Sunday 19th April 2020
SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER (DIVINE
MERCY SUNDAY)
Acts 2:42-47, 1Peter 1:3-9
Today called Divine Mercy Sunday,
we celebrate the mercy of God oh humanity. Right from the creation and fall of
man, God has in various ways reached out to us to reconcile us to himself. Out
of his love and mercy, he sent Moses to the Israelites, and he sent them
prophets at various points in their history to lead them back to himself. In
our own time, God has sent his son to redeem us from our sinful state to
himself. This we celebrated last week, with the celebration of Easter as the
highest point.
The divine mercy Sunday we
celebrate today, was a private revelation by Jesus to Sr Maria Faustina in
1931. With series of apparitions, Jesus requested that she facilitate an
awareness of his divine mercy, and that it should be celebrated on the Sunday
after Easter Sunday. This request was approved by Pope John Paul II, in the
year 2000, during the canonisation of St Maria Faustina.
Jesus who is one with the father,
has been there from the very beginning of human history, and by his death and
resurrection, has proved to be the fullness of the mercy of God. After his
resurrection, he forgave all who wronged him.
In the gospel reading of today,
we see how he appeared to his disciples with a greeting of peace. He also gave them the greatest gift of mercy
and peace; the sacrament of reconciliation. He gave his Apostles the power to
continue the mercy of God on earth. We are therefore called to be agents of
peace, mercy and reconciliation.
In the first reading, we see how
the resurrection of Christ propelled the early Christians to live a life of
love, unity and peace.
St Peter tells us in the second
reading that the redeemed Christian community lived in peace and harmony,
having one heart and mind. No one sought anything for himself, but they had a
common purse. This is because they were not after the things of the world, but
for the imperishable things of heaven. We are therefore called to trace our
steps back and live like the early Christians who were concerned for the needs
of one another. Peace and unity is not possible without mercy and forgiveness.
You cannot live well with someone you still hold grudges against. Jesus forgave
us and granted us his mercy, and with priests as dispensers of the grace and
mercy of God through the sacrament of penance, we will be able to live a
peaceful and happy life if we make use of this sacrament and forgive ourselves
and others, knowing that God himself has forgiven us and had mercy on is
through his son, our Lord Jesus Christ. God help us. Amen
Fr Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie MSP
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