EASTER II DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY HOMILY
Introduction: The readings for this Sunday are about God’s mercy, the necessity for trusting faith and the need for the forgiveness of sins. The opening prayer addresses the Father as “God of everlasting Mercy.” In the Responsorial Psalm we repeat several times, “His mercy endures forever!” (Ps 118). God revealed His mercy, first and foremost, by sending His only-begotten Son to become our Savior and Lord through His suffering, death and Resurrection. Divine Mercy is given to us also in each celebration of the Sacraments.
Scripture lessons: The first reading explains how the Risen Lord continued to show his Divine Mercy to the sick through the healing and preaching ministry of his apostles in the early Church. The apostles’ Faith enabled them to minister to the people, giving them the Lord’s healing love in “signs and wonders.” The second reading, taken from the Book of Revelation, written to comfort and bolster the Faith of the persecuted Christians, assures them of the presence of the merciful Lord in their lives. Today’s passage from Revelations encourages Christians to fight fear with Faith, and trepidation about the future with trust and Hope.
Today’s Gospel vividly reminds us of how Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation, a Sacrament of Divine Mercy. The Risen Lord gave his apostles the power to forgive sins with the words, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (Jn 20: 19-23). Presenting the doubting Thomas’ famous profession of faith, “My Lord and my God,” the Gospel illustrates how Jesus showed his mercy to the doubting apostle and emphasizes the importance of Faith.
Life messages: 1) Let us accept God’s invitation to celebrate and practice mercy: One way the Church celebrates God’s mercy throughout the year is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Finding time for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is another good way to receive and give thanks for Divine Mercy. It is mainly through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy that we practice mercy in our daily lives and are enabled to receive God’s merciful judgment.
2) Let us ask God for the Faith that culminates in self-surrender to God and leads us to serve those we encounter with love. Living faith enables us to see the risen Lord in everyone and gives us the willingness to render to each one our loving service. The spiritual Fathers prescribe the following traditional means to grow in the living and dynamic faith of St. Thomas the Apostle: a) First, we must come to know Jesus personally and intimately by our daily and meditative reading of the Bible. b) Next, we must strengthen our Faith through our personal and community prayer. c) Third, we must share in the Divine Life of Jesus by frequenting the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist. Bl. Mother Teresa presents it this way: “If we pray, we will believe; if we believe, we will love; if we love, we will serve. Only then we put our love of God into action.”