Today is a most joyous occasion in the life of this parish community. We celebrate the final day in the Octave of Easter, we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, and we celebrate the First Communion of these children.
The message of Divine Mercy was given to one Saint Faustina, but not everyone might know that her full religious name was Sister Maria Faustina of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It should be no secret from studying her diary that she was in love with Christ present with us in the Most Holy Eucharist.
Very soon these children of our parish will receive our Blessed Lord for the first time. They are filled with joy at such an encounter and rightly so. What we behold with our sight is bread and wine and yet the reality of what we receive is Christ who loves us dearly. This is a joy which should fill not only their heart, but out heart. Every time that we have the opportunity to receive Christ in the Eucharist should fill our heart with joy.
This is the same joy which Saint Thomas discovered when he reached out to feel the wounds of our Blessed Lord for himself. From this encounter he who struggled in belief came to believe. Hopefully we will allow ourself to join with Saint Thomas in coming to believe in this life changing reality that he discovered.
In the Divine Mercy image we see these same wounds of our Blessed Lord that Saint Thomas reached out to touch. From the wound in His side springs forth blood and water which reminds us of the waters of baptism from, which we have been cleansed, and the Eucharist from which we are fed. His wounded hand is raised in the air in an action of blessing or the absolution of our sins. Truly, in this image of Divine Mercy we see the beauty of our faith and the love that Christ bestows upon each of us.
It is my hope that as we come to celebrate this First Communion Mass that all of us here will draw close to this same font of love which is being presented here. So many of our families live a life segregated from this reality. It is important that families come together to share the love of Christ. Therefore, confession is important. Your child cannot drive themself here to participate in this sacrament of love. Therefore, the Eucharist and Mass is important. Yet again your child cannot drive themself here.
As Christian families we must become convinced of what Saint Thomas became convinced of when he reached out to feel those wounds of our Blessed Lord. We are doing a disservice to these children if we are not so convinced of Christ’s love that we desire to love Christ and to bring these children to the same love that we are convinced of. As a family come to know Christ through prayer, through time spent in the adoration chapel, through study of scripture, through frequenting confession, and through frequenting the Eucharist.
