2nd Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday (Year C) - 24 April

24th April 2022

A reflection on today's gospel reading by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen:

"There are two kinds of unbelief: those who say something is not true because they wish it were not true and those who say something is not true because they wish that it was. This latter kind is curable. After eight days of the gloom that comes from doubt, the Saviour appears to the doubter, Thomas, and says: 'Let me have thy finger; see, here are My Hands. Let me have thy hand; put it into My Side. Cease thy doubting and believe.' Thomas casts himself at His Feet, saying: 'My Lord and My God.'

“'O Captain of the wars! Why wear ye these Scars?'

"First, to prove the law of Christian life that no one shall be crowned unless he has struggled; that no crowns of merit rest suspended on those who do not fight; that unless there is a Good Friday in our lives there will never be an Easter Sunday; that no one ever rises to a higher life without death to a lower one; that God hates peace in those who are destined for war.

"Second, to prove His Love. True love seeks not its own good, but the good of the other. As human love relieves the physical pains of others, so Divine Love relieves the moral evils of others. True love is proven not by words but by offering something to the one loved and the greatest offering one can give is not what one has but one’s very life. Every Scar tells the story: 'Greater love than this no man hath.'

"Third, to solicit our love, He rose, not with wounds, for those would betoken a weakness after battle, but with Scars, glorious medals of victory on Hands and Feet and Side. As a little child may say to a wounded or scarred soldier: 'How did that happen?' so Our Lord shows us His Scars, that by our childish questioning, He might tell us: 'I did this all for you!'" (Our Grounds for Hope)

Divine Mercy Sunday

Liturgically the Easter Octave has always been centred on the theme of Divine Mercy and forgiveness. Divine Mercy Sunday, therefore, points us to the merciful love of God that lies behind the whole Paschal Mystery - the whole mystery of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ - made present for us in the Holy Eucharist. In this way, it also sums up the whole Easter Octave. As Pope St John Paul II pointed out in his Regina Caeli address on Divine Mercy Sunday in 1995: “the whole octave of Easter is like a single day,” and the Octave Sunday is meant to be the day of “thanksgiving for the goodness God has shown to man in the whole Easter mystery.”

In a series of revelations to St Maria Faustina Kowalska in the 1930’s, our Lord called for a special feast day to be celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. On April 30, 2000 at the canonisation of St Faustina, Pope St John Paul II named the Second Sunday of Easter “Divine Mercy Sunday”. A decree followed on May 5, 2000 directing that the Second Sunday of Easter shall henceforth have the appellation of Divine Mercy Sunday, thus making it the integral name for this important Feast Day.

“I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy … Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity … The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it solemnly be celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the fount of My mercy.” Our Lord to St Faustina, Diary entry 699.

Easter Blessing Prayer for Families

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. 🙏💖💐

Prayer of Repentance

I beseech Thee, O Most Blessed Trinity, to shed the fire of Thy merciful love upon this most frigid heart, to let shine upon this most darkened mind, the light of the Son, in Whom alone is every grace and truth. Have pity on me, most Merciful God, and regard not my sins and offences, but in Thy mercy forgive me yet again, and grant me the graces to serve Thee now in fidelity and truth. Amen. 💖🙏💐

Consecration to the Divine Mercy

Jesus, the Divine Mercy, I consecrate my entire life, from this day on, to You without reserve. Into Your hands, I abandon my past, my present, and my future. From this day forward, make me a true follower of Your teaching. Let Your Divine Mercy Image protect my home and my family from all the powers of evil in this world today. May all who venerate it never perish, may it be their joy in life, their hope in death, and their glory in eternity. Amen.

God, merciful Father, in your Son, Jesus Christ, You have revealed your love and poured it out upon us in the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. We entrust to You today the destiny of the world and of every man and woman. Bend down to us sinners, heal our weakness, conquer all evil, and grant that all the peoples of the earth may experience Your mercy. In You, the Triune God, may they ever find the source of hope. Eternal Father, by the Passion and Resurrection of Your Son, have mercy on us and upon the whole world! Amen. 💖🙏💐