HOMILY EASTER (DIVINE MERCY) SUNDAY 02 C
Experiencing Divine Mercy
(Acts 5:12-16; Psalm 118; Rev 1:9-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31)
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“It was evening on the day Jesus rose from the dead, the first day of the week.”
Resurrection by Benvenuto di Giovanni
That sentence is often repeated by the gospel writers, almost like a mantra, driving home the point that the resurrection of Jesus ushers in a whole new creation.
Christopher, who runs an art gallery and framing shop in Edmonton, is also an amateur astronomer. To hear him speak of his passion, exploring and observing the solar systems and galaxies in our universe, can take one’s breath away as he describes the almost unbelievable dynamics of an ever-expanding universe.
For some mysterious reason, probably having something to do with the mystery of faith, God seems to act in just the opposite way in our lives – underwhelming us with what is actually a revelation that is more subtle yet also more personally exciting than God’s original creation, because it involves our transformation into a new creation through the experience of God’s boundless, fathomless loving mercy.
So, it is only with the eyes of faith that one can truly begin to glimpse the breath and depth of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and his appearance in the gospel today to the apostles fearfully locked in the upper room.
First of all, every appearance of Jesus to his disciples after his resurrection is an experience of divine mercy, of unconditional love as forgiveness. They had abandoned, denied and betrayed him – yet when they saw him there was only peace, acceptance, understanding and forgiveness that caused a surge of joy within them.
Peace and joy are not temporary fleeting emotions, but gifts of the Holy Spirit that we can claim for ourselves, no matter what is going on in our lives. A coroner from Los Angeles, when he saw the Shroud of Turin on display, commented that the violent deaths were written on the faces of hundreds of the autopsies he had bone, but that the face of the person on the shroud, who had obviously died a violent death, was totally at peace. That is just a part of the new creation that Jesus bequeaths to those who believe in him.
Then Jesus breathes on the apostles, fills them with the Holy Spirit, empowers them to forgive as he does, and mandates them to go out to the whole world to spread this good news of the unconditional love and mercy of our God that we celebrate especially on this Divine Mercy Sunday.
All we have to do is to put our faith in Jesus and his resurrection, and act on that faith, and this new creation is ours. How sad it is to think that 2,000 years after the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, the April 4th, 2016 issue of Maclean’s Magazine, with their cover article “Did Jesus Really Exist?” reminds us of the many intelligent and educated people today who still struggle to believe and to understand who Jesus was/is. One can only feel sorry for those who hold such doubts – they are missing out on this new creation. Would that they could learn a lesson from Thomas, and proclaim, “My Lord and My God!”
There was no such doubt in the minds and hearts of Peter and John in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, as the dynamic energy of the resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit filled and flowed out of them with healing power, curing all who were sick and tormented psychologically.
John Allen Jr. is the Vatican correspondent for the Boston Globe and Mail. His latest project is a book on the global persecution of Christians. He met a remarkable woman in Kenya as part of his research, who had lost most of her family to the atrocities of the terrorist group Boka Haram. When he asked her how she could be so peaceful and positive, she replied her faith was her greatest treasure, teaching her to forgive her enemies, so she did. They took away most of her family, she added, but she was not going to let them take away her faith! That is one example of the new creation that the resurrection of Jesus is bringing about.
The Eucharist is one of our greatest acts of faith. We encounter the Risen Lord through both Word and Sacrament. Like the apostles, we are forgiven, healed and empowered to forgive all those who have hurt us in any way – and mandated to be catalysts of this new creation.
The Divine Mercy is asking us to have forgiveness, love and mercy towards other people who hurt us. So, we are to be forgiven for our sins by asking the God. We should learn to forgive people who hurt us time and time again. We should be able to forgive ourselves land love ourselves. We are to love one another as we love ourselves ; also to loving our enemies because we can forgive them. To be fully healed is understanding Jesus’ word and teachings for us just like his apostles. We are to live out his word by going out to show people Jesus’ mercy, forgiveness and unconditional love who has trouble completing this task or letting go of the sins and sinfulness. Let us be blessed for our freedom of sins and experience a brand new life in this new creation. Amen. Gracias!
Thanks for the messages and well written homilies for rest of the Easter season. The words are pretty clear what we need to do. Rejoice! Bishop Sylvain Lavoie. Gracias! Keep it up!