2nd Sunday Easter, A, Divine Mercy Sunday, God’s Great Mercy

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John 20, 19-31 (2nd Sunday Easter, A, Divine Mercy Sunday)

Focus: God’s Great Mercy.

Function: To remind hearers of God’s great mercy.

  1. Introduction

“God’s mercy endures forever.”

God’s mercy radiated from the upper room of eternity; God’s mercy flowed into the upper room of human history; God’s mercy saturates the upper room of our earthly lives. Let us gaze closely at “God’s great mercy,” which “endures forever.”

  1. From the “Upper Room of Eternity” to the Upper Room of History

    1. The radiance of God’s great mercy in the “Upper Room of Eternity” is indeed beyond our comprehension.
  2. Out of God’s great mercy, the unchanging God chose to enter into a changing world in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ, so that sinful humankind might be redeemed. God’s mercy is not merely a concept, but an incarnation: Jesus Christ is Divine Mercy incarnated. …And His Mercy endures forever.
  3. Out of God’s great mercy, the eternal and changeless God took on our temporal and changing human condition, so that our mortality might be clothed with immortality. That is, redeemed humankind was given the hope of salvation: “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,” as we hear in today’s Second reading.
    1. Thus, out of God’s great mercy for humankind, the Second Person of the Triune God, entered into the upper room of human history for our redemption and our salvation.
  1. During His earthly life, the Historical Jesus taught His followers how to live: how to love God above all things, and to love their neighbor as themselves. In addition to His earthly words and actions, He left His disciples sacred symbols and gestures—culminating in the gift of His continuing Real Presence in the breaking of the Bread and the sharing of the Cup.
  1. During His passion and death, Jesus Christ—Divine Mercy Incarnate—suffered in the flesh for the redemption and salvation of all humanity.
  2. Through Jesus Christ’s resurrection, God, “in His great mercy,” gave His followers—and all of humankind—“a new birth to a living hope,” as Peter points out
  3. Accordingly, in the upper room of the early Christian community, described in the Acts of the Apostles, they gathered in hope to listen to the teachings about Jesus—the Risen Lord. They divided their possessions; they broke the Bread and shared the Cup together. These early Christians’ confidence in God’s great mercy—learned from the Historical Jesus and manifested in the Risen Christ—shows us how to live in the upper room of our own lives.
  4. The Upper Room of our Lives to the Upper Room of Eternity

    1. However, like the Apostles in today’s Gospel, we often lock the doors of the upper room of our own lives.
  5. We too live in fear—perhaps in fear of those who are different, in fear of immigration, in fear of a whole host of “isms”, such as conservatism, liberalism, capitalism, socialism, feminism, terrorism, and so forth.
  1. We also live in fear because of our own personal sins. We fail to trust that God indeed forgives our sins. We are so caught up in shame and guilt, that we forget the torrential radiance of God’s Mercy that washes away our sins.
  2. We also lock the doors of the upper room of our lives by doubting—as Thomas did. We doubt the reality of God’s presence among us. We doubt the brilliance and stream of God’s Mercy that saturates our earthly lives. We don’t quite believe…
  3. We forget that Jesus had compassion on Thomas’ doubts and questions. The Risen Lord responded mercifully by showing Thomas His hands and His side. Jesus invited him to touch His Sacred Wounds—Wounds from which God’s Mercy shone and flowed. He invited Thomas to believe.

    1. Our response to Jesus’ invitation
  4. Are we open to receiving the same compassionate invitation from the Risen Lord? Are we willing to touch His Sacred Wounds? Are we willing to believe in God’s mercy?
  5. God’s mercy was the message of our Risen Lord when He appeared from the upper room of eternity to Saint Sister Faustina in Poland on February 22, 1931. In the apparition, two rays of light—one pale, the other red—shone from His wounded side. (Remember that when the side of the dying Jesus was pierced on the Cross, water and blood flowed from the wound?) The message of this apparition was authenticated by the Church’s magisterium, and is celebrated yearly as Divine Mercy Sunday on the first Sunday after Easter.
  6. In this vision, Jesus said to Saint Faustina:

the rays represent the Water and Blood which gushed forth from the depths of my Mercy when My agonizing Heart was pierced on the cross. The pale rays symbolize the water, which cleanses and purifies the soul; the red rays represent the blood, which gives New Life to the soul.

Jesus asked that we count on “the incomprehensible depth” of

His Mercy—that we utter the simple prayer: “Jesus, I trust in You.”

  1. Conclusion

The radiance of God’s great mercy in the “Upper Room of Eternity” is indeed beyond our comprehension!

The Incarnation of God’s great mercy in the upper room of human history, (which now includes the third millennium), assures us that God’s great mercy indeed endures forever!

May the presence of Divine Mercy Incarnate always shine in the upper Room of our lives— and may we confidently draw upon God’s mercy that endures forever.

Intercessions, Second Sunday of Easter, 2008.

For the Universal Church on this Divine Mercy Sunday, that She may rededicate Herself to proclaiming the teachings of Divine Mercy Incarnate in word and deed, as well as in symbol and gesture, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

For leaders of nations, that they may not lock doors out of fear to the needs of those they are called to serve, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

For all peoples, that they may experience the everlasting redemptive and salvific mercy of God, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

For our faith community assembled here in the upper room of our Lord’s presence—in the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist, in the people gathered and their praises rendered, in the scriptures proclaimed and lived, [pause] that we may encounter and count on God’s great mercy, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

For those who recently entered the Church, may Divine Mercy Incarnate bless them richly, and may we encourage them boldly in their faith, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

For those who suffer from fear and doubt in the upper room of their lives, may they draw confidence and clarity from the Sacred Wounds of the Risen Lord, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

For each one of us present as we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, may “Jesus, I trust in You” be a frequent prayer on our lips, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

And for your prayers…