Divine Mercy

04-27-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Albert

Today we celebrate the Second Sunday of Easter. The Church celebrates the Feast of Divine Mercy.

This is a fitting time to focus on God's forgiving love, the mercy poured out through the suffering, death, and resurrection of His Son, including the mercy He shows each one of us in ways too numerous to count.

Mercy means God's Heart desiring to alleviate our misery caused by personal sin. The "Good news" is that Jesus is the Divine Physician who came to heal the sickness of sin. As we receive His forgiveness, we are compelled by this love to trust Jesus and avoid sin in the future.

The word Trust is significant as it is a key aspect of the Divine Mercy message from Jesus. Trust is not blind, wishful thinking but hope based upon the person who gave His life for us.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to go after the one lost sheep. He is grieved—heartsick—until He finds this sheep, and then lifts it upon His shoulders and carries it home. This describes Jesus' personal love for each of us.

Trust starts small and grows through experience. We practice and live trust on a daily basis "by praising and thanking God in all things."

This is the place to begin in our desire to trust Jesus.

The merciful love of God is the central theme of the Bible, and it is prevalent in the readings of the Mass.

The psalm prayed for Divine Mercy Sunday puts words around the Lord's merciful love and what it means to trust Him:

"I was hard-pressed and was falling, but the Lord helped me. My strength and my courage is the LORD, and He has been my Savior." (Psalm 118:13-15)

We can ask Jesus to help us trust Him, especially when we are "hard-pressed" and "falling."

The Gospel describes the Risen Christ instituting the Sacrament of Reconciliation, a Sacrament of Mercy, as He breathes on the Apostles and says to them: "Receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

The greatest attribute of God is His Mercy.

This is most evidently seen as we gaze upon the Crucifix, where Jesus takes upon Himself our sins that we might be freed from them and know His peace and joy.