The Old Testament is usually seen as focusing on the punishment of humanity. But the Church has always read the Old Testament through the lens of Christ, as the preparation for the coming of Christ. Looked at it from that perspective, we can see that the Old Testament is, in reality, an elaborate preparation for God's most merciful act.
God became incarnate, becoming one of us, taking on our human nature. He then offered himself up as a sacrifice upon the Cross to atone for the sins of humanity, for all of our sins. From the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis, the entire Old Testament is a preparation for the Incarnation, for Christ coming among us and redeeming us through his death and resurrection.
After Christ died and rose from the dead, he established the Church. The Church has the mission of sharing God's saving grace and message of salvation with all of humanity, throughout the world. The Church is not meant to rest but always to be filled with a missionary zeal to bring Christ's love to more and more people.
God created the world out of love, to share his love with us. After humanity fell, God prepared the way for our salvation. After Christ redeemed the world through offering himself up as the sacrifice of atonement, the Church has spent almost two thousand years proclaiming the Good News of God's merciful love. Thus all of creation history shows us God's immense, infinite love for us.
Divine Mercy Sunday celebrates the outpouring of God's love by focusing on his infinite mercy. Devotion to God's Divine Mercy was formalized in the 20th century in response to private revelations received by the Polish mystic St. Faustina. The feast of Divine Mercy itself was established by John Paul II on April 30, 2000.
Thus, we might say that Divine Mercy is a modern feast, but one which expresses age-old truths. But it is no coincidence that Christ established this feast for our current era. Our society needs God's mercy more than ever. Even a cursory look at the 20th and 21st centuries shows how profoundly moral evil has permeated human society. Unspeakable wars, horrific genocides, social movements rejecting God's gift of life and creation - all these and more have marred human history in recent times.
Could anyone be surprised if God responded with severe punishment? But instead, Christ responds with his mercy. Almost two thousand years ago, he died to save all of humanity. Now he is inviting us to embrace the gift of salvation, to accept his infinite love for us.
In the Gospel passage for this Sunday, we see that Jesus greets the disciples by saying "Peace be with you” (John 20:21). These are the first words that Jesus speaks to the disciples who had gathered together after his resurrection. These are the same disciples who, with the exception of the Apostle John and a number of the women, had run away and had abandoned him when he was hanging upon the Cross. And yet he does not greet them by chastising them. He greets them by offering them his peace.
That is the same message Christ has for us today. That is the same message Christ has for us and for the world today. He is offering us his peace. He is responding to the most evil era in human history by offering us his mercy, so we can have eternal peace with him.
We live for just a short time upon the earth. But our death is not the end of our story. Christ invites us into eternal life in Heaven, in the New Jerusalem, which will be a perfected world, where there is no longer suffering, sorrow, or death. Just as Christ rose from the dead, we too will receive the gift of resurrection. At the end of time, our physical body will be brought back to life in a glorified state and will be reunited with our soul.
As humans, we fear death greatly, which is natural given our current situation. We grieve deeply when someone we love dies, which is also natural. Even Jesus wept when Lazarus had died, even though he knew he would raise him from the dead. Jesus shared in our natural emotion of grief.
But let us always remember Christ's great gift of life to us. Let us remember our eternal destiny if we accept Christ's love. What awaits us is eternal blessedness. Eternal life. Eternal fulfillment. Eternal, infinite joy.
The best way to keep our eyes on Christ is to focus on the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Holy Mother. As mentioned above, John was the only apostle who did not run away from the Cross. How was he able to stay? He was with the Virgin Mary, who gave him courage and strength.
The tradition of the Church also holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary never doubted that Christ would rise from the dead. On Holy Saturday, she alone had faith. That is why in the tradition of the Church, Saturdays are dedicated to Our Lady. Thus, to have faith and perseverance, let us look to Mary, our Holy Mother. She will always help us. She is eager to guide each of us to her Divine Son.
As we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, we come to the end of the Octave of Easter. In the liturgical calendar of the Church, the solemnity of Easter goes on for eight full days. But the season of Easter does not end with the conclusion of the Octave. Eastertide lasts seven weeks, ending with Pentecost. So even though the culture around us has moved on, we still have a lot of Easter ahead of us. So let's keep celebrating Easter with ceaseless rejoicing. Let us proclaim to the world that Christ is risen and he is with us always. Alleluia!
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The readings for Divind Mercy Sunday, Cycle C are:
Acts 5:12-16
Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19
John 20:19-31
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Photo Credit: Divine Mercy Image.