Today is the Second Sunday of Easter, the Sunday of Divine Mercy.
Dives in Misericordia – Rich in Mercy – is the title of the second encyclical letter that Pope St. John Paul II issued. I’d like to focus with you on some reflections that come from this document.
(Dives in Misericordia, 6) “Mercy is manifested in its true and proper aspect when it restores to value, promotes and draws good from all the forms of evil existing in the world and in man…Understood in this way, mercy constitutes the fundamental content of the messianic message of Christ…Mercy never ceased to reveal itself, as an especially creative proof of the love which does not allow itself to be ‘conquered by evil,’ but overcomes ‘evil with good.’”
So, mercy is a “creative” proof of love, that wins over evil – not with more evil – but with good; we overcome evil with that, which St. John described in our second reading as sharing in the “persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance”. We suffer – by sharing in the persecution; we reign already – by sharing in the Kingdom of God; and we are perfected – by patiently enduring.
(Dives in Misericordia, 9) “Mary, then, is the one who has the deepest knowledge of the mystery of God's mercy. She knows its price, she knows how great it is. In this sense, we call her the Mother of Mercy: our Lady of mercy, or Mother of divine mercy; in each one of these titles there is a deep theological meaning, for they express the special preparation of her soul, of her whole personality, so that she was able to perceive, through the complex events, first of Israel, then of every individual and of the whole of humanity, that mercy of which ‘from generation to generation’…people become sharers according to the eternal design of the most Holy Trinity."
Mary, the Mother of the Risen Christ, is the Mother of Mercy. Through a special preparation, she is able to show mercy to all people, as well as individuals. She is able to lead us to know how the Holy Trinity, right here and right now, is showing us mercy.
When we see how we have received mercy, we can then, in turn practice mercy. Through acts of mercy, we can be of service to those who suffer, or those who are weaker. Through words of mercy, we can give comfort to others, guide them on the right path, speak in such a way as to encourage others and ourselves to grow in virtue. We can give hope to others with our speech. Through the prayer of mercy, we should invoke God’s mercy on the world. Our Lord Jesus gave to St. Faustina Kowalska a special type of prayer – the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
We stand with doubting Thomas, even after the Resurrection, having at times to put our fingers into Jesus’ hands and side. We stand at times with Peter, who had denied the Lord during the Passion, and then became the first of the Apostles. We stand with them only to hear the words of Christ from the Book of Revelation: “Do not be afraid”. In the Gospel, Christ repeats this phrase three times: “peace be with you”. Where there is mercy, there is peace; mercy sets free from the desire for revenge, from the temptation to self-pity, and from inordinate, debilitating fear.
St. Cyril of Alexandria said that being merciful “makes us like to God, and impresses on our souls the mark as it were of a sublime nature” (Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, M.F. Toal ed., vol. 3, pg. 84, 1959). Let us ask our Lady of Mercy to give us the grace, to grant us the ability, to be merciful. May the Risen Lord impart to us this grace.
(Fr. Pawel Ratajczak, OMI, April 24, 2022)