2nd
Sunday of Easter (Year A)
(DIVINE
MERCY SUNDAY)
First
Reading: Acts 2:42-47 Second
Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Gospel Reading: John
20:19-31
“I
WILL SING OF THE MERCIES OF THE LORD...”
In
the town of Wishaw there lived an earnest Christian man who became a
magistrate. One morning there appeared before him in the court a
friend of his youth, who had strayed from the paths of righteousness
and had committed an offense against the law of the land. Those who
knew the relationship between the two men, expected the magistrate to
deal with the man mercifully, and they were very much surprised when
they heard that the sentence was a heavy fine. But they were more
surprised when the magistrate went to the officer of the court, and
took from his own pocket the money to pay the fine. He did his duty
as a magistrate, and upheld the law, but he also showed something of
the mercy of God for his friend when he paid the penalty for
his friend. There is little wonder that the law-breaker was
broken-hearted in his repentance.
Jesus gave Himself for
you. Have you given yourself to Him?
Today
is the 2nd Sunday of Easter and with it we conclude the Octave of
Easter. We know that Easter is the most solemn of all Christian
feasts and it is so great an event that one day of celebration does
not suffice. We needed eight
days of liturgical celebrations to contemplate and assimilate
the Easter mysteries.
On
this 2nd Sunday of Easter, every year we have the same Gospel
Reading, though the other two readings vary. The gospel passage of
today from St. John begins with the narration of the first appearance
of the Risen Lord to his disciples on the day of Easter; it then goes
on to narrate the appearance of the Risen Lord to Thomas (who was
absent on the day of Easter) along with the other disciples. The
latter incident takes place on the eighth
day of Easter (like today). Thus the Gospel text of today
really links Easter Sunday to the Octave. A very apt reading indeed
to conclude the Octave of Easter!
Again,
the 2nd Sunday of Easter is also known as the ‘Divine
Mercy Sunday.’ Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Sr.
Faustina in the 1930’s and promised that he would bestow his Divine
Mercy to any sinner that totally repents his/her sins, no matter
how grave and our Lord would not refuse any soul that seeks his
mercy. It is not a mere coincidence that in the private revelations
that Sr. Faustina received Jesus asked on numerous occasions that a
feast day be dedicated to the Divine Mercy and that this feast
be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter. Therefore, on 30th
April 2000, when Pope John Paul II canonized his country-woman, Sr.
Faustina, he said, “It is important then
that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of
God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the
Church, will be called ‘Divine
Mercy Sunday’.” In
brief, this Sunday invites us to contemplate the mercy of God. We
experience this Divine Mercy very tangibly in the Sacrament
of Reconciliation and also in Grace - the unmerited favor,
the gratuitous gift which God gives to us out of His compassion and
merciful love.
So, today is also the
feast of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In today's Gospel, Jesus
gives authority to his disciples to forgive sins saying, “Receive
the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose
sins you retain are retained.” This is a Divine power
given to his disciples and handed down to his Church and to our
priests. But, it is God who really gives pardon and peace. The priest
- who takes the place of the ‘disciples’
of Jesus today - absolves in the name of the Church, that is, he
frees the penitent from guilt and blame. This understanding is still
maintained in the formula of absolution that the priest utters during
the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation:
“God,
the Father of mercies,
through the death and the resurrection of his Son has reconciled the
world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the
forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may
God give you pardon and peace,
and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
This is a wonderful possibility available in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation: 'the visible sign of God’s
invisible mercy.' On this feast then, let us resolve to
make frequent confession – good, sincere & open confession -
and experience God's Divine mercy.
Now,
it is on the very day of his resurrection that Jesus Christ,
risen and triumphant, made his first appearance to his disciples who
hovered in fear and huddled behind locked doors. We could recall here
that his previous appearance in the Gospel of John, in fact the very
first appearance, was to Mary Magdalene, earlier at the day break.
The appearance of the Risen Lord was meant to calm their fearful
hearts, change their doubting minds and evoke the faith
of the disciples in the reality of the Resurrection of the one who
suffered and died on the cross.
In
his appearance to his disciples, after his typical greeting of “Peace
be with you,” Jesus showed them his wounds and sent
them on his mission to preach repentance and the forgiveness
of sins. After this, “He breathed on them
and said: Receive the Holy Spirit.” These two sentences
are a mouthful, but, they really describe the beginning of
the Church. Pentecost is familiarly described in the Acts of the
Apostles. Today’s Gospel taken from St. John gives us another
version of Pentecost. It is interesting to note that the Evangelist
John does not separate the Resurrection of the Lord from the decent
of the Holy Spirit. In a sense, Easter and Pentecost (as Luke calls
it in the Acts) are one according to St. John: we receive the Holy
Spirit when we experience the Risen Lord.
To further strengthen the
fear-stricken disciples to continue from where he stopped, the Risen
Lord appeared to them again eight days later and stood in
their midst and again said to them, “Peace
be with you.” This time, together with them was the
doubting Thomas who had reacted vehemently to their testimony with a
protestation. Jesus confronted the doubt of Thomas with the stigmata
of his passion. Thomas’ resistance and unbelief broke down
completely in the face of the Risen Lord. He then uttered the
ultimate Christian profession of faith: “My
Lord and my God!” The Risen Lord, however,
exhorted him to a greater faith: “Have
you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who
have not seen and have believed.” Today’s
Gospel thus is also an exhortation to us 'to
believe without seeing.'
Therefore, the Gospel is
apt for the celebration of Divine Mercy as well as to confront doubt.
Do you know why Christ, after he greeted the Apostles with peace,
showed them His hands and His side? A clean or stylized crucifix does
not tell the whole story. In fact, a sanitized cross may belong to a
jaded memory. This may explain why Christ kept the marks of his
wounds on his risen body. You would think that a risen body should be
perfect. On the contrary, the wounds were necessary to help the
Apostles remember or recognize him.
Also,
the last verse of today’s Gospel Reading crystallizes the motive
for the many 'signs' written and
proclaimed about Jesus, the glorious resurrection being the crowning
event and the 'Sign of signs.'
The Evangelist John tells the recipients of the Gospel: “These
are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his
name.”
Indeed, to really relish
the joy and peace of Easter we need to believe this: that Jesus of
Nazareth is indeed the Christ – the Son of God. He is the Lord and
God of those who have experienced the power of Easter.
The
First Reading of today from the Acts of the Apostles tells us about
the life in the early church immediately after the Resurrection of
Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit. It was centered round the
teaching of the apostles, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer.
The believers lived in and
for a community and had possessions in common. Everybody had loving
concern for one another and forgave one another. This simple
sincerity won the admiration of others and day by day members were
added in the community of the believers by the merciful Lord.
In
the Second Reading of today from the 1st Letter of Peter, St. Peter
gives praise to God the Father who in His great love and mercy has
given them a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. He
speaks of future inheritance (eternal life) that is guaranteed for
those reborn as Christians. Now they are filled with a joy that is
indescribable and glorious. But he reminds them that they may have to
suffer through various trials. It suggests the durability of faith
even in the midst of suffering. In this sense the experience of faith
is worth more than fire-tested gold. This is certainly the testimony
of the first Christian martyrs who were sustained by the experience
of a rock-solid faith.
Today,
we are celebrating “Divine Mercy Sunday”
and are joyfully proclaiming - “I
WILL SING OF THE MERCIES OF THE LORD...” Let us
remember that the message behind the Upper Room appearance is that
Jesus wants the disciples to know that his Church is founded on
forgiveness and has a mission to bring about peace through
forgiveness. This is why he did not only forgive them but also
commissioned them to continue his mission of salvation and
forgiveness of sin.
It is also to be noted
that while the first gift of Easter is joy, the second one is peace.
Anything that comes against joy and peace in our lives is not good
for us. The person therefore, who fails to forgive his/her
neighbor does not only lose his/her identity as a Christian but robs
oneself of true peace. In the same vein, the one who doubts
his/her faith loses true peace of mind and body. As ambassadors we
are to represent Jesus and become dispensers of his peace. And this
is the Good News of today.
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