Reflection on Divine Mercy

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Fellow companions of Christ, Today is the Feast of Divine Mercy. God’s mercy is something we should seek for and ask for every split second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, and every year. To the glory of God, on April 30, 2000, on the same day he canonized St. Faustina, St. Pope John Paul II established the second Sunday of Easter as a special day to celebrate the feast of Divine Mercy. For those who do not know St. Faustina, she was a 20th century Polish nun to whom Jesus appeared and asked for a special feast day devoted to Divine Mercy be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter. The Psalm and Gospel reading for the liturgy on that day should focus on mercy, on forgiveness offered by God for those who are truly sorry for their sins. In her diary, she recounted the Lord’s request: My daughter, tell the whole world about my inconceivable mercy. I desire that the feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of my tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of my mercy.

Divine Mercy Sunday is a day when many Catholics go to confession. But due to coronavirus pandemic, many may not be able to go. However, drawing from the long teachings of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said: “If you cannot find a priest to confess to, speak directly with God, your Father, and tell him the truth. Say, Lord, I did this, this, this. Forgive me. And ask for pardon with all your heart. Make an act of contrition, and promise God, “I will go to confession afterward, but forgive me now.” The pope added, “And immediately you will return to a state of grace with God. You can draw near to God’s forgiveness without having a priest at hand. Think about it. This is the moment.” 

Sisters and brothers, I am offering this Mass for each of us. Today is a unique day to receive the boundless and limitless mercy of Jesus Christ. I offer this Mass for all your intentions. May our merciful God protect us against COVID-19 and all other diseases out there. I offer this Mass for the conversion of all seiners. May we now turn to God as we begin the Mass.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus appeared alive to his disciples. In this Gospel, the resurrected Christ did two things before his frightened disciples: first, he showed his wounds, and then says, “Shalom,” which means “Peace.” Why is the showing of the wounds so important? By showing his wounds, Jesus presses them and everyone not to forget what we did to him. The author of life came, and we killed him. Great message! So, to all those people in our society who brag and say, ‘I am okay, you are okay,’ and ‘Everything is fine with me,’ please, do not believe such the next time you hear someone says it. The wounds of Jesus are the sign of our own spiritual dysfunction. When the risen Lord showed his wounds he is asking us not to forget it. 

But after showing his wounds, what follows it? Not vengeance! If you are watching a Hollywood or Nollywood movie of a poor man who has been betrayed, denied, abandoned by all at the moment of truth and was put to death, and after a few days he rises from the dead, would you not expect that he is going to unleash vengeance on those who betrayed and put him to death? As for the Risen Jesus he said, “Shalom!” (Peace). The word “Shalom” sums up what God intended for his people from the beginning. What sin has interrupted is “Shalom.” What sin has disrupted is peace— that is well being at every level. To those who had denied, betrayed, and abandoned him, he offers the word of forgiveness and peace. We killed God, and God returned in forgiving and redeeming love. The terrible disorder of the cross (the crucifixion of Jesus) is addressed not through more disorder, not through more violence, not through greater aggression, not through an explosion of divine vengeance but through a radiation of divine love and redeeming mercy. Check this out! Jesus visited his disciples who contributed to his death by their denial, betrayal and abandonment and did not unleash his anger or rebuke them in disappointment. In contrast, he speaks words reconciliation and compassion. 

So, what does this mean to us? It means there is no sin that God in principle cannot forgive. There is finally nothing that can separate us from the love of God. St. Paul said in his letters to the Romans that I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither heights nor depths or any other power can separate us from the love of God. How does Paul know that? Because we killed God, and God returned with forgiving and redeeming love. Because he met the risen Jesus who showed his wounds and said “Shalom.”

As we celebrate the feast of Divine Mercy, I urge all and sundry to embrace and accept the mercy of the one who, although was betrayed, denied and crucified, he returned with redeeming mercy, love, compassion and friendship. Do not allow your sins to stop you from going to God. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”