On the Second Sunday of Easter of the Jubilee Year 2000, at the Mass for the canonization of St Faustina Kowalska, Pope John Paul II proclaimed to the world that “from now on throughout the Church this Sunday will be called Divine Mercy Sunday.”
As I thought about God’s mercy and our call to live out that mercy each day on our journey and to show that mercy to others, I thought about a story I heard regarding the French emperor Napoleon. There was a young soldier in Napoleon’s army who was facing execution for deserting his post in battle. With great persistence, the soldier’s mother secured an audience with Napoleon in order to try to save her son’s life. However, Napoleon refused to remove the sentence of death that had been issued for the young solider. Napoleon explained to the distraught mother: “Your son deserted his post and left others to die. Justice demands that your son pay for his cowardice with his life.” The mother pleaded with Napoleon: “Your excellency, I do not ask for justice. I ask for your mercy.” Napoleon replied: “Your son does not deserve mercy. He must pay for his crimes.” The mother responded: “Your excellency, if my son deserved mercy, it would not be called mercy.” With that, Napoleon pardoned the son, saving his life.
This desperate mother had no idea what response she would get when she approached Napoleon. I am sure she trusted in her faith in God and hoped for the best. In many ways, today’s celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday is rooted in trust and hope. As disciples of Christ, we’re called to place our trust in God’s mercy. Trusting in God is essential in receiving the graces that he wants us to have on our journey of faith. Devoting a Sunday to God’s Divine Mercy during the Easter season, when we are called to reflect upon the meaning of the risen Christ in our lives, is meant to strengthen our trust in God’s mercy.
In today’s Gospel, Thomas experiences God’s mercy in a very personal way. Thomas wants to believe, but he can’t quite get there. He does not believe the other apostles when they tell him: “We have seen the Lord”. He wants to see. He wants to put his hands in the wounds on Jesus’ side, to be sure that this is really Jesus, his Lord and Savior. Yet, Jesus does not get angry. Jesus does not close the door on Thomas, writing him off as an unbeliever, as a lost soul. Jesus instead waits with patience and openness. When Jesus appears to the disciples again behind the locked doors of their room, he goes directly up to Thomas and tells him: Take your hand, put it in my hand, then put it in my side. Touch my wounds. Touch and see so that you not be unbelieving, but rather that you believe, that it is really me, Jesus, that I have been resurrected. Thomas receives God’s mercy into his life, into his faith, into his unbelief. With grace and humility of heart, Thomas responds to the mercy of God in the way all of us should respond, in stating: “My Lord and my God.” Thomas opens his heart. He trusts. He believes. He is a new man. His faith has been renewed and has been re-energized.
We can take our faith for granted. We can take God’s mercy for granted. Yet, God is always there for us with his love and mercy. Divine Mercy Sunday celebrates the merciful love of God shining through the Easter mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection. Actually, today’s feast recovers an ancient liturgical tradition, reflected in the teachings of St. Augustine in which he called the Octave of Easter “the days of mercy and pardon.” The image of the Divine Mercy of Jesus that we know so well comes from a vision of Sister Faustina in 1931. Her vision shows Jesus in a scene from today’s Gospel, as he miraculously appears in the Upper Room and bestows upon the Apostles the power of the Holy Spirit to forgive sins. His hand is raised in blessing, as he shows them His wounds, and looks for their trust. Two translucent rays, one white and one red, come from Jesus’ hand in this image. The red ray symbolizes the blood of Jesus and the white ray symbolizes water – the blood of the Eucharist and the waters of baptism. The image of Divine Mercy is symbolic of the charity, forgiveness and love of God. On this image is contained this inscription: “Jesus, I trust in you.” May we always trust in Jesus. May we always be merciful like the Father.
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