20200419
WHERE
IS DIVINE MERCY TODAY?
19 April, 2020, Divine Mercy
Sunday
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 faithful all lived together and owned everything in common
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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You did not see Christ, yet you love him
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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Sequence
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Victimae Paschali Laudes
Christians,
to the Paschal Victim
offer
sacrifice and praise.
The
sheep are ransomed by the Lamb;
and
Christ, the undefiled,
hath
sinners to his Father reconciled.
Death
with life contended:
combat
strangely ended!
Life’s
own Champion, slain,
yet
lives to reign.
Tell
us, Mary:
say
what thou didst see
upon
the way.
The
tomb the Living did enclose;
I saw
Christ’s glory as he rose!
The
angels there attesting;
shroud
with grave-clothes resting.
Christ,
my hope, has risen:
he
goes before you into Galilee.
That
Christ is truly risen
from
the dead we know.
Victorious
king, thy mercy show!
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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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Eight days later, Jesus came again and stood among them
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 TODAY?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS
2:42-47; 1 PETER 1:3-9; JOHN
20:19-31 ]
Like the disciples who
locked themselves in the room for fear of the Jews, we too are almost locked in
at home most of the time
because we are going through a circuit breaker. The disciples were living
in fear of the Jews, who could arrest them and put them on trial. There
was a great possibility that they could also suffer the fate of their
master. We, too, live in fear at this present time. We are afraid
of being infected with this COVID-19, and we are afraid of passing it on to
others, especially our loved ones without knowing it. We live in anxiety
that there might be a shortage of essential needs and food supplies. We
are worried about our jobs, the state of the economy, the depletion of our
savings.
Today, on the second
week of Easter, we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. Where is Divine Mercy in this
situation we are in? We wonder where God is in all of this. Does He not
care? Does He not feel with us in our fears and anxieties? Does He not cry with
us when we see so many thousands die of this coronavirus, and sadder still,
thinking of them dying alone without the comfort of their loved ones and a
dignified burial? Yes, He does. That was why immediately after His
resurrection, knowing the fear of His disciples, He appeared to them and His
first words after His resurrection were, “Peace be with you” and He “showed
them his hands and his side.” Twice the Lord repeated His greeting of
peace.
How can we find peace in
this turbulent time? Peace can only come from the removal of fear. What is the greatest enemy of humanity,
especially those who are without faith in God? It is the fear of
suffering and death. The apostles were hiding behind closed doors for
fear of the Jews. St Paul tells us that “the last enemy to be destroyed
is death.” (1 Cor 15:26) Indeed, more than anything else, man
fears death because he thinks that death is the end of everything. If the
world lives selfishly, it is because the world fears death which robs them of
everything in life. So we can see why this predominant attitude of
grasping and grabbing as much as we could for ourselves. We can
understand why the world is trembling in the face of the coronavirus which has
taken so many lives within a short span of time, in days and weeks. For
the unbeliever, death is the end of everything.
What is even more
ironical is that man who boasts of being able to conquer space and the world
without God is now paralyzed in the face of death. No science or human power can
prevent death. Before God, we are just finite creatures. The
coronavirus will not be the last pandemic. There will be more viruses to
come. Human beings cannot prevent death from coming no matter how rich,
powerful, intelligent or technologically advanced we are. God has brought
the world, especially the powerful and the arrogant, to their knees so that
they will come to realize that man is not in charge of this world but He
alone. If there is anything good that comes out of this crisis, it is
that humanity has been humbled by God to recognize his place in the
world. We are not God but just fragile and ignorant sinners.
Even if it was not a
virus, the wickedness and selfishness of humanity will destroy the world. We see this in climate
warming. We see how the materialistic and individualistic trends of the
world are destroying family life, marriages and the holistic upbringing of
children. The values that are promoted by the world are all about “me and
my needs and my freedom.” This generation no longer sacrifices itself for
the good of the larger community. It is not about the greater good of
humanity and creation. We reap what we sow. (cf Gal 6:7f)
Indeed, God’s divine
mercy is shown by allowing this Covid-19 pandemic and our sins to purify us and
to awaken us to a greater and eternal reality. Instead of living selfishly only
for this life, we are reminded that we have an eternal home in heaven.
(cf Phil
3:20f) This was how St Paul gave courage to the Christians who were
being persecuted for their faith. “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.”
Indeed, with Christ’s
resurrection, we know that death has been conquered. (cf 1 Cor
15:20-23) In the gospel, Jesus showed Himself to be the resurrected Lord
when He appeared to His disciples with the marks of the crucifixion so that no
one will doubt that He is the same Jesus of Nazareth now transformed in the
resurrection. Seeing that the Lord has overcome death, all fears were
removed and they were filled with joy! And they found peace amidst all
the troubles and oppositions ahead of them.
What is the cause of
their great joy? Although they were not certain what would happen to them
the next day, they were certain of the ultimate future. This was what St Peter wrote, “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. 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.”
Indeed, as Christians,
we should not fear death as if it is the end of everything. We need to
conquer our fear of death before we can live fully. So long as we fear death, we become
slaves of fear. Jesus became man to share our death so that by His
resurrection, He can destroy “the power of death, that is, the devil, and
free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of
death.” (Heb 2:14f) Indeed, the apostles, having overcome the fear
of death, lived courageously witnessing to the Lord, not submitting to the
threats of the Jewish leaders. It is the fear of death that makes us live
selfishly and in a self-centered and worldly way, as if meaning comes only from
pleasure and enjoyment.
But it does not mean
that we simply live for the future without thinking of today! Rather, we
must live from the future and not just for the future. To live from the future will give
us the courage to live for today as fully as we can. Unlike the
world, they live without a certain future. We are so certain about our
future with Christ in heaven, and so we can now not recklessly but courageously
live a life of love, sharing, giving and even suffering for the greater good of
our brothers and sisters. The early Christians “remained faithful to the
teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and to
the prayers. 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.”
During this time too,
even whilst we stay at home to protect the common good of our brothers and
sisters, we must find new ways to reach out to the rest of the community, keeping each other in contact,
helping each other, consoling each other, and supporting each other during this
difficult time. We must not make the same mistake of Thomas who was
not present with the community and so unable to meet the Risen Lord. If
we want to encounter the Risen Lord and His divine mercy, then it is in the
community that we will meet Him, through worshipping together even if it were
on-line, sharing our faith together as a family or with our friends through
video-conferencing, or via the social media. For those who have some
cash, they could consider helping those who are financially strapped during
this difficult time. When we do all these, then indeed, Divine Mercy is
made present in our midst because Christ lives in each one of us and is risen
in our lives. Let us see how we can make Divine Mercy felt in our midst
instead of just looking for Divine Mercy. When we show mercy, we will
encounter Divine Mercy Himself, because Christ is in the suffering, lonely and
discouraged.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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