SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER - APRIL 7, 2024

DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY

When St. Faustina Kowalska was canonized on April 30, 2000, Pope John Paul II simultaneously declared that the Second Sunday of Easter would be designated as the Sunday of Divine Mercy. Today, devotees of the Divine Mercy devotion will complete their nine-day novena, and we are given an opportunity for a plenary indulgence by satisfying certain conditions on this day. Before this Sunday was declared to be the Sunday of Divine Mercy, though, we have also always heard the story of Thomas as the Gospel reading. There is a genuine link between this story of doubt and the hope of Christ’s loving mercy fully expressed in the devotion of Divine Mercy, which will ultimately grant us eternal peace.

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READ THIS SUNDAY'S MESSAGE

In the season of Easter, our Sunday Mass readings are unique because we are effectively moving backward: the first reading is taken from Acts when the Christian community is fully realized, the second reading is from the New Testament letters when the Church is spreading and forming, and the Gospel tells a story that occurred long before then. We also begin Mass as a community of our own, an expression of Christ’s Church as it appears 2000 years after his Resurrection. We are now aware of the immense love, joy, and hope we find in Christ and his Church, but that does not mean we never experience doubt or fear. This Sunday’s Gospel enables us to place ourselves in the position of the disciples in the upper-room, who are literally hiding from fear that they may be targeted just as Christ was. Christ comes and stands in their midst and calms them with a timeless message: “peace be with you.” Peace is at the heart of our faith, both in our past and what we strive for. At our creation, we were at perfect peace with God until our fall. As a prefigurement of Christ, the king of Salem (which means “Peace”) named Melchisedech offers a gift of bread and wine to Abraham. David established Jerusalem (which means “the abiding place of peace”) as the Holy City, and this is where Christ offered himself to us on the cross. People didn’t want Christ to bring peace; they figured the Messiah would be a military leader who would expel the Romans by force, ironically so that they may live in peace. The fact that he offered true peace instead was what led to his death. His message upon first seeing his dearest friends is clear - peace has been attained and he is offering it fully to them.

The troubled hearts of the disciples, who were hiding in fear, were truly brought to peace by the appearance of Christ. Thomas, however, was not among them when Christ first appeared. Thomas doubted that Christ had actually appeared in his risen body until he was given the opportunity one week later to place his finger in the wounds to know that what he saw and felt was real. Christ’s last message in this Gospel is especially important to us in the modern age; he says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” This is in reference to us. Those who walk into the church today were not witnesses of the resurrected Christ. Instead, we operate on the movement of faith, the motivation of hope, and the quest for peace. A hundred years ago, Christ spoke to a humble messenger in St. Faustina, offering a message of perfect mercy to those who seek him out. It was the same mercy Christ offered to his disciples when he offered them peace. It was the same mercy offered to Thomas when Christ offered him his body. It is the same mercy we are given today in the prayer of community, in the sacrament of confession, and especially in the Eucharist. On this Sunday of Divine Mercy, do not doubt that Christ’s sacrifice was perfect; he offered himself so that we may find a perfect and everlasting peace.