Today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. It is a celebration that was instituted by Saint John Paul II in 2000. Saint Faustina, who was canonized on the same day, saw the vision and was told the words from Christ that we hear about. These words remind us of the Divine, never ending Mercy which Jesus has for us. He wants us so much to remember this that he came to Saint Faustina so that we would remember this as we do not see this in the world today.

In today’s world we see violence ongoing in the Middle East, Africa, and other places throughout the world, we see our moral center and beliefs being called old fashioned and out of step with the current philosophical thought. The guiding principle we see today seems to be anything goes. Yet we are called to believe in His Mercy. Christ’s mercy which is a forgiveness for our sins so that the heaviness of our hearts can be replaced with the Grace of the Holy Spirit.

We hear about how the disciples showed this mercy by insuring that all who followed them were taken care of not only spiritually, but materially as well. These folks had no problem selling possessions in order to insure the material well being of all involved. With this mercy they showed they were able to achieve Great things.

We hear from John that if we continue to have faith in God and his Son that our faith, seen through the following of his Commandments will conquer the world. Following his Commandments is not supposed to be burdensome, as we are all called in our heart to follow these from our baptism. When we are born it is imprinted in our heart to follow and seek God in everything we do.

Then in the Gospel today we see just how much that Jesus is willing to freely show his mercy to those who follow and believe in him. As we have heard many times the disciples left Jesus during his time of greatest need during Holy week. They could not stay awake in the garden at Gethsemane; they fled when he was arrested and hid all through his trial, crucifixion and death. They continued to hide during the time immediately after His death. This is where Jesus comes to them, behind locked doors, because they feared the Jews would persecute them next.

Jesus comes in, without unlocking the door, and simply says “Peace be with you”. They are all amazed and astounded, that Jesus, who they had turned their backs on was there in their midst offering them his mercy and his peace. He then goes on to breath on them saying receive the Holy Spirit, passing along the ability for them to forgive sins here on earth.

This mercy through the Holy Spirit is available to all of us today, just as it was given to the disciples. All we need to do is have faith, go to confession and receive the Eucharist. How many of us though are like Thomas who was not with the disciples the first time Jesus came to them? The whole doubting Thomas thing is not unusual. I know there have been many times where I have doubted the presence of Christ in my life and in the world. I could not feel his mercy and did not see the Good Works that were supposed to be taking place in the world because of Him.

This certainly seems to be prevalent today as we see the persecution of Christians and Jews in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world. We see the death and destruction that is brought on, not by Gods hand, but by the actions of men.  We hear about all sorts of morally evil acts being committed in the name of someone’s God. It would seem natural with all of this going on in the world to be just like Thomas was to the disciples, doubting their truthfulness that they saw Jesus. It was not until he came within their midst again, this time with Thomas there, that he believed as they did in Christ.

What Jesus speaks to Thomas after he comes, for me, can sometimes be a difficult thing to hear and understand. “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” I know I have never had the benefit of the same type of vision which Saint Faustina did, I have not seen Jesus. Yet we are called to believe in this man who walked among us 2000 years ago.

We are told that our faith will conquer the world, and we may certainly leave this building, believing in Christ. The question becomes do we continue to have that faith in the world where it seems that the faith in God and the following of his commandments is mocked in seemingly every aspect of our lives. How is our faith supposed to cut through what we see on TV, the internet, the smart phone and all the other distractions of the world?

Our religion did not grow because of a lack of faith, but due to the practicing of that faith as we heard earlier with those who sold possessions, so that those who had nothing, but were part of their group would have the things necessary to live. We need to look within ourselves and see if we show that mercy and faith that was shown by the original disciples.

By doing this and showing this we will show those around us the unending mercy and forgiveness that Jesus has for all of us. Will it be an easy task to show this to those around us? It certainly may not be as we are not always friendly with all the people we know, but this is what we are called to do. We are to show Gods mercy and compassion so that those we touch will come to know Christ through us.

There is a quote from the movie Santa Clause 2 that says; Seeing is not believing, Believing is seeing. When we believe in what we have not seen we will be able to share Christ’s mercy with the world so that all can come to know him through us.

Christ is Risen!

Christos Anesti!