DIVINE MERCY Sunday. 2ND SUNDAY OF EASTER – YEAR A, 27th - TopicsExpress

DIVINE MERCY Sunday. 2ND SUNDAY OF EASTER – YEAR A, 27th April,2014. General Overview of the Celebration Today, the Church projects the merits of the mercy of God. The readings and the entire celebration emphasize this fact. The resurrection confirms and promotes the workings of Divine mercy. Background to the 1st Reading Here Luke summarises the characteristic life of the early Church. They knew what it meant to be one in words and deeds. By being sensitive to each other’s needs, they were in a way being merciful. God is merciful but we are also called to show mercy to others. HOMILY POINTS · The need for spiritual devotion to an ecclesiastical cause · The joy of Christian togetherness · “Breaking bread in the home” – The family as a basic church · Who is a Christian? – One who is ‘being saved.’ Background to the 2nd Reading This first letter of Peter was written for the people who then occupied what we know as Turkey today. Here Peter talks about some unknown ‘trials,’ but the emphasis is on thanking and praising God who “in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” HOMILY POINTS · Thanking and praising God for the merits of Christ’s resurrection · Our attitudes to trials prove the genuineness of our faith · Love of God aids belief in Him · Our heavenly inheritance can never perish, spoil or fade Background to the Gospel John highlights the universal divine call for forgiveness and peace. Note that unlike the synoptic Gospels that talk exclusively of the ‘apostles,’ John’s account talks of the ‘disciples’ locking themselves inside the room for fear of the Jews. This would include the 11 remaining apostles and some other non-apostle followers of Jesus. Jesus comes to meet the disciples and not the apostles. The peace He gives them is the peace that flows from His mercy. The message He gives is for the entire church. Each group has its share of the message. It is not just for the hierarchy. Jesus’ leniency and patience with Thomas is a clear example of His merciful love. HOMILY POINTS · Peace as the first fruit of forgiveness · The gift of peace as a fulfilment of Christ’s promise (cf. Jn 14:27) · “My Lord and my God” The paradoxical faith of Thomas · Proclaiming the resurrected Christ as the Lord · The resurrection: Faith and evidence...? · There is life in Jesus’ Name · The reason why we observe Sunday as the Lord’s day and not the Jewish Sabbath · Easter as the beginning of the Church’s mission SAMPLE HOMILY Theme: In His Mercy, there is ‘New Birth’ and ‘Living Hope’ My dear friends, today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. The universal Church is gathered in Rome today for the Canonization of two Popes one of whom we know as the champion of divine mercy. May God continue to show us his mercy - our beloved Pope John Paul II. This celebration of God’s mercy is both an encouragement and an example for Christian living. While the 2nd reading clearly highlights the merits of this divine mercy as giving us new birth and living hope, it is the experience of the disciples in today’s Gospel that practically recaptures the merciful love of God. Another interesting fact is that this experience falls within the period/context of Christ’s resurrection. But what does Peter mean in the 2nd reading when he praised God for acting in mercy by giving us new birth and living hope through the resurrection of Christ? Peter is here highlighting the fact that mankind, by its sinfulness, did not naturally merit the gains of the resurrection but that God made it possible out of mercy. It was out of mercy that He sent His Son to die and with His resurrection we can now claim an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading. Besides the call on the people to be thankful to God, Peter was here also calling them to the awareness of the merits of divine mercy. As if to situate this point, this first appearance of Jesus to the ‘disciples’ (according to John) in today’s Gospel shows how merciful God is. Against the background of the actions of the apostles who fled and deserted Jesus during His passion, one would have expected that on His first meeting with them after the resurrection, that He would make a reprimanding reference to their infidelity. But this was not the case. For example, Jesus did not even refer to the denial of Peter nor did He condemn Thomas for doubting His resurrection. His attitude towards the inadequacies of His disciples was not judgemental. He did not reprimand them; He showed them mercy and blessed them with the gift of peace. This is how God still treats us today. By showing us mercy, He offers us the hope and the promise of eternal life. It is this merciful act of God that guarantees new birth and living hope. God’s mercy renews man’s relationship with the divine and offers him the hope of the promised inheritance. It is in His mercy that a Christian gains forgiveness of sins and once again feels the peace of membership in God’s own family. Given that every man is a sinner, it is only the mercy of God that can offer the hope of salvation. This is the awareness and the mandate which the 2nd reading projects when Peter talks of ‘new birth’ and ‘living hope’ as merits of Christ’s resurrection. As a community of believers, Jesus also mandated the early disciples to be agents of this peace and forgiveness. “As the Father has sent me so I send you.” Today, this mandate to be merciful, forgiving, and to create a peaceful world also falls on all of us. Since we have been shown God’s mercy, we also need to act mercifully towards others. Today, we have reasons to thank God for showing us His mercy, but we also have reasons to show mercy to others. Divine mercy remains the basis of Christian hope which we must collectively keep alive in one another. (By Fr Emem G.Umoren)