Second Sunday of Easter (or Sunday of Divine Mercy)
It was the 9am Easter day Mass at St. Helen. Perhaps many of you recall that I reflected on the resurrection of Jesus as the tenderness of God. Remember this when finish telling you the rest of the story.
During Communion, a young man, probably in his later twenties or early thirties walked up to me to receive Communion. He put his hands forward but I noticed a certain hesitancy. I hesitated even more when I said, “The Body of Christ,” and he said, “Thank you.” I asked him, “Do you know what you are doing?” He glanced at me a little embarrassingly. He smiled ever so lightly. He was not sure what to say. At this, I said to him, “Can I just give you a blessing?” His answer was a reluctant “Yes.” It is like he wanted to receive Communion but did not know how to ask. So, I asked him if he was a Catholic. He said, “Yes. But it has been a long time.” At this, I put my arm around him. There were about twenty-five people behind him for Communion. At that moment only this young man mattered. I figured the rest could go to other the Eucharistic ministers. I said, “How about you come sometime soon, make a confession, and let us start over.” He said, “I don’t know where to start. There has been addiction, you know. And a lot of stuff.” At this point, I had decided to give him Communion. With my arms still around him, I said to him, “I am giving you absolution, but let’s meet sometime for Confession.” I gave him the absolution, and then gently placed Jesus into his hands. This time he said, “Amen!”
Today is Divine Mercy Sunday and I would like to offer a brief reflection on God’s mercy.
God of Mercy
Today’s first reading begins with, “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…” (1Pet 1:3). Throughout his life, in his words and ministry, Jesus personified the mercy of God. This does not change after the resurrection. In the resurrection appearance we read in today’s gospel, Jesus sent out his disciples saying, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them!” (Jn 20:21-23).
Divine Mercy Sunday is only one way to call to attention to the ever-enduring mercy of God. In reality, every Sunday is a celebration of God’s mercy. Each and every day is a celebration of God’s mercy. As Pope Francis so famously said, “The name of God is mercy.”
God’s Mercy and Justice
The experience of the Easter morning Mass brings into focus the tension between God’s mercy and God’s justice. That Easter Sunday Morning, many people who perhaps observed all the Lenten penances; who fasted, prayed, and gave alms; who abstained from meat on Fridays; went for confession, and participated in the Triduum services, were in the same line with the young man struggling with addiction. But the same grace that was available to all the people in line was also available to him. Is that fair? Are all the hard Lenten practices, penances, and abstinences worth it? Why engage in any spiritual discipline if it’s all the same?
Pope John Paul II, who instituted the second Sunday of Easter as Mercy Sunday, addresses this very issue in his 1990 encyclical, “Rich in Mercy.” He says, “Even the Old Testament teaches that although justice is an authentic virtue in man and signifies the transcendent perfection of God, nevertheless, love is “greater” than justice; greater in the sense that it is primary and fundamental” (RM, 4). He emphasizes, “Love conditions justice and justice serves love.” says John Paul. When it comes to the young man standing before me, no one in that church lost their graces because God was merciful to him. In fact, we got richer because God’s grace flowed freely that morning.
What does this mean for us? This means that God’s mercy always triumphs. Against every other heavenly virtue, against every other human failing, God’s mercy always triumphs! On Easter Sunday, against all odds, God’s mercy triumphed.
Receive Mercy, Preach Mercy, Practice Mercy
Divine Mercy Sunday calls Catholics to approach the sacrament of reconciliation, to receive mercy, and to adore the Blessed Sacrament. However, there is a second part to observing Divine Mercy Sunday. In Sr. Fautina’s recording of her visions she writes, “Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for me. You are to show mercy to our neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to absolve yourself from it” (Diary 742).
John Paul calls the mission of mercy the greatest task of the church. In his encyclical, he says, “The church lives an authentic life when she professes and proclaims mercy” (RM 13). He says, “The church must consider it one of her principal duties to proclaim and to introduce into life the mystery of mercy revealed in Jesus Christ” (RM, 14).
When John Paul says that mercy is the greatest task of the Church, he was not merely talking about the institutional church, but also about every Christian. Mercy is our mission too. Divine Mercy devotion is not merely a devotion. It is a way of life. It means that just as we receive God’s mercy, we must also share God’s mercy. The danger is that after receiving the unlimited mercy of God, we might put a limit on the mercy that we show to others.
Last Easter Sunday, a young man experienced divine mercy and love. The Church was the face of mercy to him. The Eucharist was celebrated as the sacrament of God’s mercy. The Eucharist was given as the sacrament of God’s mercy. May this celebration of the Eucharist be for an experience of God’s rich and unending mercy. May it also be our strength as we show this very mercy to others. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph