I was walking leisurely along the beautiful stretch of the
shore of Boracay, when my attention was caught by a jolly teenage boy
masterfully working on the fine white sand building his awesome castle. As he completed it, he allowed tourists to pose
and take pictures with it as background. Some were so pleased that they even tipped
him. I walked farther along the shore as
the red sun was retiring hesitatingly behind the horizon; something within me nudged
me to make my own castle. Yes, I fumbled
at first but built my sand castle anyhow. But no sooner had I completed my
masterpiece than the ocean mockingly wiped it out! Just like that. No pictures. No tourist tips
for me.
But I experienced consolation. As I looked at the great ocean reflecting the
beautiful colors of the setting sun, it reminded me of the vast mercy of God
capable of wiping out my ambitious but feeble castle of sins.
On Good Friday, the sinful world mocked Jesus who died on the
cross; but on Easter morning, Jesus victoriously rose from the dead conquering
the destructive power of sin. Henceforth, sin has fallen and remained as such—a
pretentious castle made of sand. As often as it is built and rebuilt, the ocean
of God’s mercy is there to wipe it out. Alleluia!
Today, the second Sunday of Easter is the Divine Mercy
Sunday, a special day to rejoice because of the assurance of the infinite mercy
of God for us who are sinners but who long for salvation. Pope John Paul II
pronounced the second Sunday of Easter as the Divine Mercy Sunday on April 30,
2000 during the ceremony of the canonization of St. Mary Faustina Kowalska, the
Polish nun who had received from Christ the revelations of the Divine Mercy in
the early years of the twentieth century. One of Christ’s requests through
these revelations was the reservation of the second Sunday of Easter for the
entire Church to honor and commemorate God's infinite mercy. Pope John Paul II fulfilled the request.
Hence, today, we discern in the gospel reading (Jn 20:
19-31) the revelation of the mercy of God as the Risen Lord confronted his
fearful disciples. Jesus appeared to his
disciples who were hiding in a locked room out of fear. He appeared to them not
to reproach them of their cowardly act of denying and abandoning him as He
suffered in Calvary. No. He passed
through the locked doors and through their fears and guilt in order to bring
peace into their troubled hearts. “Peace be with you!” And indeed their fears
turned into rejoicing.
More significantly, the Risen Lord appeared to them to give
them the power to bring into this sinful world the mercy of God: “’Peace be
with you. As the Father has sent me, so
I send you.’ And when he has said this,
he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you
forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained’” (v.21-23).
This is the explicit institution of the Sacrament of
Reconciliation. In this sacrament we experience the mercy of God. By this sacrament, the Church fulfills the
mission for which she is sent—to proclaim to the world that the limitless ocean
of God's mercy overcomes the pretentious sand castles of our sins.
Hence, today we rejoice because of this assurance. But how
can we partake of this tremendous gift of God’s mercy? Let us explore three
things we can do to make the Divine Mercy truly integral to our Christian
living:
Acknowledging our
utter need for God’s mercy. We have
to be humble to accept that we are sinners. And we should be horrified that we
are in sin and that we cannot save ourselves from its slavery. We need God’s mercy to set us free. Our greatest
tragedy, and this is already a plague in our contemporary society, is when we live
in sin and are no longer disturbed by it. It is then very helpful that we
examine our conscience regularly so that we may not be blind to the persistent
influence of sin in our lives and that we may humbly acknowledge our utter need
for God’s forgiveness.
Trusting in the mercy
of God. The ocean of God’s mercy has been made available by the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ. The Risen Lord has entrusted to the Church the sacrament of
Penance and Reconciliation through which we experience the joy of being
forgiven. Here is what Jesus told St.
Faustina about confession: When you approach the confessional, know this, that I
Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but
I Myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God
of mercy (Diary, 1602). As sinners, let us surrender to the merciful
arms of our Lord as we pray in our hearts: “Jesus, I trust in you.”
Becoming merciful.
One of the many things Jesus demanded
from St. Faustina is this: "I demand from you deeds of mercy... You
are to show deeds of mercy to your neighbors always and
everywhere." As we experience the mercy of God in our lives, we are
invited to share to others that same mercy. Let us allow the ocean of God’s
mercy to be channeled through us. Mercy
is Christianity’s distinctive virtue. To be a Christian is to be merciful. This
means to be forgiving to those who are indebted to us in whatever way and to
be kind and loving especially to those who cannot return the favor because of
misery and poverty.
Through the death and resurrection of our Lord, the ocean of
God’s mercy opened up for the whole world. This Sunday invites us to celebrate
with joy the gift of God’s infinite mercy. Let us surrender to the Lord our
sinfulness and that of the whole world and completely trust in his mercy as we pray: “Holy God, Holy Mighty
One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” Amen.
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