God’s mercy and compassion in all of us
April 7—Second Sunday of Easter and Sunday of Divine Mercy
Readings: Acts 4:32-35; Psalm 118, R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love is everlasting.; 1 Jn 5:1-6; Gospel—Jn 20:19-31In the 1930s, Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska received messages from our Lord on spreading the devotion to his Divine Mercy. One of the messages was to celebrate the Second Sunday of Easter (and the final day of the Easter Octave) as Divine Mercy Sunday.
St. John Paul II established this feast in April 2000 during the canonization of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska.
On the Feast of the Divine Mercy and the end of the Easter Octave, let us reflect on these points: one, our God as a god of mercy and compassion; two, our Church—thus, us—as messengers of God’s mercy and compassion; and three, the special blessings of celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday.
Let us recall our “definition” of mercy from Fr. James Keena, SJ: “Mercy is the willingness to enter into the chaos of others.” We see God’s mercy in three moments.
First is the Incarnation of our Lord, who emptied Himself of His divinity and entered the human situation (cf. Philippians 2:1-11). Second is His life, ministry, passion, death and Resurrection. Third is the entrusting of this his mission to the church as we read in today’s Gospel.
Mercy at its best
The beginning of the final revelation and fulfillment of God’s plan of God was ushered in by the Incarnation of Jesus. This is mercy at its best, Jesus entering our human situation to understand our hopes and dreams, our joys and triumphs, as well as our despair and brokenness, pain and sorrow.
He entered the chaos of our world and our personal journey and was able to prepare for us a path to purpose, meaning and mission through his life, ministry, passion, death and Resurrection. This is the second moment of mercy in Jesus’ life and mission that gave us the path to perfect meaning in eternal life.
The Incarnation of Jesus and His mission continues in the Church, in us to whom He entrusted his mission. This is our second point for reflection.“As the Father has sent Me, so I send you … Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
The Risen Lord entrusted to the church as His body, and we its members, this mission of mercy.
A very personal note: This is why my work with the Alay Kapwa Expanded Fund Campaign (AK+EX) has become so central to my own mission. As I shared with some of you, this work is not just a once-in-a-lifetime privilege and grace, but a privilege and grace for many lifetimes.
I go around rallying the participating archdioceses of the Philippine church to make our Alay Kapwa programs for the poor sustainable, replicable and scalable and develop the AK+EX into a national movement of solidarity and fraternity. The response has been both inspiring and humbling from bishops, priests, religious and our lay collaborators.
Gift of grace
Building our Church into a Church for the poor is bringing the mercy of Jesus through the Alay Kapwa programs. This is participating concretely and deeply in Jesus’ mission of mercy as He came to “bring glad tidings to the poor.” (Luke 4:18)
This is the core of Jesus’ mission and our mission, too. The good news to the poor and to all is the Cross and Resurrection that assures us that everything in our life has meaning. As the Buddhist saying goes, “What we have done will not be lost to all eternity. Everything ripens and bears fruit in its own hour.”
This is our assurance as a Church community, the Body of Jesus and individually as a member of this community and body.
What a wonderful gift of grace.
Finally, there is the grace promised by the feast of the Divine Mercy. In 2020, the church granted a special blessing in celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday with the following elements:
“1) Celebrate the Feast on the Sunday after Easter (or its Vigil). 2) Sincerely repent for all our sins. 3) Place our complete trust in Jesus. 4) Go to Confession, preferably before the Feast. 5) Receive Holy Communion on the day of the Feast (or its Vigil). 6) Venerate the Image of The Divine Mercy. 7) Be merciful to others, through our actions, words and prayers on their behalf.
“To receive the Extraordinary Graces of this Feast, the only condition is to receive Holy Communion worthily on Divine Mercy Sunday (or the Vigil celebration) by making a good confession before the feast and staying in the state of grace and trusting in His Divine Mercy. A Plenary Indulgence can be obtained by fulfilling the usual conditions.” (cf. thedivinemercy.org)In the Masses I celebrated last Friday, the sixth day of the Easter Octave and the First Friday of April, I reflected on the Divine Mercy devotion to help people prepare for the feast.
I noticed that many in the congregation attentively listened to and deeply felt the reflections on the Divine Mercy. Some were even tearing as they listened and felt his Divine Mercy.
I could not help but recall the words of the Lord in today’s Gospel. “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Thanks be to God. —Contributed INQ
