Imagine,
for a moment, that you are one of the first disciples, and it is the evening of
the first day of the week, and you’re locked in the upper room with the
others. Dazed and confused and grieving
over the death of the Lord at the hands of the Jewish leaders, scared that they’re
coming for you next, yet mystified and filled with all kinds of emotions at the
news that Peter and John and Mary are telling - that the Lord had risen, that
the Lord had returned.
If I were there, I’d be nervous, because,
as much as I’d like to think I would have stood by the Lord, and accompanied
Him as He was arrested, beaten, sentenced to death and taken out and crucified,
knowing myself I would have been just like the others, hiding out, maybe
watching from a distance, but taking no chance that it would be me nailed to
the cross next to Jesus. And if that
were me, even though I had followed Him and eaten with Him and even grown to
love this gentle, kind, and challenging man, I am pretty sure I would have
abandoned Him in His darkest hour, too.
So in my mind’s eye if I envision
myself sitting around with the other disciples, and Our Lord suddenly was
standing before me, the first thought that would come to mind is “uh oh” and
then “here it comes, payback time.” He’s
back and He’s gonna want some answers – like “how could you desert me? I thought you loved me!”
But that’s not what happened. No.
The first words from Our Lord’s mouth weren’t “where were you? You weren’t there!” No.
The first word from Our Lord’s mouth was “peace. Peace be with you.” He appeared to the disciples not in anger,
not looking for payback, but bringing peace.
Gentleness. Forgiveness. Mercy!
It’s a fitting Gospel for today’s
Feast of Divine Mercy, instituted 14 years ago by Pope John Paul II, whose
canonization Pope Francis fittingly chose for this day of mercy. And we do well today to contemplate the mercy
of God, what St. Faustina Kowalska writes that Our Lord told her is “God’s
greatest attribute.” Mercy – God’s
greatest attribute!
What is mercy? The first thing that comes to mind is
forgiveness, and it is that, but it is more.
Mercy is love that is poured out, love poured out in forgiveness, in gentleness,
in compassion. The Latin word for mercy
is miscerecordia which translates as compassion from the heart. The image of Divine Mercy given to St.
Faustina is the image of Jesus with two rays coming forth from His Sacred Heart
– one red and one white, representing His precious blood and life-giving water that
gushed from His heart as he hung upon the cross.
Another definition that I think gets
close is this one I found on line, which is based on a homily of St. John Paul
II, and that is this: “Mercy is love
that bends down, grabs hold, lifts up, and heals.” Love that bends down, grabs hold, lifts up
and heals. My sisters and brothers, in
our fallen sinful world, in our fallen sinful nature, aren’t we all in need of
that? And isn’t that exactly what the
Father, through His Son Our Lord, does for us?
He sent His son, literally bent down to earth to be one of us, and by Our
Blessed Lord’s death and Resurrection, he grabs hold of us, lifts us up and
heals us?” He not only forgives us, but
He heals us, reconciles us to Himself by His own blood. And He pours out on us His grace, His
strength, to live holy lives.
It’s what Our Lord did for the disciples
in that locked room. It’s what He did
for doubting Thomas when He appeared again.
He didn’t come around scolding or seeking justice; He came with mercy,
with healing. And He breathed on them,
giving them new life. The Risen Lord,
who breathed His last as He hung on the cross, now breathed His new life into
them and gave them a mission, sent them forth, to forgive sins, to bring His
love, His mercy to the ends of the earth.
And 2000 years later, the Church
fulfills that mission in the person of her holy priests, who in persona Christi,
in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, are all about bringing Christ’s loving
mercy. Because if there’s one thing to
remember from this day, it’s this – the mercy of Christ is far greater, far
more powerful, than any sin.
My brothers and sisters, there are some
amoung us here today, perhaps many, who are imprisoned in sin – imprisoned
perhaps in anger, in prejudice, and ahte, in unforgiveness and spite perhaps, maybe
trapped in sinful habits and addictions, possibly even haunted by sins carried for
a lifetime, whatever – Our Lord is beckoning us to come to Him and trust in His
mercy, for His mercy is strong enough to set us free from whatever binds us. Strong enough to create in us new, soft
hearts where cold, stony hearts have been for so long. He beckons us to come to Him so that He may
bend down, embrace us, lift us up and heal us.
And one last thing - once we have
experienced His loving Mercy, how can we then not go forth to preach Divine
Mercy, in our words and in our actions. As
our trespasses have been forgiven, to forgive those who have trespassed against
us. After all, if mercy is God’s greatest
attribute, then in exhibiting mercy we are most like God, most modeling ourselves
after Jesus. Whom do you and I need to
forgive this day? Whom do you and I need
most to reach out to and be reconciled to?
Our Blessed Lord is calling you and
me as His disciples, each of us, to go forth from here, to bend down, embrace,
lift up and heal someone. To be
reconciled to someone. To let His Divine
Mercy flow through us to someone. Who is
that someone?
No comments:
Post a Comment