THE MERCY OF THE LORD IS INFINITE


DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP

Acts 4:32-35; Ps 118:2-4,15-18,22-24; 1 Jn 5:1-6; Jn 20:19-31

The Mercy of the Lord is Infinite

As the mystery of the great Day of Salvation unfolds, our minds turn to the greatness of divine mercy shown upon our human nature. As we contemplate the Risen Lord, we understand the grandeur of human nature that God has made in his image and likeness better. “Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.’” Because the Son of Man had served the just sentence on man, and God has shown mercy to man, set him free from agelong bondage to sin and death, peace is now possible in human hearts. We celebrate the Divine Mercy that accomplished this for us and in human nature. Thus, what is clear to us is that God truly loved the world, so he gave us his Only Begotten Son to be our Saviour and our Lord. The resurrection of Jesus Christ reveals the divine power at work in him for our salvation. Since mercy is an expression of love in a form suitable to one who stands in need, the deliverance, justification, and adoption we have received from God through the ministration of his Son in our human nature reveals the infinite divine mercy and love. The opening prayer brings our attention to these mysteries: “Increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed, that all may grasp and rightly understand in what font they have been washed, by whose Spirit they have been reborn, by whose Blood they have been redeemed.”

The contemplation of these mysteries brings the believers to understand, to a certain extent, the Commonwealth they possess in the Risen Lord. This understanding shaped the life and structure of the early Church. They cherished the divine fount of their spiritual life, that is, the real presence of the Risen Lord, and they testified to the love and mercy the Father has lavished upon them; they rejoiced in the Holy Spirit of adoption; and they shared the physical properties they possessed among themselves according to need. These mysteries informed their common life, profession of faith, and preaching. “The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in common.”  The importance of reaching clarity in understanding these mysteries for the proper insertion of the baptised into the life of the Church cannot be over-emphasized. A poor understanding of the mysteries of our faith keeps us individuated, while a deep understanding creates a bond of brotherhood sharing the Commonwealth founded on the Risen Lord. The second reading from the first letter of St. John relates these truths. Faith in the Risen Lord—his divinity and humanity—roots one in God by a spiritual rebirth through the Holy Spirit whom we received. “Who can overcome the world? Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God: Jesus Christ who came by water and blood, not with water only, but with water and blood; with the Spirit as another witness—since the Spirit is the truth.”

The mission the Church received from the Lord is to proclaim these mysteries. Concisely summarized: the vocation is to understand these mysteries, and the mission is to proclaim them to all nations. We are to proclaim the love the Father has lavished upon us by sending us his Only Begotten Son to die for the forgiveness of our sins; he raised him for our restoration into the life of God; he gave us his Spirit of adoption as sons. The divine mercy we are celebrating is what Jesus sent his disciples out to preach. “‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.’” We received mercy and love; we are to proclaim mercy and love of God to all.  

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, to understand the immensity of your mercy and love by which you have redeemed us, that we may be true apostles of your divine mercy and love. 

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