Today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday which brings our Easter Octave to its conclusion. This year's celebration also signals to us the canonization of both John XXIII and John Paul II. It was Pope John XXIII who put into motion the Second Vatican Council and it was Pope John Paul II who would travel throughout the world with the desire to bring the Gospel message into all of its corners. I think that all of us must remember that being numbered as one of the Church's saints does not mean that these two individuals have succeeded at a popularity contest or that they were just simply nice guys. Yes both men were highly popular and I would also argue that they were nice guys, but the reality of their faith was much deeper then these two simple traits. Both of these men allowed the Eucharist to be the center of their life, both of these men had devotion to the Blessed Mother, both of these men would not short change the message of the Gospel to simply make people happy, and both of these men trusted in the Confessional.
We live in a generation that desires to see a sign in order to believe. We claim that we believe that God chose to dwell among us in the second person of the Holy Trinity, but we are unable to claim the same poverty that He took on. We claim that He was crucified upon the wood of the cross and thus our salvation has been won for us, and yet we like to reason away our sin with the assumption that Christ is just another nice guy thus causing us to deny the reality of the cross. We now acknowledge, in this season, that Christ rose again on the third day, and yet we prefer to be comfortable in our ways instead of embracing that hope and joy of the Resurrection that can transform our life forever. We might of lived through some pretty miraculous events in human history such as the slight chance of Fatima, the life of a modern day saint (Padre Pio, John XXIII, John Paul II), or even any miracle that has sprung up in our own life and yet we still have a problem with believing the words that we hear through the Divine Mercy devotion: "Jesus I trust in you."
Saint Thomas also had a problem with saying these words. In reality he was much like the other disciples because they did not yet fully understand what was taking place. They had been told so much by Christ and yet they to did not fully understand what was going to take place. Saint Thomas reached out and placed his hands within the wounds of our Blessed Lord and then he was able to truly proclaim: "Jesus I trust in you." We to must join with Saint Thomas in not only saying these words, but also in believing these words. Saint Thomas was not accepting that Jesus was simply a popular guy or a nice guy, but instead he was accepting the fullness of faith. In that moment he trusted in poverty, he trusted in the salvation of the cross, he trusted in the need to turn away from sin, and he came to trust in the hope and the joy that the Resurrection can only deliver into our life. John XXIII, John Paul II, and any other saint were all able to exclaim these words with true faith.
We are not called to simply slide into Heaven, or as we like to joke slide into Purgatory, but instead are all called to become living saints here and now. This does not mean that we are popular or simply nice persons, but instead that we have conformed our life to Christ and His Church on this earth. We can only accomplish this reality if we can truly say without reservation: "Jesus I trust in you." To say these words means that we accept Christ in His fullness and not just in partiality. We cannot say I trust in Christ, but choose to deny Confession, choose to deny the Church's teaching concerning marriage, choose to deny the importance of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on each and every Sunday, choose to deny the pursuit for holiness over the pursuit for worldliness. In all these examples through our denial we are being selfish with what God has given us. Instead of being truly 100% charitable with what has bestowed upon us in this life by God we instead desire to keep a percentage for our selfishness. If we want to truly exclaim as the saints have done "Jesus I trust in you" we must allow ourselves to trust fully in Christ and in His Church on this earth.
Divine Mercy Sunday opens up for us the great gift of mercy that Christ bestows upon all of us. If we glance and meditate upon this image we will realize that Christ is bestowing His Sacraments of mercy upon us. The blue ray coming forth from the heart of Jesus is a reminder of the waters of baptism which cleansed us from our relationship to sin and thus ushered us into relationship with the Church. The red ray reminds us of the blood that Christ offered upon the cross and thus how this is continued to be brought into our life through the Holy Eucharist. Christ also has his right hand extended to signal the absolution of sins that it is brought about through the Sacrament of Confession. In the words of our Gospel: "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." If we truly want to exclaim with confidence "Jesus I trust in you" as Saint Thomas did in our Gospel may we always remain open to Christ's abundant mercy and His Sacraments. John XXIII and John Paul II were able to exclaim with confidence "Jesus I trust in you" because they embraced God's mercy and Christ's Sacraments. This is what made them saints. May Saints John XXIII and John Paul II intercede on our behalf that we may always seek God's mercy and come to embrace His Sacraments thus being able to confidently say "Jesus I trust in you."
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