April 28, 2019

Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday

Jesus, I Trust in You

Deacon Kevin O’Boyle

This week the Church tries to do a number of things. As the Second Sunday of Easter, that is the Sunday within the Octave of Easter, we are continuing our celebration of Easter in a special way. Our readings carry themes of Reconciliation, Faith, Evangelization and Priesthood. As Devine Mercy Sunday, we are also called to celebrate God’s Mercy – especially as revealed to St. Faustina in Poland in the last century. This sounds like quite a challenge. But don’t worry, it should only take me about 45 minutes to touch on each of these…. Actually, I will try to do it in my usual 8 minutes or so, because, although we have all these issues, they are all related in a way.
 
Our readings today help to confuse the situation by the order in which they are presented. Our first reading was from Acts of the Apostles. This book is sometimes referred to as Luke Volume 2. This is because it was written by the author of Luke, and picks up where that book left off. Chapter 5 of Acts, where this reading came from, comes long after Pentecost, the coming of the Spirit upon the Apostles – an event that occurred just weeks after the Death and Resurrection of Christ.
 
Our Second reading comes from Revelation—the last book of the Bible. This is a book that looks forward to the end times, well beyond the actions of our first reading or Gospel. The actions in this first chapter of Revelation probably occurred near the end of the Apostolic age.
 
Finally, our Gospel from John begins in the evening of the first Easter and ends a week later. So, if we wanted to look at our readings chronologically the Gospel would come first, followed by the first reading from Acts, and concluding with the second reading from Revelation. Let’s look at our readings in that order. In His appearance on the evening of Easter, Jesus gives the 11 the power to forgive sins. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is instituted. Later in our Gospel, we hear the famous story of “Doubting Thomas.” He missed Christ’s first appearance to the disciples on Easter evening, so he would not believe the others when they told him they had seen the Lord. A week later, he redeemed himself by saying, “My Lord and My God”. Note that Jesus is insistent that he wants Thomas to believe and gives him the opportunity to see and touch his wounds. This will allow God’s ocean of mercy to be available to Thomas.
 
The first reading from Acts – remember this occurs long after Pentecost – people were believing and coming to new faith based on the works they witnessed the Apostles doing—healing and driving out spirits.
 
Finally, in the Second Reading from the beginning of the Revelation, Jesus meets with John and tells him to write down all that he sees. Upon seeing the Lord, John falls down at His feet, but Jesus tells him “Do not be afraid,” and reveals Himself as the first and last—the one who was once dead, but now is alive forever.
 
There is an underlying theme across all these stories—faith or a lack of it. This theme fits well to both a continued celebration of Easter (Christ’s rising from the dead), and a celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday—where we recognize the ocean of Mercy God is waiting to bestow on us. Both belief that one has risen from the dead, and acceptance of the depth of God’s love for us—and His desire to show mercy require a level of faith. Our stories today show how varying levels of faith impact the display of God’s Mercy.
 
The Gospel story is a story of faith. Doubting Thomas showed a lack of it, unless he could see for himself proof. By definition, faith sometimes requires that we move beyond what we can see. Jesus praised those who had faith without seeing. But, in mercy, Jesus gave Thomas another chance. Given that chance, Thomas made the act of faith, My Lord and My God. But the story does not end there. Jesus guarantees mercy through the Church in the Sacrament of Reconciliation by giving the Apostles the power to forgive sins.
 
The First Reading is the story of a young faith community trusting in the Lord, and the Lord delivering on that trust. Great numbers are being added to the faith, and they are bringing their sick to the Apostles for a cure. Their faith is strengthened by what they see and hear.
 
Finally, in the Second Reading from Revelation, Jesus instructs John to write what he will see. In mercy, he wants future generations of Christians to read Revelation’s story of the end times.
 
When we forgive or are forgiven, we feel the great love that is always released in Mercy. Be it God forgiving us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, our own forgiving of someone who wronged us, or our own reception of forgiveness, great love and mercy are at work. The lessons we learn from these readings are the lessons of Divine Mercy. St. Faustina, the ambassador of Divine Mercy, taught us to say, Jesus, I trust in you. She taught us that our Lord’s mercy was like an ocean, and that Jesus wanted to share it with us always. And that is really what this complicated day comes down to. We are called to trust in God’s Mercy. In the words of the Lord’s Prayer, we are told that our trespasses will be forgiven as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. And that is something to think about this week. God Bless.