DEVINE MERCY

The Risen Christ is the fountain of endless and infinite mercy. He is the King of Divine Mercy. He alone is our peace and joy. His love is everlasting. The Divine Mercy is God’s initiative. It reveals God’s extravagant, excessive and steadfast love. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. No one can frustrate God’s plan to save us. He did not even spare Jesus from death. He withholds nothing to us, not even His only begotten Son to lead us to the goodness He desires for us. No one can stop Him from loving us. The appearance of the Risen Christ to His disciples from the Gospel of John (20:19-31) reveals the power of God’s mercy. The doors were locked for fear of the Jews. The disciples were scared that they would be the next to be crucified, that’s why they locked their doors. Yet Jesus came and stood in their midst. The locked door demonstrates the power of the Risen Christ. He is beyond space and time. No one is beyond the mercy, grace and love of God. And Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you”. This is the Jewish shalom beyond the absence of conflict. It is that peace that brings wholeness, inner security, completeness. It is that peace that the world cannot give. This reveals that mercy triumphs over judgment because Jesus could have scolded the disciples for being unfaithful, for abandoning and betraying Him. Yet the first word of the Risen Christ to His disciples is shalom, peace. The Son of God returns offering forgiving love. God’s love is stronger than death, greater than our infidelities, betrayals, guilt and failings. Jesus showed them His hands and His side. His wounds are signs of our sins: our dysfunction, violence, hatred, injustice, betrayals, cruelty. Our sins are responsible in wounding Him. Peter said, “You killed the author of life, but God raised Him from the dead” (Acts 3:15). Yet the wounds and shalom produce Christianity because the Church is the bearer of divine forgiveness into the world. At the same time, the Church has the responsibility of reminding the world of its sins. We are called therefore to be channels of God’s mercy so that peace may truly reign in the world. The Church is the physical presence of Christ in our tormented world today. We are called to be wounded healers like Jesus and allow Him to heal us so that we become agents of healing into the world.