II SUNDAY OF EASTER

EASTER II SUNDAY: DIVINE MERCY, 16 APRIL 2023 Acts 2. 42-47; 1 Peter 1. 3-9; John 20. 19-31 (Reflection I)   Indicative: Why this Divine Mercy Sunday immediately after Easter Sunday?   1.      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 were 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, 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 forever – 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 weaknesses. 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 leading than all our misguidedness. His sentiment is warmer and more capturing than all our resentment and grudge. His tenderness is more touching than all our harshness and hardness. His warmth is hotter and more 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, showing 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 our 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 the hurts. Let us be more guided even amidst all the 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.   Imperative: Be merciful as your heavenly Father is. Let mercy train your hearts and life, so that peace may reign in your hearts and life.    (Reflection 2):   1.      Peace is an urgent need: We are living in a world, which is recurrently haunted, tormented and wounded by mindless bouts of violence, destruction and death. There is a desperate need for peace. In such a context, peace becomes a word which is so heartening to hear, a gift that is so desirable. In fact, the value of peace becomes impressive, in the light of ‘What does peace do?’ Peace subsides fears. Peace instils confidence and courage. Peace comforts the discouraged and tired spirit. Peace brightens the darkened moments and uplifts frightened hearts. Peace forgives sins. Peace heals and restores health and tranquillity. Peace renews and re-energizes the dull and the inactive into a fiery fervour. Peace strengthens and confirms one who believes, in faith and mission. This is what we see in what the Risen Lord effects in the apostles and through them in the lives of many. 2.      Jesus restores peace! To a peaceless, disturbed and peace-hungry world, the Risen Lord gives peace. “Peace be with you!” is the greeting of the Risen Lord in his apparition to his apostles. Peace is the greatest Easter gift. He pronounces this blessing thrice, which is very significant. It denotes perfection and completeness. Thus, it is a peace that is whole and entire, and not partial, in bits and pieces. This is already a very comforting indicator and assurance for us: God always blesses us beyond measure: “I came to give you life, and life in its full measures” (Jn 10.10); “I tell you these things, so that my joy be in you, and that joy be complete” (Jn 15.11). Unlike humans, there are no calculations, no conditions, no fractions, no portions, and no percentages, in God’s grace. 3.      Why no peace? So if God gives us His grace fully, two immediate questions can be posed: Why we do not experience it fully? And why we do not transmit and share it with others fully? Two can be the obvious reasons which restrict and reduce the reception and effect of God’s grace and peace: human fragility and evil dominance. It is human fragility, seen in instability, infidelity and lack of firmness and commitment; it is evil dominance, seen in distorted values and pressuring pleasures of the world, which are clearly the handiworks of the Malignant. These human fragility and evil sway in turn lead to the loss of love for God and loss of ardour for good. 4.      What is needed to obtain peace? But what is needed to experience such a gift of peace? The simplest and greatest requirement is FAITH. This answer comes from the situation and response of Thomas in the gospel. What is this faith? It is a faith, “to believe even without seeing”, a faith “to trust unconditionally all that the Lord has promised”, a faith “to confide in the Lord’s presence and action, even amidst contrary situations and disconcerting experiences”, a faith “to go beyond the merely physical, perceptible and visible experiences and favours, a faith “not to easily rule out the richness of others’ faith experiences and testimonies”, but at the same time, “not to be passively content with others’ faith”, but “to long for a deep and personal encounter with Jesus”, a faith “to surrender totally to the Lord”, once encountered and confirmed in personal experience, a faith “to forgive without bounds”, and a faith “to bear witness to the same faith” in word and deed in proclaiming Gods’ grace and healing. Can we then grow faithfully and thus live peacefully? 5. Peace flows from divine mercy and our mercy! It is here that we find the link with divine mercy, as we celebrate this second Easter Sunday as the divine mercy Sunday. The reason is quite simple. God in His love is so merciful to us and gives us His peace. Thus peace is the effect of divine mercy. Faith is the response to this divine mercy, and our own mercy and compassion for others is the concrete effect of His peace. In other words, this peace demands on our part a deep faith as its foundation and mercy as its expression and authentication. There is no peace without faith in God and mercy for others!