Homily of Divine Mercy Sunday
Year A 2020
In 2000, St. Pope John Paul II
canonized St. Faustina, and made the second Sunday of Easter to be celebrated
as Divine Mercy Sunday. St. Faustina was a Polish nun gifted with
mystical visions, messages and revelations from the Risen Jesus. This is a
rare instance when a personal revelation is authenticated to the degree that it
becomes a Sunday celebration by the Universal Church.
The feast situates well following
Easter Sunday to show that the events of the incarnation, passion, death, and
resurrection of Jesus for the redemption of humanity were out of the gratuitous
mercy of God. The mercy is gratuitous because humanity did nothing to merit
it. Psalm 130:3 prays, “If you, Lord, keep account of sins, Lord, who can
stand? But with you is forgiveness and so you are revered.” St. Paul writes in
Romans 3:23-25, “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are
justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God
set forth as an expiation through faith, by his blood, to prove his
righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed.” St.
Faustina wrote in her diary, “Proclaim that mercy is the greatest
attribute of God. All works of my hand are crowned with mercy” (no. 301). St.
Peter proclaims the mercy of God in the second reading, “Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to
a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, …”
The image of the Divine Mercy of
Jesus with two rays flowing from the side of Jesus, one reddish
(symbolizing blood) and the other whitish (symbolizing water), with the
words “Jesus, I trust in you” at the bottom, is one of St. Faustina’s
visions. The image takes us back to the passion, crucifixion and death of
Jesus. Luke 22:44, “He was in such agony and he prayed so fervently that his
sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground.” John 19:33-34, “But
when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break
his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood
and water flowed out.” Jesus tells us during the Last Supper the meaning of his
blood, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which will be shed on behalf of
many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28). St. Peter writes, “Realize
that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, … not with
perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of
Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
Jesus, also, tells us the meaning
of his water in his encounter with the Samaritan woman, “Whoever drinks the
water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him
a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).
Let us visualize the blood and
water flowing from the side of Jesus. Let us pray and plead the precious Blood
of Jesus to help us conquer satanic forces. Let us pray and plead the water
from the side of Jesus to well up new life in us. May it become the water of
River Jordan where Naaman bathed and was healed of his leprosy (2 King 5). May
it become that life giving water that flowed from the temple in Ezekiel’s
vision (Ezekiel 47). Let us envision ourselves as Thomas and encounter Jesus.
Let us hear Jesus ask us to put our finger into his side pierced by
a lance. Jesus directs us, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and
bring your hand and put it into my side…” When Thomas put his finger into
the side of Jesus, he was healed of his spiritual disease of doubt. Thomas
exclaimed, “My Lord and my God.” May we, also, receive our own healing. Repeat,
“My Lord and my God” several times. Let these words resound in you. Stay with
the experience for a while.
The first reading informs us how
the early Christians practiced their faith. They went to the temple to pray
according to the Jewish religious tradition, but gathered in their homes, every
day to celebrate the “breaking of bread” in obedience to the command of Jesus
during the Last Supper, “Do this in remembrance of me.” The Eucharistic
celebration as we have it now evolved through the ages from what Jesus did at
the Last Supper and the celebration of the “breaking of bread” by the early
Christians. Our present situation prevents us to go to the temple to worship
God. We are to gather in our homes and pray. Unfortunately, some families do
not know how to come together to pray. Covid 19 Pandemic is teaching us some lessons,
hopefully, that will help our spiritual and family life at the end of the
pandemic.
Another special identity of the
early Christians was work of mercy as we see in the first reading, “All who
believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their
property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s
need.” This perilous time has put almost everyone in need. That
notwithstanding, many people, out of mercy and not minding their own needy
situation, are going the extra mile to help others and risk their own lives to
save others. May God bless them. Please, check on one another. Support one
another. Encourage one another. May Jesus bless us with his peace and breathe
on us the Holy Spirit he breathed on the apostles when he appeared to them. May
we receive his peace and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Fr. Martin Eke, MSP
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