It is Divine Mercy Sunday today

Today is the Second Sunday of Easter and it is also Divine Mercy Sunday, which we will discuss later in this article. Today’s gospel reading comes from John 20:19-3, the Appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ to his Disciples.

“19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 [Jesus] said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 Now a week later, his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe. 28 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” 39 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.”

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In this scripture reading, John the beloved disciple tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ have already been appearing before his disciples since his Resurrection. It was just unfortunate that Thomas the Didymus was not around during his previous appearances. He only heard it from his fellow disciples but he still refused to believe what they told him… until he saw the Lord with his own eyes.

Notice also that everytime the disciples were huddled together inside a locked room, our Lord Jesus Christ would appear in their midst, which tells us that his glorified body could pass through walls, yet he was still flesh and bone as he asked Thomas to put his finger in his wounds. Touching the wounds of Christ, Thomas knelt down and expressed his faith with his now famous “My Lord and My God” expression of faith that we all recite when the Holy Eucharist is raised by the priest before the Holy Communion.

In the last paragraph, John wrote down “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.” Indeed, the Catholic Church is the repository of the truth, many of which are not written in the Holy Book, but passed on through generations, which we call our traditions.

One such teaching that is fast becoming a tradition of the Catholic Church is the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday. This is one tradition that teaches us that the Catholic Church continues to receive revelations from our Lord Jesus Christ, which, in this case, came from a humble nun now called St. Faustina Kowalska of Poland, who received apparitions from our Lord Jesus Christ and wrote about these in her diary.

This is what Jesus said to her, “I want the image to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter, and I want it to be venerated publicly so that every soul may know about it. By means of the Image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so let every soul have access to it.” That image was given to St. Faustina, which she asked a painter to do and it is today one of the most famous icons of our Lord Jesus Christ venerated by Catholics worldwide.

Our Lord Jesus also said, “I desire that priests proclaim this great mercy of Mine towards souls of sinners. Tell My priests that hardened sinners will repent on hearing their words when they speak about My unfathomable mercy, about the compassion I have for them in My Heart. To priests who proclaim and extol My mercy, I will give them wondrous power; I will anoint their words and touch the hearts of those to whom they will speak.” I hope that this Sunday, your parish priest would heed the words of our Lord so they will receive divine power from the Divine Mercy personified.

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