This 2nd Sunday of Easter is also known to us as Divine Mercy Sunday. This word “mercy” comes from the Latin, “misericordia.” This derives from two words; “mesereri” which means “to have pity on” and “cor” which means “heart.” From this we are given the image of someone who shows compassion with all their heart.
We should notice that following the Resurrection that the Lord chooses to continue to bear the wounds of His crucifixion. These wounds remind us of the importance of the cross for through them we are able to see the mercy of God. It is He who was willing to lay down His life and thus show compassion upon us with all His Heart.
Saint Thomas comes to venerate these same wounds. He was found to be unbelieving, but through them He was allotted faith. So too through the mercy of the Lord do we come sinful and sorrowful and yet He shows His abundant compassion upon us and on the whole world. Through these wounds we are afforded the same faith that Thomas came to profess.
On this Divine Mercy Sunday we should desire to enter into this abundant font of mercy. In the sacraments the Lord has left us with many gifts which allow God’s grace to enter into our life to strengthen us. One of these gifts is the Sacrament of Confession. As we were instructed in our Gospel concerning this institution of the sacrament, “He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Through the Sacrament of Confession we enter in sinful and are embraced by God as we are absolved of our sins.
As the priest prays when he says the words of absolution: “God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins.” One who pays close attention would note that the priest formally prayed, “sent the Holy Spirit among us” instead of “poured out.”
To pour out reflects the outpouring of compassion that God has for each of us. This compassion freely flows from the merciful heart of God. We must open our own heart to be found receptive of all that the Father desires to bestow upon us. What He desires to pour out upon us is found to be without end.
In the image of the Divine Mercy we notice two rays which denote blood and water that are poured out from the heart of Christ. It was from His side that He was pierced with a lace that opened up this flow of blood and water. It was His heart which pierced by our sins and those of the whole world. Through this outpouring of blood and water we see the abundance compassion that God has for each of us.
As we continue this Easter season let us come to place our trust in Christ. The more that we enter into this abundance font of mercy the more that we will be sent forth to love others without end. Let our life always be ordered towards Christ and let us be willing to let go of our sinfulness in order that we may be sent forth from Him to repent and believe in the Gospel.
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