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A Message from Fr. Franco -
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Divine Mercy Sunday
My dear parishioners,
The Gospels tell us that Jesus went from place to place, preaching the Kingdom of God, healing the sick, and raising the dead. But before Jesus healed people physically, he healed them spiritually. In fact, his physical cures were signs of spiritual healing, the healing of the soul. In Matthew’s Gospel, when Jesus healed a paralytic, his first words to him were not “Rise and walk”, but rather, “Your sins are forgiven.” Certainly, his words angered the Scribes and Pharisees, and why? Because “Only God can forgive sin,” they said, ‘not this itinerant preacher!’
But in Jesus, we meet the God who alone can forgive sins. His very Name, the Name of Jesus, means, “God saves”!
We hear in the Gospels, when he rose from the dead, the Risen Lord passed through doors that had been locked out of fear. He stood in the midst of his disciples, and said, “Peace be with you!” As he did so, he breathes the Holy Spirit upon them, thereby empowering them and their successors to forgive sin. “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven,” he says to them – words that reverberate every time a priest in a confessional says, “I absolve you from your sins!”
Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. How, then, shall we respond to God’s mercy? And what does it mean truly to accept God’s mercy into our hearts? To answer that question, let us look at what ordinary experience teaches us. Let us say you have hurt someone you really love, perhaps a spouse or a parent. Coldness of heart replaces the warmth of love. Tension enters into a tranquil relationship. Distance triumphs over intimacy. But suppose this loved one takes the initiative and reaches out to forgive you. Unless you are made of stone, you will be relieved, grateful, and joyful – because your loved one has given you a great gift, a gift of selfless love and mercy. Does that mean it is okay to go back to business as usual? Or does accepting another’s forgiveness not mean that you and I have to change – not only our outward behavior but also what is in the depths of our hearts? Forgiveness is not a “get out of jail free” card! It is a new beginning!
Only a humble, contrite heart can receive the gift of mercy. When we truly take to heart the gift of Divine Mercy, it shatters our humanity! It shatters illusions we may have of self-sufficiency or superiority over others, illusions that our sins are someone else’s fault, or really not too
serious. When the light and love of the Risen Lord passes through our broken hearts, not only are our illusions dispelled but our humanity is restored from within. In that moment of grace, we can hear Jesus saying to us, “Peace be with you!” And once the peace of Christ enters our hearts, our lives change. We may stumble and fall, even repeatedly, but God’s grace will be at work in us, patiently mending our hearts, replacing vice with virtue, making us luminous with love.
May God bless us and keep us always in his love!
Thank you Jesus for your Divine Mercy!
God bless you.
Pray for me.
In Mary Help of Christians,
Fr. Franco
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