SECOND SUNDAY OF , 4/11/21 By Fr. Moses Iyogwoya Today being the Second Sunday of Easter is known as . In our responsorial psalm today, the psalmist tells us “His Mercy Endures Forever.” On the first day of the week, the disciples were gathered, and they locked themselves in for fear of the Jews, but stands among them and says, ‘Peace be with you.’ By so doing, Jesus gives his disciples a new life and commission. In mercy our Lord reaches us with inner peace when we are surrounded by all sorts of troubles. In mercy he lifts us up from the sins that torture and imprison us.

God’s mercy endures forever, because of God’s Mercy Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained”. In these words, Our Divine Lord gave authority to his disciples to forgive sins. It is not to be disputed that only God can forgive sins. However, God has deemed it fit to share his authority with human beings in some aspects of their lives. Even though Jesus Christ is the Mediator between God and humanity, we strongly believe in the mediatory role of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints. I feel humble in the and Reconciliation where I seek God’s mercy and his priest who acts in the person of Christ. It is where I receive grace to move out of my own need to show mercy to others. It is in the exercise of God’s mercy that the Eternal Word took flesh and lived amongst us.

As we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, it is necessary that we remind ourselves of the benefits that accrue to us as a result of making use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation instituted by Our Blessed Lord. Sin is not only an offense against God who is All-Holy. It adversely affects the human community whether the sin is committed openly or secretly. The Priest, a servant of God comes from the community of believers, Heb.5:1. So, the Priest is a representative both of God and the human community. There is also the aspect of confidentiality. The Priest will never disclose Confessional secrets.

Sins weigh down on the individual. Confessing them lightens the mind and procures health for the penitent’s spiritual, psychological, physical and so on. God’s mercy endures forever. It will benefit us greatly if we have recourse to the Sacrament which is a channel of God’s mercy to us.

1

Two weeks ago, was . Can we still remember the agony of ? The injustice against Jesus? The betrayal by his close friends? The shouts of the crowd: “Crucify Him, Crucify Him.” Can we cast our mind to the scourging at the Pillar? The unjust and senseless release of Barabbas? Think of the spitting, the insults, the mockery, and laughter as Jesus went through agony. The question for us today is, what would I have done after resurrection if I were Jesus? Some people would have surely received a flogging or a slap, maybe those soldiers, remember the guy who slapped Jesus during his trial? What about his disciples that abandoned him?

But what did Jesus do? He came back from the grave; he went to meet his friends who abandoned him at his hour of need and said to them: “Peace be with you.” Wow! There was not even a single iota of anger in him, it shows that he really meant what he said on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34. Do you notice that not even a single person was punished for their role in the death of Jesus, not even the soldiers, not even the chief priest, not one soul died except he who took his own life out of despair; Judas Iscariot. Do we see the mercy of God? Can we contrast the behavior of Jesus to our behavior when we get the chance to hit back at those who hurt us? Are there still some people we are carrying in our mind rehearsing in our head repeatedly the nature of the vengeance we will inflict on them when we get the chance?

Even Thomas who refused to believe when he was told about Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus came the following Sunday Morning and instead of shaming Thomas or lambasting him, he simply was companionate and allowed Thomas to touch his hands, his feet and his side. He attended to Thomas by granting his request, then Thomas made the great act of faith; “My Lord and my God.” Am I so kind to those who talk evil behind my back? Do I treat with compassion those who do not believe I can ever amount to anything in life? Can I be so respectful to those who have no ounce of respect for me?

We are called upon for some amount of silence; silence to let our heart melt when we contemplate the mercy of God compared to our kind of mercy. Jesus did not wait for those who offended him to come to ask for forgiveness before he forgave them. Why is it that when we are offended, we wait for apologies? And even then, when they do, our pride shoots up, our head swells and we behave like a king or

2 queen giving a gift to his servants. We never forget the hurt, and our relationship with them changes. We claim to forgive most often, yet we stop talking to them, we stop visiting. Dear friends, why can’t we just be like God?

Divine Mercy is not simply a matter of forgiving others who offend us, it also extends to treating our sisters and brothers like the Samaritan; sharing our belongings and living as one; it is putting an end to me-myself-and-I syndrome; it is living for others. Life of sacrifice.

For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion … For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion… For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion…

3