Homily for Easter Year B 2021
Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31
Introduction
One of
the gifts Pope Saint John Paul II left for the Church was promoting the Divine
Mercy devotion and naming this second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy
Sunday. But the message of Divine Mercy
is not reserved just for those who pray the Divine Mercy chaplet, no more than
the Holy Spirit is reserved for the Charismatic Renewal or the Blessed Mother
reserved for the Legion of Mary.
While
mercy is treating someone better than they deserve, we know that God always
treats us, all of us, better than we deserve.
And so let us reflect on two ways God give us his Divine Mercy, by
creating us and by forgiving us.
Scripture and Theology
To
understand the first kind of divine mercy in creation, think of a young man in
high school. Let us call him
George. He is unremarkable, not
particularly athletic, not very good in class either, and scores average or
lower on all the kinds of things young ladies would look for in a potential
date. Then out of the blue, this girl,
let us call her Carmen, begins to show George some attention. She is not only really beautiful, she’s also the
head cheerleader and valedictorian of her class, to say nothing about all the
good work she does at Church. Carmen is
the kind of daughter every parent wants to have. Anyway, then she asks our nondescript young
man to be her date for the Prom. Now you
are probably thinking “no way this could never happen in real life.” And perhaps some of the guys here are
wondering why I am talking about them.
But I
am really talking about all of us; for this is exactly what God did. He had no need of human beings, but still he
created us. He wanted to share his life
with us. This is divine mercy – this is
God giving human beings more than we deserve – giving us life, his life. We probably don’t think of God creating us as
a form of divine mercy. But if we
realize that we didn’t have to exist, then we must see that our very existence
is an act of mercy from God.
This
first kind of divine mercy has nothing to do with sin and wrongdoing. Going back to our high school young man, George
had done nothing wrong. His problem was
that he was out of Carmen’s league, just by who he was. But rather than choosing others, perhaps
better and more obvious choices, she chose him.
She treated him better than he could ever imagine deserving.
In the
same way, God shows us mercy by choosing human beings to be his friends. Human beings are not in God’s league either; angels
come close to it, but certainly not human beings. But God creates us and invites us into a
relationship of love and friendship with him.
That is Divine Mercy.
The
second kind of divine mercy is what we are more used to, when God forgave men for
sinning against him. Yes, he punished
them sometimes, but way more leniently than they deserved. The punishment for sinning against God, who
is all good, is Hell, eternal separation from God. But that is not the punishment God meted out to
Adam and Eve, to Cain, to the children of Israel and subsequent
generations. In his mercy he not only
forgave them, but he also sent them prophets, priests and kings, to help them
get back on the right track. Moreover,
he sent his Son to be the final and lasting instrument of forgiveness and
mercy.
To
understand the depth of this mercy, let’s return to our friends George and
Carmen. Let’s imagine that George
actually goes to the Prom with his unlikely date. And then by some miracle, they actually fall
in love and get married. Now we would
all agree that this lucky young man has won the jackpot. But wouldn’t you know it, after they have
been married for a couple of years, he begins to take her for granted. He forgets the mercy she accorded him in
choosing him. And then this knucklehead
does something really stupid; he cheats on his wife.
Fortunately
for him, after some soul-searching and agonizing, and prayerful reflection, Carmen
forgives him. She treats him better than
he deserves, much better than he deserves.
Remember that she is truly a good woman.
If dating him in the first place was an act of mercy because he was out
of her league, now forgiving him for his infidelity and taking him back is an
act of mercy because he has received a lesser punishment than he deserves.
And so,
the second kind of Divine Mercy is no longer because human beings are of a
lower nature than God, but now also because human beings are sinful. This is the kind of mercy that admits us back
into God’s good graces. This is the
mercy which the resurrection of Jesus brings about for us. This is the kind of mercy we seek when we go
to the Sacrament of Confession, the fountain of divine mercy. This is the kind of mercy we proclaim
throughout the Mass when we say, “Lord Have Mercy, Christ Have Mercy, Lord Have
Mercy.”
Christian Life
We have
just heard in the gospel passage, Jesus appearing to his disciples in the same
upper room he had had the Last Supper with them. Imagine you were one of the disciples, and
your Master whom you had abandoned to die alone on the Cross returns to
you. How would you feel? Ashamed?
Embarrassed? Guilty? Imagine you were the Master who had been left
for dead, what would your fist words be on meeting these disciples? Possibly some four-letter words?
But
Jesus on both occasions greets his friends saying, “Shalom! Peace be with you.” With those words Jesus showers his mercy upon
his disciples, forgiving their abandoning him and letting bygones be bygones. This is Divine Mercy. But he gives them more than forgiveness. For we heard that they were afraid of the
Jews. His greeting also takes their fear
away and that too is Divine Mercy.
But as
they have received this mercy, so must they share it with others. That is why he gives them the power to
forgive sins, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and
whose sins you retain are retained.”
In this way Jesus institutes the Sacrament of Confession, through which
we, till today, receive God’s mercy. For
when we go to the priest and in contrition confess our sins, the priest tells
us these comforting words:
God the Father of mercies, through the
death and resurrection of his Son, has reconciled the world to himself and sent
the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins. Through the ministry of the Church, may God give you pardon and peace.
Did you
hear that? It is not Father Deo or
Father Mike/Amal forgiving you your sins, but it is God the Father of mercies,
through the work of his Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. That is why the priest concludes saying: “I
absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit.” He not only absolves you
but tells you in whose name he is giving you Divine Mercy.
In the
same gospel story, we heard about Thomas’ truancy the first time when Jesus
appeared to his disciples on Easter Sunday.
And so, Thomas missed out on seeing Jesus and was not able to believe
that Jesus had really appeared to them.
A week later, like today, he is present and he sees the Lord who even
lets him touch his hands and his side.
And then Thomas believes and exclaims: “My Lord and my God!” We can learn from Thomas’ experience that
Divine Mercy is to be found when we are in the community, not when we are away
on our own.
Conclusion
My
friends God has not stopped showering his mercy upon us, whether it is the
mercy of creating and sustaining us lowly beings in the way that Carmen loved
George or whether it is the mercy of Jesus forgiving us in confession like he
forgave those who abandoned him. The
fountain of Divine Mercy still flows.
We do
this in the seven Corporal Works of Mercy
that attend to the bodily needs of others, like the early Christian community
in today’s first reading did for each other.
1. To feed the hungry
2. To give drink to the thirsty
3. To clothe the naked
4. To shelter the homeless
5. To visit the sick
6. To visit the imprisoned
7. To bury the dead
We also
have the spiritual works of mercy that attend to the souls of others, like the
disciples did for Thomas to bring him to faith in the Risen Lord.
1. To instruct the ignorant
2. To counsel the doubtful
3. To admonish sinners
4. To bear wrongs patiently
5. To forgive offences willingly
6. To comfort the afflicted
7. To pray for the living and the
dead.
Let us give thanks to the Lord, for his
mercy is without end. Let us carry on
sharing God’s mercy to others, for his mercy is without end.
No comments:
Post a Comment