This is the Second Sunday of Easter, also called Divine Mercy Sunday. I’d like to spend time with you on the Gospel, and on the theme of the Feast of Divine Mercy. The Gospel recounts to us how Our Lord showed himself to the disciples, and then to the disciples gathered together with Thomas, the Apostle. The disciples had seen their Master suffer His passion, be crucified, die, and be buried. Now, people are claiming to have seen the Lord. The question arises in their minds, “How can this be true?” No wonder the disciples are confused, amazed, unsure of the news, unsure of whom to trust. They are, however, gathered together. Suddenly, Our Lord appears and the first words he speaks to them are “Peace be with you.”
As St. John Chrysostom says, “His voice steadied their wavering minds…Peace be to you; that is, Be not troubled” (Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, M.F. Toal ed., pg. 266, vol. 2, 1958). Before the disciples can receive the great news of the resurrection, they need to be reassured, steadied, calmed. They receive the Lord with joy.
Thomas the Apostle is not present when Our Lord appears. Not only does he not believe the news, but he also says that he will need to touch the wounds on Jesus’ body to truly be convinced that the He has risen. St. Gregory says that it was God’s “supreme mercy” which arranged that Thomas be absent (Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, M.F. Toal ed., pg. 269, vol. 2, 1958). This supreme mercy is shown yet again, when, eight days later, Jesus does indeed come back – just for the sake of Thomas, just for the sake of that one disciple. St. John Chrysostom writes, “Consider the clemency of the Master; how for merely one soul He shows Himself and His wounds, and draws near to save one” (Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, M.F. Toal ed., pg. 269, vol. 2, 1958). Thomas sees, touches, and trusts. In that, Thomas “healed in us the wounds of our unbelief” (Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, M.F. Toal ed., pg. 269, vol. 2, 1958).
Locked doors, wounds, surprise appearances of the Risen Christ. Brothers and sisters, what are the locked doors of our soul, beyond which no one can enter? What are our places that we have hidden out of sight, shut and barred, the dark, dark places of the past or present, the places filled with suffering or shame. Those places that no one can go into, not husband, wife, friend, or mentor. If we believe in the resurrection, then we need to trust that Our Lord can get in despite the doors being locked, and heal our unbelief, the unbelief that we have carefully hidden, even from those closest to us. This Divine Mercy Sunday is yet again a reminder that God’s providential care and guidance is with us.
St. Augustine of Hippo called the Octave of Easter, “days of mercy and pardon.” He called Sunday in the Octave of Easter “the summary of the days of mercy” (The Divine Mercy Message and Devotion, Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, 2016, pg. 51). Let it not then come as a surprise that Our Lord told St. Faustina Kowalska, “The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter” (The Divine Mercy Message and Devotion, Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, 2016, pg. 50). And Our Lord continued, “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 Divine Mercy Message and Devotion, Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, 2016, pg. 50). Let us then pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy; approach the Sacrament of Confession, and receive Holy Communion; and be merciful to those around us.
There is yet another person who can help us live well our devotion to Divine Mercy. In the words of St. John Paul II, “Mary…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” (John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia, 9). Mary saw the price of mercy – her Son crucified. She knows the greatness of God’s mercy. She can help us live this greatness. Every Sunday of the year we have 2pm adoration and 3pm Divine Mercy chaplet. We will do this practice on Divine Mercy Sunday.
Our Risen Lord appeared to His disciples, healing their unbelief. In these days of mercy, Our Lord also comes to us, with his fount of mercy. This happens especially on Divine Mercy Sunday. Let us take advantage of these founts of grace and salvation.
(Fr. Paweł Ratajczak, OMI, April 7, 2024)