DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY, 24 APRIL 2022
1. Indicator: Why this Divine Mercy Sunday immediately after the Easter Sunday? The purpose is well-reflected. If peace is the greatest gift and fruit of Easter (as we hear it in the gospel), that peace is the effect of mercy. Peace will be experienced, obtained, shown and fostered only in mercy.
2. In other words, mercy becomes the most concrete, authentic and effective sign and expression, witness and testimony of peace. In fact, peace and reconciliation was possible, only because of divine mercy. And peace will be possible, only because of continued mercy.
3. When you are merciful, you will be peaceful, and when you are peaceful, you will be merciful. Thereby, mercy is both the cause and effect of peace. In sum, Easter peace calls us to constantly live the power of God’s mercy, and our own mercy towards others.
4. Now what it means to live mercy, both concerning God and others? In the first place, trust in the mercy of God. Never lose faith in His mercy. For, God will never let us down, never discard us, despise or reject us. He will never condemn us. Cross, crucifixion and resurrection are the greatest testimonies of His unfailing and unconditioned mercy.
5. He who descended from heaven, in order to transcend us to heaven – Will he leave us, crushed to the ground?
He who embraced our human fragility, to race us to nobility – Will he abandon us to our frailty?
He who accepted earthly misery, to raise us to heavenly glory – Will he forsake us, stuck to our misery?
He who went through our own struggles, sufferings and adversities – Will he reject us to suffer all alone?
He who bore the cross on our behalf – Will he desert us to carry our own burdens, all by ourselves?
He who died for our sake – Will he not save us from the power and forces of death and evil?
He who rose to be alive with us for ever – Will he not walk, sustain and empower us, to live a new resurrected life of faith, hope and charity, blossoming in joy and peace?
6. As St. Paul exclaims: our sin may abound, but his grace always does super-abound.
Our fragility may pull us down, but his strength will always lift us up.
His fidelity is always greater than all our infidelities.
His might is always stronger than all our weakness.
His light is always brighter than all our darkness.
His holiness is always purer than all our impurities.
His healing is more relieving and restoring than all our wounds and infirmities.
His guidance is more clear and leading than all our misguidedness.
His sentiment is more warm and capturing than all our resentment and grudge.
His tenderness is more touching than all our harshness and hardness.
His warmth is more hot and vibrant than all our indifference and tepidity.
His conviction is more firm and stable than all our wavering and compromise.
His humility is more impelling than all our pride and arrogance.
His self-emptying is more filling than all our self-serving.
His altruism is more serving than all our egoism.
His generosity is more out-reaching than all our greed and accumulation.
His integrity is more authentic than all our hypocrisy and dishonesty.
His mercy is more powerful than all our aggression, retaliation and revenge.
His love is more stimulating than all our hatred.
His forgiveness is more comforting than all our sinfulness and refusal to forgive.
His nobility is more pressing than all our vulnerability.
7. Therefore, trust in His mercy. Confide in the power of His mercy. Then live the same mercy to others. This means, show the same rules of God’s mercy, which we have enumerated just above.
So let us be faithful, even amidst infidelity.
Let us be stronger even amidst all weaknesses.
Let us be brighter even amidst all darkness.
Let us be holier even amidst all unholiness.
Let us be more healing even amidst all hurts.
Let us be more guided even amidst all misleading.
Let us be more tender even amidst all rudeness.
Let us be more warm even amidst all coldness.
Let us be more convinced even amidst all compromise.
Let us be more humble even amidst all arrogance.
Let us more sacrificing even amidst all selfishness.
Let us be more sharing even amidst all accumulation.
Let us be more honest even amidst all manipulation.
Let us be more merciful even amidst all aggression and violence.
Let us be more loving even amidst all grudge and hatred.
Let us be more patient even amidst all anger and irritation.
Pointer: Be merciful as your heavenly Father is. Let mercy train your hearts and life, so that peace may reign in your hearts and life.
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