Deacon Larry

 

Divine Mercy Sunday

Acts 5: 12-16; Rev 1: 9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; John 20: 19-31

Dc. Larry Brockman

Imagine the joy the Apostles experienced as they actually saw and talked to the Risen Jesus Christ!  They had eaten and drank with Jesus at the Last Supper, and listened to his prophesy in confusion.  They had seen the trial and Crucifixion in horror; they had fled for cover into the upper room in fear; they had seen the empty tomb and were in awe; they had heard the story of the two men from Emmaus; but they had not yet understood the prophesies that Jesus had foretold and they had not seen the Risen Lord.  And so, they were confused and conflicted; not believing in what was implied- the Resurrection, but rather, wondering what it all meant. 

And then it happened.  Jesus stood before them in the Risen State.  He was real flesh and blood too- with the wounds still in his side and hands.  And he even ate with them proving He was not just some apparition.  Wow, that was surely something else!  Imagine the joy they felt. 

But as awesome as all that was, it was not the source of their lasting joy, because their joy was about to become much deeper than that.  You see Jesus goes on to explain the meaning of it all.  Jesus explains that all that happened to Him was done to complete God’s overall plan for salvation for all people, that everything Jesus experienced fulfilled the prophesies of the prophets just the way the Father had planned it, and that through His suffering and death, he, Jesus had brought redemption to all of us.  Jesus explained how he had to do God’s will, not his own, as hard and as painful as that was, and that the reward for His obedience to God the Father, as humbling as it was for God-made-man, was everlasting Life in a Resurrected body,  For as it says in Revelations:  “Once I was dead, but now I am alive for ever and ever”.

This was the source of lasting joy- as the Apostles came to understand that they, too, would be resurrected after death for everlasting life if they lived out their lives in the way Jesus showed them.  And not only that, but the Apostles and their successors were commissioned by Jesus to spread this Good News.  Jesus says: “As the Father sends me, so also I send you”.  And so, the apostles were being sent out to preach the good news of the Gospel to all men- about His obedience to the Father, and the suffering and death and Resurrection that was a consequence.  He told them to preach that all mankind is called to repent and follow His example. That’s why Jesus gives the Apostles the power to forgive or retain sins, because there is more to our Salvation than just believing in the Resurrection and the potential for everlasting life.  We have to seek forgiveness of our sins, and then repent, that is, change our way of life, to bring it in harmony with God’s plan for us.   

That message has been preached by the Church down through the centuries,   We have just heard that message during our Lenten experience.  Indeed, living the life God has given us, God’s will for us, is the challenge we all now face even if it means we have to suffer for a while- a physical disability, a terrible disease, a limitation; or the need to sacrifice our ambitions to serve others; or any of a number of other constraints on our agenda to assure that God’s agenda is met.  That’s what it means to live God’s will for us.  That’s what it means to be a Christian.  But the reward is our salvation, and the everlasting life with God that comes with it.   

Now part of the joy of Easter is that it lasts for 50 days.  But that 50 days is a meant to be a process, not just a celebration   And so, our Easter experience comes in stages.  First, on Easter Sunday, there is the joyful realization that Jesus rose from the dead, that God so loved us that he sent His only son to live among us as a man, to bring Salvation for all of us through his suffering and death.  That is our Faith- that we believe in Jesus and the Resurrection. 

But then comes the next stage, the realization that to benefit from the Resurrection, we need God’s mercy to repent from our former ways, and change our lives.  We need to live the life that God calls us to, whatever that is, and to bear with the suffering and joys of all that that involves. 

Today, we celebrate a great feast- Divine Mercy Sunday.  Jesus promised St. Faustina back in the 1930’s, that today would be a special day in our yearly Church calendar.   Today, the Sunday in the Octave of the Easter, is the day each year that Jesus calls on us to seek God’s mercy, to seek forgiveness and to resolve to repent.  Jesus revealed that if we confess our sins and receive the Body and Blood of Christ on Divine Mercy Sunday, then our sins will be forgiven, and so will the punishment due us for those sins, this is how immeasurably vast God’s mercy is on this special day. 

Many of us have already gone to Confession this Easter in the wonderful Penance service held here the Monday before Easter.   But, all of us still have time to complete our Easter Duty by asking for forgiveness for our sins here today, and then completing the process by going to Confession before Pentecost.  And so, when we receive Communion today, we can all be assured we will receive the second tremendous gift of the Easter Season- the mercy that is the essence of The Divine Mercy promise.   

And then there is the third stage of our Easter experience, the reception of the Holy Spirit.  It is through the gifts that come with the Holy Spirit that all of are given the strength to follow Jesus’ footsteps. 

Truly, we have an awesome God.  A God who Loves us; who shows us mercy and forgiveness for whatever we have done, and one who gives us strength to do incredible things in God’s name.   

Now I suspect that there are some out there who are skeptical that the Easter experience can be that profound, that it can fundamentally transform our lives.  So let me give you an example of a man who fully experienced Easter.  Look at Peter.  Just two days before the Resurrection, Peter denied Jesus three times, an incredible sin of abandonment to a best friend.  And now, just 10 or so days later, Peter has confessed, experienced God’s infinite mercy, and has received the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Now, we see a vibrant, confident, fearless, faith-filled Peter.  One who heals in the name of Jesus, just by casting his shadow.  Indeed, Peter has learned his Easter experience well.  Let us pray that all of us can make the same kind of transformation.   

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 11th, 2010 at 6:13 am and is filed under Holy Family Sunday Homilies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.