love, compassion, and mercy. This witnessing community derived its strength from community prayer, the Breaking of the Bread, and the Apostles’ teaching at the worship service. Prayer, Eucharist, and the Word of God are foundational in building and nurturing mercy in the life of every Christian. It is from this trio that we also draw the strength and conviction to show mercy and compassion. There is so much wickedness and revenge in our world today. Let us imitate the Merciful Heart of Jesus and heal the world with our acts of mercy.

Spiritual Works of Mercy

While the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles focuses on corporal works of mercy, the second reading from the letter of St. John focuses on spiritual and corporal works of mercy. John urges our obedience to the commandments given by God, especially the commandment of love as clarified by Jesus. Loving others as Jesus loves us demands that we treat others with Jesus’ Mercy and Compassion. John reminds us that everyone who claims to love God, especially one who believes that Jesus is the Christ, has to love others whom God has created. We are to conquer the world by putting our faith in Jesus and in the Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist, which are two sacraments of Divine Mercy that Jesus instituted.

The Scriptural Source of Divine Mercy

The Gospel of today is one of the scriptural sources of the Divine Mercy of God as it comes to us through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, dispensed by the Church, through the authority of Christ. Jesus entrusted to His Apostles, and all of us, His Mission of preaching the “Good News” of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation. This teaches us that Jesus uses the Church as the earthly means of continuing His Mission. The Risen Lord gives the Apostles the authority to forgive sins in His Name. He gives the Apostles the power of imparting God’s Mercy to the sinner, the gift of forgiving sins from God’s treasury of Mercy. It is God who forgives sin through the instrumentality of the priests, who share in that Apostolic authority. If Apostles(men) are not needed to forgive sins, then He wouldn’t have given them the authority to “bind” and “lose”. We obtain God’s Mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Sacrament of Penance is a tribunal of mercy where everyone is discharged and acquitted and not condemned; for the Word of God says, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1). The clearest way of expressing our belief in the Presence of the Risen Jesus among us is through our forgiveness of others. We can’t form a lasting Christian Community without such forgiveness. Let us, therefore, practice God’s forgiveness and compassion. Unless we forgive others, our celebration of the Eucharist is just an exercise in liturgical rubrics and our Christian life is empty.

The Christian Community Builds Up Our Faith

The early Christians lived to together as a community of faith. The Christian Community contributes greatly to building up our faith in God. Anything that threatens the Christian Community or destroys it, is worse than a nuclear bomb because it touches the very foundation of the Christian life and faith. Thomas doubted the appearance of the Risen Lord because he was away from the community when Christ first appeared to the disciples. This should serve as a warning to us. It is difficult for us to believe when we do not strengthen ourselves with the fellowship of other believers. Those who absent themselves wilfully from Sunday Masses and other Christian gatherings should begin now to reconsider their options. Don’t forget that Jesus appeared to the disciples when they gathered as a community of believers and not at a night party or casino. When the Lord appeared to Thomas later, He said, “Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed.” This story of doubting Thomas highlights the importance of signs and also their limitations in terms of bringing people to faith. Thomas overcame his doubts by seeing and touching Jesus. Today we no longer “see” nor touch Jesus, as Thomas did, but we have to believe what we hear, that is why Paul reminds us that “Faith comes from hearing.” (Rom 10:17). Faith comes to us in different ways, so we have to appreciate God’s Mercy in bringing us closer to Himself.

Mercy is a Debt we Owe to Others and a Divine Responsibility

Let us all as members or non-members of the Divine Mercy Society show mercy, forgiveness, and compassion to all we meet daily. This is the only way to conquer the wickedness of the world and restore peace in our troubled world. In a country like America where everyone insists on his or her rights as it is written in the law of the land, let us not forget that you can yield that right to be merciful to those who hurt you rather than have them face the wrath of the law. If the traffic law says “You can yield your right of way in some situation to prevent an accident on the road, so we can yield our legal rights to show mercy to those who hurt us.

May we experience God’s Mercy and Compassion and in turn extend it to others.