Today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday which brings about the conclusion of the Octave of Easter. Easter is about the Good News of our Lord’s Resurrection. Easter is about the reality that Christ triumphed over the tomb. From the reality of our Lord’s Resurrection slowly spreads an understanding of the fact that Christ has risen. Despite this fact the apostles and disciples of Christ still had a lot that they had to understand and believe in order for their faith to be perfected.
How many Easter seasons have we come to celebrate in our life? Not only this, but keep in mind that every time that we gather on a Sunday for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord. Despite this yearly and weekly encounter with our Risen Lord can we say that our faith has become perfected? To behold the Gospel message is not something which should come easily, but instead is something which we must persevere with no matter the cross or the joy that comes our way.
Some act as if the Gospel message comes easily, but that cannot be the case. After our celebration of Christmas we have a whole slew of feasts that remind us of this reality. From the joy of the birth of the Savior of the World we turn around and celebrate Saint Stephen who was the first martyr, we celebrate the Holy Innocents who were put to death out of fear for Christ, and we celebrate the martyr Saint Thomas of Canterbury. Even with our celebration of Easter we must continue to realize that the Gospel message does not come easily. Through the five wounds of our Lord we see this to be true.
It was only this past Sunday, Easter Sunday, that a horrific bombing took place in Sri Lanka which claimed over 250 lives. Many of them were gathered for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and came to worship the Risen Lord. In a striking image from this massacre we see a statue of Christ Resurrected which is splattered with the blood of these victims. What a striking reminder for us of the importance of the Gospel message.
In our Gospel Christ greets His disciples with these words, “Peace be with you.” So too Christ greets us with such words. In the midst of every cross, every burden, every struggle, every joy, every fear, He greets us in such a manner. As Saint Thomas placed his hands into the wounds of our Blessed Lord, so too may we come to believe and profess the Gospel unceasingly. At times this may be difficult, but we must realize that with God’s grace it is possible.
On this Divine Mercy Sunday we come to recognize this abundant font of love. We see it extended to us in the sacraments especially the Sacrament of Confession and see it made manifest in the Most Holy Eucharist. Too frequent the sacraments is to allow Christ into our life to become our strength and guide. So many attempt to to trudge through life’s difficulties alone, but we must allow ourself to walk with Christ. In this season of Easter Christ reminds His disciples of this, in return may we come to proclaim with the confidence of faith: “Jesus I trust in you.”
