My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we celebrate the occasion of the Second Sunday of Easter, where we are called to continue to keep in mind the core belief of our Christian faith in the suffering, death and Resurrection of Our Lord , Jesus Christ. We continue to celebrate the new life from the tomb, by rising from the dead Jesus gave us new life hence we have every reason to celebrate.
In our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the account of the works of the Apostles, who continued to carry out the missions and works which the Lord Himself has entrusted them. The fact that those miracles and signs, wonders and great works were performed by the Apostles even after the Lord had died and then risen in glory, and ascended into Heaven, is a clear evidence that God was still with His disciples and Church, and He still performed His many good works through the hands of His Apostles and other disciples. Through their works, the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord showed to all of God’s people, the great love and compassion that God has for all of them, without exception.
Then from our second reading passage taken from the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle, we heard of the vision that St. John had received while he was exiled in the Isle of Patmos at his old age, during one of the episodes of persecutions against Christians by the Roman Empire. St. John saw the vision of the Lord, in all of His glory, appearing before Him in Heaven. The seven lampstands in the vision marked the seven Angels that always stand before the Holy Presence of God, and therefore, highlighting the Divinity of Christ, Who is truly fully Man and fully God. ln that vision, the Lord told St. John to record everything that he had seen so that he could propagate them to the Church communities then, and therefore to help the faithful to come to know God more. Through what St. John experienced in that amazing heavenly vision, he saw the Lord Who proclaimed Himself as the Almighty God, Who has triumphed and conquered sin and death.
In our Gospel reading this Sunday, we heard of the moment when the Risen Lord appeared before His disciples, and gave them the gift of His Holy Spirit, revealing at the same time that He has truly risen from the dead and was not merely a spirit. He was truly indeed Risen in the Body and Spirit, and He gave them all the authority and power to forgive sins, to perform the many miracles and signs, just as we have heard in our first reading today. Then we also heard about how St. Thomas the Apostle, the one who often doubted the Lord was not there when the Risen Lord first made His appearance, and how he challenged the Risen Lord to appear before him so that he could ascertain whether he was truly Risen or not.
That was just precisely, what the Lord did, as He appeared before all the disciples including that of St. Thomas, and asked the latter to do as he had wanted to do, to put his fingers and touch the marks of the nails and the wound at His side. We heard how St. Thomas finally believed and made the public profession of faith, ‘My Lord and my God’ before everyone. Through this event, we are yet again reminded that our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son of God had truly risen from the dead and triumphed over sin and death.
This is why on this Sunday as we celebrate the Second Sunday of Easter and also the Divine Mercy Sunday, we are reminded of this Aspect of the Lord in His most generous and rich mercy towards all of us. The Divine Mercy has revealed Himself to us through one St. Faustina Kowalska about a century ago, who made known the revelations through her diary, which went through many hurdles and struggles before finally being accepted by the Church as part of its official teachings. Today, the devotion to the Divine Mercy is one of the most popular devotions in the Church, with millions praying the devotion daily and more.
For all of us members of the Christian faithful, we are reminded that if we seek God sincerely with a repentant and contrite heart, God, the Divine Mercy, in His infinite and boundless mercy will show us His compassion and love, and will heal us from all of our afflictions, our sins and wickedness, our corruptions and evils. This is why as we commit ourselves anew to the Lord, the Divine Mercy, we should continue to do our best in this world to be truly faithful to Him in all things, becoming good role models and inspirations for one another and for others around us, to show the love and mercy of God to the world. And we are constantly reminded this Easter season that through God’s most wonderful love and mercy, we have been brought into the path towards eternal life and true happiness with God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore put our trust and faith in the Divine Mercy of God and continue to live our lives most faithfully in the manner that we all should do as Christians, that is as the disciples and followers of Christ. All of us are reminded that we should not remain idle in our faith and lives, but we must embody God’s love and mercy in our daily lives, in doing our very best to show love and compassion to our fellow brothers and sisters around us. We must always practice love and charity in our everyday actions, in everything that we say and do, in our every interactions with one another, to our brethren around us and even strangers in our midst. May the Lord, the Divine Mercy continue to bless us all and guide us with His compassion and love, now and always.
On this Divine Mercy Sunday, the Gospel states that Jesus greets his disciples with the gift of peace. His first words to his fearful disciples are, “Peace be with you!” This is an affirmation that there is peace where Jesus is truly present to us. His peace helps to calm our fears. Our faith in the risen Christ is the foundation that helps us overcome fear. With Christ alongside us, there is no need to fear. Thomas asked for proof before he would believe, but we rely on our faith in the words and works of Jesus to sustain us through it all. No matter what you are experiencing right now in your life, God wants us to believe that even when we fear, His mercy will sustain us. His way is better than our own. God is in control. When we recognize that God looks beyond our faults and sees what we need, we will know MERCY.