HOMILY FOR THE SUNDAY OF DIVINE MERCY (2ND SUNDAY OF EASTER). (3)

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

THEME: Wounded Healers.

BY: Father Anthony O. Ezeaputa, MA.

In the gospel reading for today (John 20:19–31), Jesus appears to his disciples behind closed doors in Jerusalem. Jesus greets them, saying, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19), and then shows them his hands and his side. And after greeting them a second time, he says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21). Jesus then breathed on them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (John 20:22–23).

Understanding the raison d’être of the actions of Jesus in today’s gospel passage, especially after his resurrection, requires setting them within the larger purpose of the Fourth Gospel. In other words, what is the purpose of John’s gospel?

The opening words of John’s gospel are, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). They are the exact same words that begin the Book of Genesis: “In the beginning” (Genesis 1:1).

While Genesis narrates the story of God creating the world, John’s gospel tells the story of God re-creating and restoring the world to its original plan through his Son, Jesus Christ. So, keep in mind the words “creation,” “re-creation,” and “restoration.”

In Genesis 2:7, “God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” And in today’s gospel, Jesus breathes this same breath of life into his disciples. It means that the work of the new creation and restoration has begun as the disciples are sent forth and entrusted with the power to forgive or retain sins.

Furthermore, John’s gospel identifies Jesus as “the Lamb of God,” whose mission is to “take away the sin,” not only of Israel but of “the world” (John 1:29). Second, after Jesus had completed the work of reconciliation with God, he said, “It is finished” and “gave up his spirit” (19:30), and finally, the Greek word for spirit, “pneuma,” can also be translated as “breath.”

Jesus “giving up his spirit” on the cross prefigures what he does in today’s gospel passage when he breathes on his disciples (John 20:22–23). It is the Spirit who makes the creative work of God, the Father, and the redemptive work of God, the Son, present (anamnesis and epiclesis).

Jesus, the Lamb of God, now gives his disciples his Spirit (also called “breath” or “pneuma”) and gives them the mission of forgiving and retaining sins. Then, forgiveness is God’s way of re-creating and restoring the world to its original state of holiness and justice, and those who dare to forgive those who hurt them are not only participating in God’s work but also helping to make the world a holy and just place.

So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Divine Mercy Sunday is only a week after the Lord’s resurrection. The feast of the Divine Mercy is a celebration of the mercy of God and a reminder for each of us to participate in restoring the world to God’s original purpose by offering God’s divine mercy to our neighbors, especially those who need it the most (John 20:21–23).

In the beginning, Adam and Eve were created in an original state of holiness and justice. They were free from an inclination or concupiscence to sin (Catechism, 375, 376, 377, 398). Through their sin, however, they lost this original state. Sadly, not only for themselves but for us too (CCC, 416). “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).

Through baptism, the original sin is forgiven, but the baptized carry the effect of the original sin, which is the inclination or concupiscence to sin and our weakened human nature or human frailties (CCC, 1263–1264). Interestingly, God has perfect knowledge of our fallen human nature. As a result, he offers us redemption, salvation, or, better yet, divine mercy.

The question is, what do you do with your awareness of people’s flaws, mistakes, weaknesses, tendencies, and shortcomings? Are you more compassionate and merciful to them as a result, or do you have more material to gossip about? Let them lead you to be more compassionate and merciful.

The season of Easter is a reminder that we are capable of so much good through the Risen Christ (Philippians 4:13). Jesus wants us to become ministers of Divine Mercy. And to become a minister of Divine Mercy is to recognize that everybody is weak and imperfect and put that knowledge to good use, which is to forgive one another’s failings. It means imitating Christ, who knew that we were sinners and decided to make peace with us.

After his resurrection and while the apostolic mission was about to begin, and before entrusting the authority to forgive and reconcile repentant sinners (John 20: 22–23) to them, Jesus shows them the wounds of the Passion. For from these wounds comes the divine mercy that heals our wounded and fallen human nature.

On Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church calls us to become wounded healers and to join in restoring the world to a state of holiness and justice through forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace. May Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska and Saint John Paul II, champions of Divine Mercy, pray for us.

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