HOMILY FOR SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR B (DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY)

HOMILY FOR SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR B (DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY)
Acts 4:32-35 / Psalm 118:2-4, 15c-16b&17-18, 22-24, (R. 1) / 1 John 5:1-7 / John 20:19-31.

HOMILY THEME: THE UNBOUNDED MERCY OF GOD

BY: FR. PETER GABRIEL OKON

“Jesus Christ taught that man not only receives and experiences the mercy of God, but that he is also called ‘to practice mercy’ towards others.” (John Paul II, Dives in misericordia – Rich in Mercy, no. 14)

Today, the Second Sunday of Easter is also celebrated as the Divine Mercy Sunday. The Divine Mercy devotion has been widely popularized by St Maria Faustina. From the diary of Maria Faustina, a special devotion to the mercy of God is spreading throughout the world. “The message of divine mercy calls us to a deeper understanding that God’s love is unlimited and available to everyone especially the greatest sinners: the greater the sinner, the greater the right he/she has to My mercy”.

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The appearance of Jesus and encounter with Thomas in the gospel reading of today expresses in a way the mercy and love of God. It shows how much interest Jesus has in each and everyone of us, to clear our doubt, leading us to salvation which hinges on our believe in Him, in His resurrection. Recall that initially the Apostles, did not completely believe in the testimony of Mary Magdalene and others, and Jesus took the time to appear personally to them, then they all believed except Thomas who was absent.

To show how much God loves us individually, our Lord took the extra care to ensuring that Thomas also believed in His resurrection and be saved, despite having to endure the pains of the piercing of His side by Thomas’ fingers. Our Lord did not mind re-living that experience for the sake of one doubting soul- Thomas, provided that it will help his faith and indeed it did, and he professed a most profound faith, “My Lord and my God”. Total self- abandonment and believe.

It comes at a time in our lives, we can assume the position of Thomas; doubting everything we had hitherto believed in. We could doubt even our very own existence and even doubt the mercy and love of God. This doubt can be positive, provided we are open to be guided by the Light of Christ to the Truth. Thomas’ doubt wasn’t an empty doubt, but an epistemic doubt, he wanted to seek true knowledge and faced with the Truth, he surrendered completely. Thomas refused to say he understood what he did not understand. He was honest and open to learning.

Today, there might be some of us who just chorus alongside others the creed of our faith without understanding or believing a line of it. We keep nodding our heads in affirmation about things we don’t even understand about the faith, instead of seeking for clarity and true knowledge. Our fears sometimes might be that we will be reproached. The Apostles had that same fear, after having abandoned their master. But when Jesus appeared to them, He greeted them with Peace. His peace calmed all their fears and soothed their sorrows, and then he opened the door for us all to experience same inner peace through the sacrament of penance. ” Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained”(John 20:23).

Dearly beloved, this is the deal: the fountain of love, the floodgate of Divine Mercy is opened for us. Let us then embrace the sacrament of penance and like Thomas reconcile ourselves with Jesus, as often as we have the need to. We know for sure that we are all sinners (Rom. 3:23), and the mercy of God is enough to encourage us to repentance. The painting of the Divine Mercy as revealed to St Maria Faustina, has Jesus raising His right hand in a gesture of blessing, with His left hand on His heart, from which gush forth two rays, ONE RED and the OTHER WHITE, with the message, “JESUS I TRUST IN YOU”. The Red symbolizing the Blood of Jesus which is the Life of the soul, and the white representing the Water of Baptism, which justifies souls. This is the fount to which we are invited to, to be cleansed and purified.

In the beatitude, Jesus opens our heart and mind to a dimension of God’s mercy, the best possible way to benefit from it, and that is, by being merciful ourselves. “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy (Matt 5:7). And the Church teaches us to be merciful in the following ways; 1) The Corporal works of mercy: Feed the hungry, Give drink to the thirsty, Clothe the naked, Shelter the homeless, Comfort the imprisoned, Visit the sick, Bury the dead. 2) The Spiritual works of mercy: Admonish sinners, Instruct the uninformed, Counsel the doubtful, comfort the sorrowful, be patient with those in error, Forgive offenses, Pray for the living and the dead. Let us practice mercy towards others as we receive mercy from God our Father.

May the glory and radiance of the risen Lord fill our hearts and minds and make us harbingers of God’s merciful love and peace in the world Amen.

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