Jn. 20: 19-31
“You may call God love, you may call God goodness. But, the best name for God is compassion.” (Meister Eckhart) We celebrate the first Sunday after the Easter as the Sunday of Divine Mercy. Why do we need to celebrate the Divine Mercy?
The following words of Pope Francis gives us a new insight in this regard, He states: “Mercy is the most surprising attribute of our Creator and Redeemer.” The influence of the Greek categorical thinking sidelined this dynamism of our Lord and he was proclaimed and understood as a judge. The meaningful analogies like God as loving father, the Good Samaritan, the Good Shepherd, etc. were eliminated from our faith seeking understanding. The feast of divine Mercy is an invitation to get back to the roots of our faith and above all to be in touch with the risen Christ who manifested the infinite mercy of God the Father. An attentive reading of today’s gospel passage would enlighten us with regard to the depth of God’s mercy. God’s love is unconditional and Jesus was the manifestation of that unconditional love.
After the resurrection, Jesus goes in search of his disciples. He did not ask them: Why did you abandon me? Why did Judas betray me? Why did Peter deny me? etc. Jesus knew the fragility of his disciples. Even after his resurrection, they were controlled by the fear of Jewish authorities. Jesus comes into their midst without any prejudices and accusations. He extends unconditional forgiveness and peace. He strengthens them with the Holy Spirit. He makes himself available to Thomas that he may experience His resurrected body and believe in Him.
Being merciful means being like Christ.
As we celebrate the Divine Mercy Sunday we are exhorted to imitate the person of Christ and to be merciful like Christ. It is easy to speak and write about being merciful but in real life it is not that so easy to accept others as they are and love them unconditionally. But when we glance through the life stories of saints Faustina, John Paul II, Mother Theresa who were called the apostles of Divine Mercy, through their exemplary life styles, we see that they imitated this virtue to a great extent and became faces of God’s mercy to all those they came in touch. Let us rely on the throne of grace and also allow ourselves to be challenged by the lives of these people that our life too may become a celebration of Divine Mercy…