Jesus is the face of the Father's Divine Mercy

Second Sunday of Easter  C  2019

Divine Mercy Sunday

On this the Second Sunday of Easter, on this Divine Mercy Sunday, as we gather to celebrate this Eucharistic mystery, we proclaim that Jesus is the face of the Father’s Divine Mercy.  In today’s Gospel, the Risen Jesus appeared to His disciples who were behind locked doors in a state of fear.  The first words that Jesus spoke:  “Peace be with you.”  Jesus then went on to speak of forgiveness:  “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven then.”

We clearly see the power of Divine Mercy as Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on these afraid, grieving, doubting disciples who were huddled behind locked doors.  Jesus shared with his apostles the grace of the Divine Mercy of God.  As the recipients of the merciful love of Jesus, these original apostles were transformed into fearless disciples who were missioned to proclaim God’s mercy with one and all.

Today we pray the novena of the divine mercy chaplet; we seek the intercession of Sister Faustina who received apparitions from Jesus resulting in the familiar Divine Mercy image; but clearly the Sacrament of the Eucharist is the primary way we encounter the Father’s Divine Mercy.  Jesus is the face of the Father’s Mercy.  As we are nourished by the body and blood of Jesus, we are the generous recipients of the merciful love of Jesus.

I invite you to consider the faith journey of the apostle Thomas on this Divine Mercy Sunday.  Thomas is the recipient of the Father’s Divine Mercy.

The popular interpretation of Thomas is that he is doubting Thomas -- seen in a bit of a negative light.  I invite you to revisit this Easter Gospel and see Thomas as a model of faith.

I suggest Thomas is teaching the important lesson that we must not separate the resurrection from the cross.  We are the disciples of the crucified as well as the risen Lord.   We cannot live the life of grace authentically unless we bear in our bodies the wounds of the cross.  This means being conscious that we develop the capacity to love and be loved only by dying to ourselves.  Our wounds are also a constant reminder of our frailty, and that it is God’s grace that raises us up to new life.

Thank you Thomas for bringing honesty into our faith, for helping to acknowledge at times that there are areas in our life that Jesus is not yet Lord.  Thomas didn’t pretend that he was better than he was. He began by wanting proof and ended by being glad of faith.  He is the patron saint of transitions and steps in faith.  Faith is a journey.  The community was the place he found faith, having lost it when he tried to go it alone.  Then he came back to the community of faith and went on a journey of life that took him to martyrdom in India.

The Bible describes mercy as a gift of God, a gift that is to be given to those who need it.  Establishing the abiding faithfulness of God, we the Church of the Holy Spirit are to circulate mercy, to pay it forward irrespective of deservedness, inviting one and all to experience the merciful love of Jesus.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, my hunch is that we who are gathered today come from all over the spiritual landscape.  There is a side of us that is a doubting Thomas and there is a side of us that is the believing Thomas.  Each one of us is unique.  This is not by accident.  It is by God’s design that there is no perfect cookie-cutter approach of the journey of faith for Catholics.  We need to dispense with the myth that there is one size that fits all for us as Catholic Christians.

The journey of faith of each one of us is unique.  But it is the plan of Jesus that we are better together as a parish community rather than as isolated individuals.  This was the experience of the apostle Thomas, and I suggest that in this community may you experience again the merciful love of Jesus in the love we have for each other as a parish community.

Thomas, “the twin,” has many brothers and sisters in today’s Church.  Most of us are doubters at some point in life.   When I’m out of sync in a significant relationship in my life, I can be out of sync in my relationship with the Lord.  Resurrection faith is crucial, but often we want to believe on our own terms. 

Jesus is the model leader and spiritual guide.  He is pleased to give Thomas the assurance he is looking for, and then challenges him to look forward to the day when he will believe without seeing – always in the Jesus who passes through death to resurrection.

The Risen Lord never gives up on us as He never gave up on Thomas.  The Lord encounters us in the circumstances of our life.  We seek to live a new life trusting in the Spirit of the Risen Lord.

Jesus on this Divine Mercy Sunday is pleased to give what you are looking for in your journey of faith.  Jesus does not want His Body, the Church, to remain in the tomb but always raise her up to new life.  Each of us is not to remain in the tomb of our doubts, of our fears, of our anxieties.

Lord, we thank you for friends, leaders and spiritual guides who challenge us as Jesus challenged Thomas.  But may we like Thomas know that we need to see the scars and the wounds for us also to believe in resurrection and new life.  Thomas professes the true faith of the church.  We too must insist that the Jesus we follow is the true Jesus, the one whose risen body bears the wounds of Calvary.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, may live in a state of thanksgiving for God’s redemptive mercy that is shared with each and every one of us.  And may the Gospel we proclaim help us to recognize that scars are the pathway to our sharing in the Risen life of Christ.  This was the journey of the apostle Thomas.  It is the journey for each one of us.

Have a Blessed Day.