20170423 WHERE IS DIVINE MERCY TO BE FOUND?
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 2:42-47 ©
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The whole community
remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the
breaking of bread and to the prayers.
The many
miracles and signs worked through the apostles made a deep impression on
everyone.
The
faithful all lived together and owned everything in common; they sold their
goods and possessions and shared out the proceeds among themselves according to
what each one needed.
They went
as a body to the Temple every day but met in their houses for the breaking of
bread; they shared their food gladly and generously; they praised God and were
looked up to by everyone. Day by day the Lord added to their community those
destined to be saved.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
117(118):2-4,13-15,22-24 ©
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Give thanks to the
Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
Let the sons of
Israel say:
‘His love
has no end.’
Let the sons of Aaron
say:
‘His love
has no end.’
Let those who fear
the Lord say:
‘His love
has no end.’
Give thanks to the
Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
I was thrust down,
thrust down and falling,
but the
Lord was my helper.
The Lord is my
strength and my song;
he was my
saviour.
There are shouts of
joy and victory
in the
tents of the just.
Give thanks to the
Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
The stone which the
builders rejected
has
become the corner stone.
This is the work of
the Lord,
a marvel
in our eyes.
This day was made by
the Lord;
we
rejoice and are glad.
Give thanks to the
Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
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Second reading
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1 Peter 1:3-9 ©
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Blessed be God the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us a new
birth as his sons, by raising Jesus Christ from the dead, so that we have a
sure hope and the promise of an inheritance that can never be spoilt or soiled
and never fade away, because it is being kept for you in the heavens. Through
your faith, God’s power will guard you until the salvation which has been prepared
is revealed at the end of time. This is a cause of great joy for you, even
though you may for a short time have to bear being plagued by all sorts of
trials; so that, when Jesus Christ is revealed, your faith will have been
tested and proved like gold – only it is more precious than gold, which is
corruptible even though it bears testing by fire – and then you will have
praise and glory and honour. You did not see him, yet you love him; and still
without seeing him, you are already filled with a joy so glorious that it
cannot be described, because you believe; and you are sure of the end to which
your faith looks forward, that is, the salvation of your souls.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn20:29
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus said: ‘You
believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who
have not seen and yet believe.’
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 20:19-31 ©
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In the evening of
that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room
where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among
them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his
side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to
them again, ‘Peace be with you.
‘As the Father sent
me,
so am I sending you.’
After saying this he
breathed on them and said:
‘Receive the Holy
Spirit.
For those whose sins
you forgive,
they are forgiven;
for those whose sins
you retain,
they are retained.’
Thomas, called the
Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the
disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes
that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they
made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight
days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The
doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’
he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my
hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’
Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:
‘You believe because
you can see me.
Happy are those who
have not seen and yet believe.’
There were many other
signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in
this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.
WHERE
IS DIVINE MERCY TO BE FOUND?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [
ACTS 2:42-47; 1 PETER 1:3-9; JOHN 20:19-31 ]
Like the apostles in the Upper Room, we
are living in fear and anxiety each day. With growing instances of
terrorist acts committed by wounded, confused and wrongly indoctrinated
individuals and groups, the world is such an unsafe place to live in. Even if
such incidents are not terrorist acts, we read of very disturbed and angry
people taking innocent lives. Indeed, in spite of technology and better
standards of living, the world remains a very precarious place to live
in. Wars abound, crime, religious fanaticism, religious division and
discrimination are on the increase. On the personal front, we are
besieged with the demands of daily living; marital conflicts, rebellious
children, worries about our finances and our work, illnesses and the challenges
of looking after elderly, demented parents or those with sicknesses.
Like the apostles, we just want to hide
from all these problems and challenges. We too want to run away from it
all. We wish we could have some peace. Sometimes we wish we could
die earlier as this life is so difficult, challenging and tiring. Is
there peace? Is peace possible? Is peace a dream? Maybe it is
true after all, that there can be no peace until we die. Even then, those
who survive after us would simply write on our tombstone, “May he rest in
peace!” Again, it is just a wish. Those of us who die full of
bitterness, anger and disillusionment might not only not die in peace but even
after death, the soul remains restless and unhappy. This would be even
more tragic than simply suffering on earth, for at least, as St Peter says, we
only suffer for a while.
So where can we find peace? Peace
comes from Divine Mercy. This is the lesson in today’s liturgy.
Indeed, the Church today celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday. In the gospel,
Jesus reveals the mercy of God in the wounds of His hands. Although He
came as the Risen Lord, He came as a crucified Lord. He appeared to
Thomas and the apostles in the wounds that He suffered from the betrayal of
men, including the apostles, the injustice of the authorities, the jealousy of
the religious leaders and the ignorance of the crowd who simply went where the
wind blew. By appearing to Thomas in His holy wounds, He wanted to remind
Thomas that He is the Lord of Mercy only because He had experienced all our
pains and sufferings. Having forgiven His enemies, felt the abandonment
of His Father, entered into the hell of the atheist, died completely to His ego
in the humiliation of the cross, we can, looking at Christ now, truly say that
He is Divine Mercy.
Hence, for those of us who are skeptical
of God’s mercy, the Lord wants us to remember His passion and death on the
cross for us. Like St Thomas, this is particularly true for the
atheist and agnostics who do not believe in the resurrection. And so true
for many of us too! Many have given up on God because they cannot feel
the mercy of God. They feel that God has let them down and abandoned them
in their difficulties, suffering, failures in study and work, illnesses,
abandonment and bereavement. If this God has no mercy, then He has no
love and therefore it does not matter whether He exists or not. If this
God cannot look after us or help us, then we had better direct our entire
attention to looking after ourselves as He is not reliable and maybe does not
exist at all.
How, then, do we explain the reality of
suffering and Divine Mercy in our lives? How can we say that Jesus came
to give us peace as His first Easter gift when we are still suffering? In
fact, many of us might feel that we are still in our tomb. There is no
solution in sight. We are still persecuted at home, in our workplace and
in church. We have not resolved our financial woes and personal
conflicts. There is still no reconciliation with our loved ones. We
are still sick and abandoned. So where is the peace and mercy of Christ?
We must, at the outset, be clear that the
peace of the Risen Lord is not pacifism or inactivity. The peace of the
Risen Lord is the peace of the heart. The joy of Easter is not like the
peace of the world. It does not mean that we should be smiling all the
time and project a happy face. Of course, some of us do genuinely feel
liberated and therefore happy. Even then, it does not mean that we
have no problems, sufferings or challenges in daily life.
Rather, the peace of Easter comes from
knowing that the Lord is with us in our difficulties and challenges. Even after
they left the Upper Room, the apostles did not have peace in the sense that
they no longer had problems with their enemies. On the contrary, the
moment they began preaching about Jesus as the Risen Lord, they were arrested,
threatened and beaten up. But they were at peace in spite of the persecutions
because they knew that the Lord was with them. In His resurrection,
He is now with us always. Indeed, the parting words of Jesus to the
apostles at the Ascension was, “I will be with you till the end of time.”
Knowing that the Lord is with us is enough to give us peace, just as when our
friends assure us of their support and prayers during difficult moments in our
lives. We live on the assurance of their love and support. But how
does the Lord draw near to us? He gives us the Holy
Spirit. He gives us the power to do what He did. “After saying this
he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” With the Holy
Spirit, we can go out to the world to face our challenges and enemies.
Secondly, we are at peace because we are
always assured of His divine mercy and forgiveness. By manifesting
Himself to the apostles after His death, the Lord wanted to assure them that He
understood their fears, their betrayal and their flight. He did not hold
their sins or infidelity against them. On the contrary, He continued to
have confidence in them. Instead of reprimanding them, He forgave them
and as if that was not enough, He made them emissaries of His forgiveness and
peace. He commanded them, “’As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.
For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you
retain, they are retained.’” Today, through the sacrament of reconciliation, we
continue to be assured of His divine mercy and forgiveness. The Lord
readily forgives us, knowing how weak we are. So we should never deprive
ourselves of the experience and celebration of His divine mercy in the
sacrament of reconciliation.
Thirdly, divine mercy is shown by the
Lord when He made us children of God. St Peter wrote, “Blessed be God the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us a new
birth as his sons, by raising Jesus Christ from the dead.” Only because
of His death and resurrection are we now reconciled with God, and through the
bestowal of the Holy Spirit, we are given a new birth as God’s sons and
daughters. How wonderful to know that we are given a new lease of life in
Christ! Through Christ, we have recovered our true identity.
Fourthly, divine mercy comes through His
Church, the Body of Christ. In the first reading, we read of the early
Christian community coming together to listen “to the teaching of the
apostles”, for “the brotherhood, the breaking of bread and to the
prayers.” Coming together as Church, “they all lived together and owned
everything in common; they sold their goods and possessions and shared out the
proceeds among themselves according to what each one needed.” Such was
the union and fellowship that the early Church enjoyed. They did
everything together, supporting each other, “shared their food gladly and
generously” so much so that “day by day the Lord added to their community those
destined to be saved.” If we are to experience divine mercy today, the
Christian community needs to be more supportive of each other. We need to
care for each other, especially the less privileged. What saddens me is
that Catholics are often intolerant of each other, whether at the car park, in
church, over noisy crying children, etc. Many have left the Church
because the Church is perceived to be businesslike, calculative, strict,
regimental, lacking compassion and sensitivity. We must learn from St
Thomas never to leave the Christian community, if we want to see the
resurrected Christ.
Finally, divine mercy is seen in
Christian charity. The world is looking for God’s mercy. We cannot
contain God’s mercy within the Church. It springs forth from the mercy of
God in His Church but it must be spread to all regardless of language, race or
religion. Through works of charity, let us spread His divine mercy to
all. Only mercy is capable of overcoming evil and destroying
selfishness and hatred. If we love the Lord, then we must ensure that
God’s merciful love reaches to all. Let the mercy of God in our hearts
bring peace to the world, between peoples and among religions and
cultures.
In view of our great hope that is now
certain because of the resurrection, we can live our lives courageously and
purposefully like the apostles. With the resurrection, we know where our
future lies. “You did not see him, yet you love him; and still without
seeing him, you are already filled with a joy so glorious that it cannot be
described, because you believe; and you are sure of the end to which your faith
looks forward, that is, the salvation of your souls.” With the resurrection,
we know where true power lies. “I was thrust down, thrust down and
falling, but the Lord was my helper. The Lord is my strength and my song; he
was my saviour.” What is needed for us is to strengthen our faith
in His divine mercy each day, for only faith in Christ will help us to
withstand the trials of life so that “when Jesus Christ is revealed, your faith
will have been tested and proved like gold.” With St Thomas, we
confess, “My Lord and my God!”
Written by The Most
Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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