Homily Easter 2A: Mercy Received, Mercy Shared

 Homily for 2^nd Sunday of Easter Year A 2026

Introduction

My dear brothers and sisters, imagine that you are one of the disciples in the upper room. The doors are locked. Your heart is heavy. You are afraid.  Why? Because you ran away when Jesus was arrested, tortured and crucified. You denied him. You abandoned him.  And then suddenly, Jesus appears, right in front of you.

As we heard in the gospel, he does not come with anger. He does not come with accusations like “what kind of friends are you?”. He does not blame you, “Why did you abandon me?” Instead, his first words are: “Peace be with you.”

Friends, these are words of mercy, Divine Mercy.  And so, on this Divine Mercy Sunday, I want us reflect on the twofold message of the Lord, as first, he pours his mercy upon us, and second, he sends us to share that mercy with others.

But first, what is divine mercy?  Perhaps many of us know it from the popular devotion by the same name.  But divine mercy is more than a devotion.

To understand what divine mercy truly is, imagine a young man at university—let us call him George. He is quite ordinary. Not outstanding in class, not particularly impressive in sports or in any of the ways his peers would consider cool. Then unexpectedly, a remarkable young woman—let us call her Gabriella—befriends him.  She is beautiful, intelligent, the kind of daughter every dad would be proud of.  She becomes his girlfriend.  I am sure that many of us would say, “No Way!  Wapi!  That could never happen.”

Well, that is exactly what God has done for us human beings. God had no need of us, like Gabriella had no need of George. Yet he created us. He chose us. He befriended us.  He loved us.  That is the first kind of Divine Mercy—God giving us more than we deserve, simply by creating us and loving us.

But there is a second kind of mercy.  Let us again imagine that our friends George and Gabriella eventually get married, after completing university, (Yes, they are that responsible enough). They have a simple church wedding, not these extravagant ones you see nowadays, right here at St. Austin’s Church.  They have one child, Priscilla and then another, Patrick.  And then the unimaginable happens.  George, forgets how lucky he is, after being chosen and loved, betrays his lovely wife. He cheats on Gabriella with a coworker.

Gabriella is naturally disturbed, angry and very disappointed.  But after some soul searching and counselling, and repentance on George’s part, she forgives him and takes him back.

That too is mercy—to be forgiven or receive a lesser punishment than we deserve after we have done wrong, the second kind of divine mercy. God did not abandon humanity after we had sinned, he promised and eventually sent us a Saviour.  And today we see Jesus bringing that mercy to us.  Through his death and resurrection, Jesus does not come to condemn us. He comes to restore us. He comes to say: “Peace be with you.”

Scripture and Tradition

And so, in today’s gospel, when Jesus says, “Peace be with you,” he is not just greeting the disciples. He is healing them.  Because mercy is not only about forgiveness—it is also about peace: peace with God, peace with others, and peace within ourselves.  That is why even in the sacrament of confession, at the end, the priest should say: “the Lord has forgiven your sins—go in peace.”

A week later, as we heard, Jesus returns, and this time Thomas is present. Thomas had doubted. He had struggled. But he came.  And the Lord now invites him to touch his wounds. Jesus meets him in his doubt. Although he teases him a little, he does not shame him—he leads him gently to faith, telling him, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

And Thomas responds with one of the most beautiful professions of faith in Scripture: “My Lord and my God!”  This is mercy—to be treated better than we deserve.

But the story does not end there.  Jesus says: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And then he breathes on them and says: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” 

Why does he do this?  It is because his work of preaching and bringing about mercy through his death and resurrection had to be continued, so that each generation until the end of time, including ours, will experience that divine mercy.  Also, he He gives them the power of the Holy Spirit to enable them to share it, especially through the forgiveness of sins.  Mercy received must become mercy shared

Christian Application

My dear brothers and sisters, this same Jesus stands among us today and says to us: “Peace be with you.”  He offers us his mercy—freely, generously—especially through the sacraments of initiation.

·        In Baptism, our sins and their punishments are washed away.

·        In Confirmation, we receive the Holy Spirit.

·        In the Eucharist, we encounter the risen Lord himself.

In addition, we especially receive God’s Mercy in the Sacraments of healing.

·        When we are sick and are thus burdened with the weight of pain and suffering, both physical and psychological, burdened with the prospect of death, the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, brings us God’s mercy, so that we can bear this human condition in peace and hope, and receive the healing of our souls.

·        When we sin and are thus burdened with the prospect of the punishment of hell, and the realization that I have offended “thee my God who are all good and deserving of my love”, the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, brings us God’s mercy.  And then we can leave the confessional relieved when the priest says to us, “The Lord has forgiven your sins.  Go in peace.”

Friends, Divine Mercy Sunday is a strong invitation, to return to the sacraments, especially the sacrament of confession, to receive the Lord’s Mercy.  In addition to reciting the Divine Mercy Chaplet, this celebration should inspire us to return to our roots, to that upper room where Jesus first appeared to us and hear again the generosity of God who says to us sinners, “Peace be with you.”

While in that upper room let us also hear the urgency of the mission: "As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you", so that mercy received must become mercy shared.

Pope Francis tried to remind us repeatedly, that our mission as Church is to bring mercy to this world.  In one book entitled, The Name of God is Mercy he reminded us that God is essentially merciful.  And when he proclaimed the Year of Mercy a few years ago, the document with which he did it was called, The Face of Mercy, reminding us that Jesus is indeed the face of the Father’s Mercy.

How do we share this Mercy?

First, let us examine how we treat those who are weak in the faith.  How do we treat sinners?  Consider how the disciples handled the unbelieving Thomas.  Did they condemn him or abuse him?  No.  They shared the mercy they had received with him. They invited him to come with them to the upper room, the next Sunday, just in case the Lord would show up again – and show up he did. And Thomas believed, saying, “My Lord and My God.”  The disciples were the voice of Jesus to Thomas, so that he would eventually encounter the Lord himself.  When is the last time you invited a fallen away friend to Mass, or even just to a Church function, so they can meet the Lord? 

Jesus is sending you and me to do the same for our unbelieving friends.  We do this particularly by carrying out the seven spiritual works of mercy, especially when in the first three we instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful and admonish sinners.

Secondly, we share mercy received by how we treat the materially less fortunate among us.  We can turn to the example of the first community of disciples we heard about in the first reading.  We heard that they devoted themselves to four things: to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.  And then, they also shared what they had in common, sharing with the less fortunate, according to each one’s need, not necessarily, according to their contribution.

Today we do that in carrying out the seven corporal works of mercy, namely:

(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.

Conclusion

My dear brothers and sisters, today the risen Lord stands among us and says:
“Peace be with you.”  That is mercy received.

But he also says: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” That is  an instruction that mercy has to be shared.

So let us not keep this mercy to ourselves. This week, let each one of us do something simple: maybe forgive someone, invite someone, help someone in need.  In that way, the mercy we have received will truly become mercy shared.

Moreover, by concrete acts of mercy, we shall translate into action, what we said words in the Responsorial Psalm: Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his love is everlasting.

What better way to give thanks for mercy received, than to share it?  Let mercy received always be mercy shared. Mercy received, mercy shared.