GOD’S MERCY ENDURES FOREVER (Sunday, Easter 2, Year B, 2021)

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On a day like this, we may have to reflect a little bit on “mercy”. What does it mean to show mercy? There were times I deserved to be punished but was not. There were times I never deserved to receive certain favors, but I did receive them. At those moments, I was shown mercy. Mercy can be shown in the form of generosity, forbearance, forgiveness; mercy is an expression of love. One of the fruits of mercy is peace. If an offended party forgives an offender, the offender enjoys peace. On this Second Sunday of Easter, we may have to learn that even the raising of Jesus from the dead is one of the clear expressions of divine mercy for humankind. By Christ’s death and resurrection, we have been reconciled with God and with one another; we have been united into a family; we have been pardoned and we now enjoy peace. 

Acts 4:32-35 describes a certain group: the group of believers made up of the disciples (who ran away when Jesus was arrested) and the new converts to Christianity. Before the resurrection of Christ, they were in disarray. After the resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Spirit, they came together for a common course. They became more strongly bound together; had everything in common and prayed together. In fact, they were united for a common course. If they were to consider their actions or words before the passion of Jesus, I don’t think they would have dared to unite for a course which they denied, distanced from and rejected at the moment when they were most dearly needed by their master. But thanks to the mercy of God for the gift of unity! 

Unity is a gift; and we must be very grateful to God for this gift if we are enjoying it. We are living together, eating together, worshipping together and proclaiming the wonders of God together, thanks to God’s mercy and grace. If we are to go by how we have oppressed, spoken against or treated one another in the past, we may not have had the courage to assemble here as a family praising the wonders of God. The mercy of God has located us just as it located the early disciples. 

Disunity is destructive. It separates us from one another; weakens the spiritual bond that links us with one another and thus exposes us to the external attacks. In Jn. 20:19-31, Thomas separated himself from others; he cut himself off from the faith community, and missed a special grace moment of Christ’s appearance to His disciples. At the first appearance, Christ came and communicated peace but Thomas wasn’t there. Others enjoyed peace but Thomas was in pieces; he was in doubt. When Christ appeared for the second time, Thomas later came to believe after placing his finger in the marks on Jesus’ hands and side!

It is from that side that water and blood gushed forth when one of the soldiers pierced Jesus with a lance as it is recorded in Jn. 19:34. Water and blood: symbols of life. “Water” stands for the “life” we receive at Baptism and “Blood” stands for the “life” we receive from the Eucharist, the Sacrifice of the Altar. John says that “the person who can overcome the world is anyone who believes that Jesus came by water and blood” (cf. 1 Jn. 5:1-7). 

When Christ communicated His peace to His apostles, He immediately granted them the power and authority to forgive sins: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”. He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven, if you retain the sins of any, they are retained”. This is not a parable or analogy but a direct delegation of power and authority from the Lord Himself to His apostles. This is one of the scriptural bases for Christ’s institution of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (or Confession).    

The message of the Divine Mercy Sunday is the message of mercy. Out of God’s mercy, we have been reconciled with God and with one another; we have been forgiven and we now have peace. Most importantly, we have received life endlessly gushing forth from the fountain of God’s mercy and grace. We are called to trust in the mercy and love of God, never to doubt it; and to live more like those who have been shown mercy.  





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