Divine Mercy Sunday (A); April 19, 2020

Acts 2:42-47   Ps 118 1 Pt 1:3-9   Jn 20:19-31

Deacon Jim McFadden

 

         Every Sunday at Holy Mass we commemorate the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus; indeed, if that was not the case, the liturgy would be nothing more than a nostalgic remembrance. But during this period of the Easter Octave and Season, Sunday takes on an even more illuminating significance as the Church reflects more deeply upon the core tenet of our Faith: Jesus is Risen! He is Alive! Alleluia!

            I think that’s why Saint John Paul II established in the Jubilee of the Year 2000 that this Sunday be dedicated to Divine Mercy. Why the second Sunday of Easter? Why not later? Why this one? I believe it was the Holy Spirit who inspired him in this way because there is a necessary correlation between the Resurrection and Mercy.

Let’s look at the Gospel account of the Appearance of the Risen Christ to the disciples gathered in the Upper Room (cf. Jn 20:19-31). Jesus says to them, “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” After saying this, he makes the gesture of breathing on them and adds: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them”

(vv. 21-23).

Do you see the connection? Divine Mercy is presented on the very day of Jesus’ Resurrection as the forgiveness of sins. The Risen Christ is passing on to his Church, which is his mystical Body, as her first task, his own mission of bringing to all of humanity the message of forgiveness. As People of the Resurrection of Jesus, this is the FIRST thing we do; this is our FIRST task: to announce forgiveness. Divine Mercy and forgiveness are inextricably linked. Forgiveness, which is done in the here and now is a concrete, visible sign of Mercy. And, when we announce and live forgiveness, we experience peace within our hearts and a joy that comes with the renewed encounter with the Lord Jesus. It is by practicing Mercy that we know, that we experience the Risen Christ. If we don’t, then the Resurrection becomes an abstract theological construct with little bearing on how we live our lives.

But, when we do, Mercy in the light of Easter enables us to live according to what St. Bonaventure called the Eye of the Soul: we process our ordinary experience with a true form of awareness that is grounded in the Risen Christ. We experience the world initially through the five senses, which Bonaventure called the Eye of the Body. Then we process that empirical experience through what he calls the Eye of the Mind, which helps us to understand our personal existence. Mercy enables us to experience Reality as God does. In so doing, we come to know that violence, war, rancour, and vengefulness have no place within our relationship with God and each other. The first victim is the one who harbors these sentiments within his heart: he has already objectified himself before he dehumanizes others. By denying the dignity of others, he has deprived himself of his own dignity.

Mercy also opens the door of the heart in which the Risen Jesus can permeate our entire being. As St. Paul has said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20).   Moved by the Holy Spirit, we will do what Jesus does: we will come closer to those who are oppressed, marginalized, lonely. We will see them as Jesus does: not as objects of inconvenience or threats to our national well being, but as our brothers and sisters, who are children of the one Father, who sent his beloved Son for our salvation. Mercy disposes us to favor those who are hurting, who need consolation, and helps us to find the words to give them comfort.

Brothers and sisters, in our coinherence with the Risen Christ, Mercy warms our heart; indeed, it sets our hearts on fire, which make us sensitive to the needs of others, in which we share our lives with others and encourage them to participate in the life of the Church. Mercy propels us to be instruments of justice within the political, economic, and social domains. Mercy behooves us to be bridge-builders to reconcile conflicting parties and to forge peace.

These commitments are not idealistic pipe-dreams, but are the recognition that Mercy is the keystone in the life of faith. And, it is the concrete form by which we make Jesus’ Resurrection visible to the world.

Let us believe and joyfully experience all of this. Let us be people of Mercy! Amen.