The Gospel of the Second Sunday of Easter tells the account of the Risen Lord coming through the locked door and declaring: "Peace be with you" to His fearful disciples. They did not yet understand the meaning and the grace of the Lord's resurrection. "Peace be with you," the Lord said a second time. The gift of inner peace is a precious indicator of our faith in the Risen Lord in the depths of our heart. As the Lord's disciples, we are given the gift of Easter peace and joy. And so, we proclaim in the responsorial psalm, "This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it."
On this Divine Mercy Sunday, we give thanks for the divine mercy and love of God that is abundantly shared with us. We also embrace the mission to be the face of mercy of our loving and forgiving God. St Joseph's faith community comes alive to the degree witness to the mercy of our loving and forgiving God. Please God people will know us as a faith community that witnesses to God's divine mercy.
We celebrate with the whole church today the canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John II. I was in the seminary during the papacy of the beloved Pope John and was richly blessed in the study of theology that was marked by the spirit of Vatican II. Through the intercession of these two servant leaders, may we continue to be a Church that welcomes one and all into our midst, and may we at all times proclaim the Good News that we are always and everywhere God's beloved daughters and God's beloved sons.
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