In this Sunday’s gospel, the resurrected Jesus greeted them with a manifold array of spiritual gifts: First, he imparted His peace, the peace that surpasses all human understanding. (Phil 4:7) How relieved and joyful they must have felt as recipients of this heavenly peace in the midst of their fear. Next, Jesus commissioned them: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” They were to become His emissaries and would be given all the grace they would need for their mission. Finally, Christ bestowed on the apostles the power to forgive sins, which was in effect Divine Mercy coming into the world.

St Thomas Aquinas sees mercy as the greatest attribute of God. In Latin, the word for mercy is “misericordia”.   It’s made of two main words, “miseriae” which means misery or miserable and “cor” meaning heart. Thus, misericordia, or mercy, means to give, to extend one’s heart to the misery of others.

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. Jesus Himself wanted this Feast established.  

He greatly desires to save every soul. (Diary 1182) Jesus desires that everyone knows about His promises of Mercy to all souls who seek forgiveness from Him. He has promised that He will not only forgive sins, but He will also inundate souls with graces of healing and peace.  Jesus says in the Diary of St. Faustina that “whoever approaches the Fount of Life on this day will be granted complete remission of sins and punishment”. (Diary 300) Jesus told St. Faustina that He wants us to trust Him, to trust in His Goodness, to trust in His Mercy and to trust in His unfathomable love for each and every human being, no matter what state their soul is in or no matter what sins they have committed. 

We are in great need of God’s mercy in today’s world. Pope St. John Paul II, the tireless advocate of the Divine Mercy, once wrote that: “Where hatred and the thirst for revenge dominate…there the grace of mercy is needed in order to settle human minds and hearts and to bring about peace. Wherever respect for life and human dignity is lacking, there is need of God's merciful love, in whose light we see the inexpressible value of every human being. Mercy is needed in order to ensure that every injustice in the world will come to an end in the splendor of truth.” (Pope JP II, Pope's Homily During Mass for Dedication of Divine Mercy Shrine)

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us approach the fount of God’s mercy by repenting of our sins and asking God to pour His mercy out upon us and upon the whole world. 

And may God’s mercy flow through us to others as we extend love and forgiveness to others just as God does to us. 

Blessings,

Fr. Robain