Divine Mercy Sunday (Cycle A, Year II)
Community Word: The Risen Lord strengthens our hope for eternal life.
Theme: Our hope of eternal life is strengthened when we open our hearts to the immense mercy of God.
Promise: “I was hard pressed and was falling, but the Lord helped me.” (Ps 118:13)
Reflection:
On April 30, 2000, the Year of the Great Jubilee, St. John Paul II canonized St. Faustina Kowalska, the “great apostle of Divine Mercy.” He also approved the Divine Mercy message and devotion by declaring the 2nd Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday for the Universal Church. In extending this feast to the entire Church, St. John Paul II re-emphasized the resurrection context of Easter citing St. Faustina’s diary: “Humanity will never find peace until it turns with trust to the Divine Mercy.” He described the feast of the Divine Mercy as the Easter gift that the Church has received from the Risen Christ for all humanity.
John the Evangelist helps us grasp the value of this gift by sharing the emotion felt by the Apostles when Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection. Our attention is focused on the gesture of the Master who conveys to the fearful and astounded disciples the mission of being ministers of the Divine Mercy. He shows them His hands and side bearing the mark of His passion, and tells them, “As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you,” (Jn 20:21).
Immediately afterwards, “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained’” (Jn 20:22-23). Jesus entrusted to them the gift of “forgiving sins,” a gift that flows from the wounds of His hands, feet, and pierced side. From there, a wave of great mercy is poured out to all of humanity.
The Divine Mercy of Christ is the assurance of God’s immense mercy, expressing His deep love for us. He wants us to approach Him in constant prayer and repentance. As we grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are experiencing the mercy and love of God through the heroic efforts of our front-liners, particularly the doctors and nurses, who are giving their selfless service for the survival of their patients. The generous efforts of people who are fabricating PPE’s and facemasks for the “new soldiers” are very touching. God’s mercy and compassion is distinctly present in the united prayers for the sick and the dying worldwide. The prayer of the church militant, the living Christian believers, has salvific power especially on those who are suffering and who perished because of this crisis.
God’s infinite mercy deepens our hope for eternal life. It is a human yearning that is personal and infectious. In the Apostles Creed, we declare, “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” Likewise in the Nicene Creed, the whole Church confesses, “We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.” Our hope for eternal life is strengthened in the celebration of the feast of the Divine Mercy because it encourages us to open our hearts to God’s unfathomable mercy and grace. It is by His great mercy that our sins are truly forgiven and we have new life as His children. As St. John Paul II reminds us, mercy is the greatest attribute of God.
Through His conversation with St. Faustina, Jesus assures us that all our sins will be forgiven and all punishments related to them will be completely erased if we follow His instructions (see Sr. Faustina’s Diary 699, Diary 848). He tells us that His Divine Mercy is the last hope for the salvation of mankind (see Sr. Faustina’s Diary 965, 1541). When we believe in the Divine Mercy of God, we are saved and we can claim this promise, “I was hard pressed and was falling, but the Lord helped me,” Ps 118:13).
Prayer:
Father God, we praise and thank You for Your infinite mercy and love. Even in the midst of the world’s darkest moment brought about by the Covid-19 Pandemic, we feel Your loving and mighty Presence through the many acts of selflessness of our brothers and sisters. Thank You for Your magnificent light that continues to shine in the midst of darkness. Thank You for Your unfathomable mercy which endures forever. Amen.
Reflection Questions:
1. What are your spiritual realizations during the present lockdown/ quarantine brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic?
2. From the message of the Divine Mercy what specific resolution/s are you making to reform your life?
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
April 19, 2020 (Sun) – Acts 2:42-47/Ps 118:2-4,13-15,22-24/1Pt 1:3-9/Jn 20:19-31
April 20, 2020 (Mon) – Acts 4:23-31/Ps 2:1-3, 4-9/Jn 3:1-8
April 21, 2020 (Tues) – Acts 4:32-37Ps 93:1AB, 1CD, 2, 5/ Jn 3:7b-15
April 22, 2020 (Wed) – Acts 5:17-26/ Ps 34:2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9/ Jn 3:16-21
April 23, 2020 (Thur) – Acts 5:27-33/Ps 34:2, 9, 17-20/Jn 3:31-36
April 24, 2020 (Fri) – Acts 5:34-42/Ps 27:1, 4, 13, 14/Jn 6:1-15
April 25, 2020 (Sat) – 1Pt 5:5b-14/Ps 89:2-3, 6-7, 16-17/ Mk 16:15-20
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
Supplemental Reflection on Divine Mercy Sunday
Our Lord Jesus said to Faustina, “The soul that will go to confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness and punishment. On that day, all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be scarlet….Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of Mercy” (Diary 699). “Speak to the world about My Mercy; let all mankind recognize My unfathomable mercy. It is a sign for the end times; after it will come the day of justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fountain of My mercy; let them profit from the Blood and Water which gushed forth for them” (Diary 848). Jesus our Lord Himself is assuring us that all our sins will be forgiven and all the punishments related to it will be completely erased if we follow His admonition.
The Divine Mercy is the last hope for salvation of mankind. Jesus said to St. Faustina, “Souls perished in spite of My bitter Passion. I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy…..Tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice is near” (Diary 965). Our Lord Jesus is telling us that many souls are going in to hell so He is giving the feast of the Divine Mercy, the Chaplet and the devotion related to it as our last hope for salvation. Jesus said to St. Faustina, “It pleases Me to grant everything souls ask of Me by saying the Chaplet. When hardened sinners say it, I will fill their souls with peace and the hour of their death will be a happy one. Write this for the benefit of distressed souls; when a soul sees and realizes the gravity of its sins, when the whole abyss of the misery into which it immersed itself is displayed before its eyes, let it not despair, but with trust let it throw itself into the arms of My mercy, as a child into the arms of its beloved mother…..Tell them no soul has called upon My mercy has been disappointed or brought to shame” (Diary 1541).
