Though the title for this Sunday is relatively new, the message of God's merciful love is certainly not a new concept. It's the central message of the Christian faith preached for almost 2000 years. God has mercy upon sinners; we are loved by God even when we are unlovable because of our sins—no matter how sinful, God's forgiveness is available to all who turn to Him.
The celebration of Divine Mercy is a fitting conclusion to the octave of Easter. On Easter Sunday we celebrated the triumph of God's love over the powers of sin and death. Jesus' resurrection shows that Sin and death do not get the last word. God did not counter our sin with fiery wrath from heaven. Rather, God defeated man’s sin in a totally unimaginable and unexpected way, Mercy.
Think about it. On Mount Calvary, we violently rejected God in the flesh. The crucifixion, in a sense, is man's ultimate rejection of God. At that moment, more than any in human history, wouldn't God have been justified in simply ending this whole project, condemning us as too sick, too depraved, so corrupt we’d rather kill God than admit our errors.
Yet from the cross Jesus pronounces not wrath, but forgiveness, and from his side blood and water flowed as rays of divine mercy. The resurrection of Jesus on Easter then is a stamp of approval from God, that mercy is granted.
Pope Benedict XVI said, Jesus Christ is divine mercy in person: Encountering Christ means encountering the mercy of God. Jesus willingly gave himself up to death so that we might be saved and pass from death to life. Mercy has a name, mercy has a face, mercy has a heart.
The Gospel reading for this Divine Mercy Sunday, is wonderful message for people of every place and time. Even though the investigation into the Gospel message might begin with some doubt, some hesitation, those who seek the Risen Christ, shall find Him, those who seek to honestly verify the Gospel, shall find it to be true.
Last Year, on Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis, preaching from St. peter’s square, reflected upon this Gospel. Listen to the Holy Father’s Words: “in today’s Gospel, we hear, over and over, the word “see”. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord (Jn 20:20). They tell Thomas: “We have seen the Lord” (v. 25). But the Gospel does not describe how they saw him; it does not describe the risen Jesus. It simply mentions one detail: “He showed them his hands and his side” (v. 20). It is as if the Gospel wants to tell us that that is how the disciples recognized Jesus: through his wounds. The same thing happened to Thomas. He too wanted to see “the mark of the nails in his hands” (v. 25), and after seeing, he believed (v. 27).
“How can we see him?” the holy Father asks. “Like the disciples: through his wounds. Gazing upon those wounds, the disciples understood the depth of his love. They understood that he had forgiven them, even though some had denied him and abandoned him. To enter into Jesus’ wounds is to contemplate the boundless love flowing from his heart. This is the way. It is to realize that his heart beats for me, for you, for each one of us. Dear brothers and sisters, we can consider ourselves Christians, call ourselves Christians and speak about the many beautiful values of faith, but, like the disciples, we need to see Jesus by touching his love. Only thus can we go to the heart of the faith and, like the disciples, find peace and joy (cf. vv. 19-20) beyond all doubt.”
For Pope Francis, the wounds of Christ, is a key to faith, believing the Gospel message. For the wounds of Jesus are a result of his love for us. You can see Jesus, you can come to know him, and know his love for you, by contemplating his wounds.
As you may know, there is an ancient devotion to the five wounds of Jesus. That devotion can be traced back to today’s Gospel. The apostles, and Thomas, as the Holy Father Pope Francis explains, turn their gaze to the wounds of Christ in order to know him, and see Him, to see His love, better.
The very beginning of the Easter season, in fact, includes a liturgical act, memorializing the five wounds of Jesus. As the priest blesses the new easter candle at the easter vigil, he inserts five grains of incense into the new candle in the form of the cross, and says, “by his holy and glorious wounds, may Christ the Lord guard us and protect us.” You can see these five grains of incense inserted into our own easter candle here.
In the middle ages, St. Bernard and St. Francis of Assisi encouraged devotions in honor of the five wounds. Perhaps, Pope Francis’ Divine Mercy homily on the wounds of Jesus was inspired by his namesake. Later in life, St. Francis of Assisi, in fact, would be marked by the holy stigmata, receiving the five wounds of Jesus in his own flesh.
In your easter prayer, in addition to lifting up your petitions to God every day, praying for the courage to preach the Easter Gospel: take a moment to meditate upon the wounds of Jesus. Ask Jesus to help you to see his love for you, through his wounds. Ask him to bring the healing power of his resurrection to your own wounds, to the wounds in our parish, to the wounds in our families. For as Isaiah the prophet said, “by his wounds we are healed.”
Jesus, bearing his wounds, enters the upper room, and announces Peace to his disciples. Much peace, the fullness of peace, is offered to us through Faith in Him, recognizing him bursting into the locked doors of our own lives, inviting us to contemplate his wounds, his love.
Recognizing Jesus’ great love and his victory over death, filled the apostles with great courage. Recognizing the Risen Christ, wrote Pope Francis, “casts out fear from the hearts of the apostles and pushes them out of the Upper Room, to bring the Gospel. We also must have more courage to witness to faith in the Risen Christ! Let us not be afraid to be Christian and live as Christians!” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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