Divine Mercy Sunday

Dear brothers and sisters in our Risen Lord and Savior, since Easter, we have listened to the stories of the appearances of Jesus to the Apostles for the main reason of strengthening their faith ahead of their mission of bearing witness to him in the world. Today in the gospel he appeared to them and said, peace be with you. The deepest and purest peace in life is found in Christ the prince of peace. Dear friends, let us listen to Jesus and open our hearts to welcome and receive into the depths of our hearts the divine and eternal peace of our Risen Lord. In this appearance, Jesus breathed on the Apostles saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” There is a rich relation between the Peace of Christ and the Holy Spirit. The peace of Christ is given us by the Holy Spirit.   We receive the MERCY AND FORGIVENESS OF GOD through the power of the Holy Spirit. Sin and Satan steal our peace or become an obstacle to the peace of Christ. We regain the gift of Divine Mercy and Peace of God through the Sacrament of Mercy/Confession/Reconciliation. So many have told me that they experience true and profound peace in the heart whenever they go to Confession. That’s true because each time you go to Confession, you encounter and receive the divine mercy and peace of Christ. From his Merciful heart Jesus shared his Peace with his Apostles. The Apostles were expected in turn to share the Peace of Christ with all they came into contact with. They were agents of the Peace of Christ to the world. You have received the peace of CHRIST, are you sharing this peace with others?
This year, the Church is marking a Jubilee year, a special time when we receive from God forgiveness for our sins. St, Paul reminds us that we receive gifts from God for building up the Body of Christ the Church. As we generously receive the mercy of God, let us also forgive those who might have offended us. Jesus teaches in the beatitude, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy Mt 5:8. He invites us to love and pray for our enemies Mt 5:42-44.
The Divine Mercy portrait of Jesus has rays of light shining and coming from his sacred heart. His heart is full of love, mercy and compassion. Our hearts must also be filled with love, mercy and compassion in concrete and practical ways, forgiving and praying for others, feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger or homeless, visiting the sick and those in prison Mt 25:31-36. We must actively be engaged in the promotion of works of mercy, justice and charity, in the parish, Archdiocese and society. I was listening to a reflection on Divine Mercy and heard that over 20 million people in the world have no access to water. We must not forget the universal scope of the mission of the Church as handed on by Jesus Christ Mt 28:18-20. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of ALL NATIONS, baptizing them…”   This universal mission is handed to the body of Christ the Church, which you are, which we are.