HOMILY FOR 2ND SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR A. (DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY) YEAR A. (2)

HOMILY FOR 2ND SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR A. (DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY) YEAR A.

THEME: DIVINE MERCY.

BY: Rev Fr Stephen ‘Dayo Osinkoya.

First Reading: Acts 2:42-47
Psalm118
Second Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Gospel Reading: John 20:19-31

Each year since 2000, the Church Universal has marked the Second Sunday of Easter as “Divine Mercy Sunday.”  St. John Paul II designated that day as the Feast of Divine Mercy when he canonized Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-38) in 2000.

Today, God opens the depths of His mercy, like no other day of the year. Jesus told St. Faustina: “I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces, upon those souls, who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment

In the Gospel today, although the doors were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood before the apostles, and said, “Peace be with you”. He showed the wounds of His hands and side. He then “breathed on them, and said to them: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’ ” (Jn 20:22-23). With these words, Jesus entrusted to the apostles, the gift of “forgiving sins,” the sacrament of reconciliation, which flows from the wounds in His hands, feet, and from His pierced side. That is an expression of the depth of God’s mercy for us.

What is Divine Mercy?
Saint Thomas Aquinas defined mercy in general as “the compassion in our hearts for another person’s misery, a compassion which drives us to do what we can to help him.” Divine Mercy, therefore, is the form that God’s eternal love takes when he reaches out to us in the midst of our need and our brokenness. In his mercy, God does not only stoop down to the very bottom of our miseries to save us, but he also draws us up high to make us His children. God does not just do merciful things sometimes, nor does He have a merciful “side” to His character, as a human being might have. On the contrary, He is always and everywhere and at all times merciful. Everything He does is an expression of His Mercy

But how do we respond to God’s Mercy?

TRUST
When fears of unknown or known, anxieties and confusion, and resentments all converge at once, it is precisely, then, that we need to try to listen to the silent voice of God deep within our hearts, pleading with us, crying out like a voice in the desert, “Trust Me!” God speaks very loudly, but His language is usually silence (see Diary, 888). Once our hearts are stilled, His most common words to us are: “Do not be afraid. I am with you. Trust Me.” Consider this verse from the Psalms: “Trust God at all times, my people! Pour out your hearts to God our refuge!” (Ps 62:9).

RELATED: HOMILY FOR THE 2ND  SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR A
 
Trust is the humble and free exercise of our free will, submitting our will to the will of God. It is our faith, hope, and love put into action in responding to God’s great mercy. Trust is a concrete and practical way to practice humility. It calls us to rely on God as the giver of all good gifts and the provider of all our needs. Trust is a way to proclaim the truth that God is my Creator and Redeemer who cares for me.

PERSEVERANCE
We are called to persevere in our trust in the Lord, especially when we suffer or face setbacks in life. Whether the anguish was physical or spiritual, Faustina continued to trust and embrace suffering in the spirit of Jesus. The Lord told her: Both the sinner and the righteous person have need of My mercy. Conversion, as well as perseverance, is a grace of My mercy (Diary, 1577).

PRAYER
We nurture our relationship of trust in the Lord and our desire for holiness through a life of prayer. A constant attitude of prayer is important even in the busy world. Of course, we all are encouraged to recite the prayers of devotion to The Divine Mercy, especially praying every day at 3 p.m., the Hour of Great Mercy, and praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Our Lord particularly urged Faustina to pray the chaplet at the bedside of the dying.

Our prayer takes the form of praise and thanksgiving. By giving thanks always and everywhere, we acknowledge that God is God, that He knows and loves us, and cares for us in every circumstance of our lives. It’s so easy in the busyness of life to take God’s blessings for granted. This is why it’s important to always take time to praise and thank God whenever we pray. As we do, let’s remember that all of God’s blessings are a sign of His mercy toward us, since they are all gifts from Him

In conclusion, we too are all called to show Mercy.
We have been focusing on God’s mercy through trusting in Jesus and cultivating a life of prayer. Now, we conclude by reminding ourselves how we too are called to show mercy to others. As Christians, we are called to be merciful to others in the same way God the Father is merciful to us. In a word, we are to love our neighbor in need as God has loved us.

This relationship between love and mercy is expressed by [St.] Faustina in the words: ‘Love is the flower, mercy the fruit’ (Diary, 948).” When we give love we receive mercy in return. “Charity covers multitude of sins”

Today, when we receive Holy Communion, may all of us have the intention of receiving the complete forgiveness of our sins, and all punishment, and Jesus will say to us, “Peace be with You!”

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