2 nd.Sunday of Easter (Year A) (April 16, 2023) Acts 2:42-47, I Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31. (Divine Mercy Sunday) “Jesus, I trust in you”
Introduction: The readings for this Sunday show us our need for God’s Divine Mercy, through the celebration of the Sacraments (especially the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist) when we receive them in trusting Faith.
Origin: St. Faustina Kowalska and the Image of Divine Mercy: St. Faustina of Poland is the wellknown apostle of Divine Mercy. On the 30th of April, 2000, on the Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday, the Feast requested by Jesus in His communications with St. Faustina), Pope St. John Paul II celebrated the Eucharist in Saint Peter’s Square and proceeded to the canonization of Blessed Sister Faustina Kowalska. And she invites us by the witness of her life to keep our Faith and Hope fixed on God the Father, rich in mercy, who saved us by the precious Blood of His Son.
During her short life, the Lord Jesus assigned to St. Faustina three basic tasks: 1. to pray for souls, entrusting them to God's incomprehensible Mercy; 2. to tell the world about God's generous Mercy; 3. to start a new movement in the Church focusing on God's Mercy. At the canonization of St. Faustina, Pope St. John Paul II said: “The cross, even after the Resurrection of the Son of God, speaks, and never ceases to speak, of God the Father, Who is absolutely faithful to His eternal love for man. ... Believing in this love means believing in mercy." “The Lord of Divine Mercy,” a drawing of Jesus based on the vision given to St. Faustina, shows Jesus raising his right hand in a gesture of blessing, with His left hand on his heart from which gush forth two rays, one red and one white. The picture contains the message, "Jesus, I trust in You!" The rays streaming out have symbolic meaning: red for the Blood of Jesus, which is the life of souls, and white for the water of Baptism which justifies souls. The whole image is symbolic of the mercy, forgiveness and love of God.
Life message: We need to accept God's invitation to celebrate and practice mercy in our Christian lives: One major way the Church celebrates God’s mercy throughout the year is through the Holy Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Finding time for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is another good way to receive and give thanks for Divine Mercy. But it is mainly through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy that we practice the Mercy we have received, in our daily lives and become eligible for God’s merciful judgment.
Conclusion: Therefore, as Christians, we must endeavor to share in the Divine Life of Jesus by frequenting the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist. St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) presents it this way: “If we pray, we will believe; if we believe, we will love; if we love, we will serve. Only then we put our love of God into action.”
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