Homily Second Sunday of Easter
(Divine Mercy Sunday) ABC: Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo
Readings: Acts 2:42-47; Ps
118:2-4,13-15,22-24; 1 Pet 1:3-9 (A); Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6 (B); Acts
5:12-16; Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13,17-19 (C) and John 20:19-31(ABC)
Christ-Conduits of Divine Mercy!
Today the Church celebrates
“Divine Mercy Sunday” commemorating Jesus’ revelations to Saint Faustina on the
Divine Mercy. Pope John Paul II granted this Feast to the Universal Church
on the occasion of his raising Sr. Faustina, a young Polish woman to Sainthood
on April 30, 2000 and was decreed to be celebrated on the 2nd Sunday of
Easter.
It is a
teaching Sunday that invites us to embrace Christ’s enthronement
on the Cross, his Resurrection and his multiple appearances to his seemingly
disillusioned and doubting disciples as nothing, but acts of love and
divine mercy towards us. Christ went to the the cross freely to save us!
(Song- "all the way to Calvary... went
for us..."). Peter in the Second reading, particularly of Year A
recognizes this when he says
“Blessed be the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy
gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead” (1 Pet 1:3-9).
Christ’s disciples particularly
those who lived through the events of Palm Sunday to Easter needed the power of
Christ’s Peace to calm their fears and be strengthened in the supernatural
gifts of faith and fortitude through the Holy Spirit., wherever they were
hiding for fear of the "Jews."
I am sure we still recall the
other day, in Luke Chapter 24: 13-35, at Emmaus, when Jesus walked besides
Cleopas and his friend on their return from Jerusalem, clouded in sad conversation they
did not recognized Jesus until the Risen Christ spent time breaking bread with
them. Besides, walking with his disciples, or breaking bread with them in other
appearances, he ate baked fish with them (Lk 24:35-48) and also gave them
encouraging instruction by the beach at the Sea of Tiberias
(John 21:1-14)
Today again in John 20:19-31 the
Risen Lord appears to the restless and frightened disciples with blessings of
Peace (Shalom)! He breathed on them and commissions them on a preaching mission
with the power to forgive sins, “whose sins you forgive are forgiven them and
whose sins you retain are retained” (Jon 20:23).
On a day like this, Divine Mercy
Sunday, I would think that Our Lord encourages us to be merciful to one
another, in our homes, families and communities, and to continue to appreciate
the gift of the sacrament of reconciliation in the Church. And when this
celebration in done in a Seminary, a house of formation of future priest for
our parishes and dioceses we cannot but continue to pray for our priests and
would be priests to see themselves as ministers of Divine Mercy and agents of
shalom. And this is confirm in last year’s ( 2011) documents from the
Congregation for the Clergy, The Priest, Minister of Divine Mercy….p. 3
which says, ‘ the priest is a minister, that is to say that he is at the same time
both a servant and a prudent dispenser of Divine Mercy…”
The Holy Father, Pope Benedict
the XVI in his 2010 Pastoral Letter
to the Catholics of Ireland, which is also applicable to every priests
(and all of us) urges priests themselves (and us) who have wrong others, “not
to be “despair of God’s Mercy,” that “Christ’s redeeming sacrifice has the
power to forgive even the gravest of sins, and to bring forth good from even
the most terrible evil.”
Divine Mercy is sufficient unto
each of us, all the disciples- mom, dad, children, clergy, priests,
Seminarians, as it was for all men, and women we hear in Scriptures.
Besides encouraging us to be
"masters of divine mercy", Christ invites us like Thomas to
touch his wounds (John 20:19-31); wounds that would heal Thomas’ wounds
of disbelief and faithlessness; wounds that replaces lack of peace with Peace
of Christ; wounds that replaces the spirit of darkness with God’s Spirit of
Light. Christ’s wounds, a catalyst for testimony of the healing truth, courage,
unlimited mercy and inexhaustible love of Christ. Thomas touches wounds
of love, unity; wounds that would empower communion, the sharing (konoinia)
and the preaching of the early Christian Community.
This we are told in Acts of the Apostle,
“All who believed were together… (as we are today in this church) they
devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life
(Konoinia), breaking of bread and praying together….” (Acts 2:42-47).
Moreover,
“They were of one heart and mind and no one claimed that any of his
possessions was his own, but they had everything in common…they bore witness to
the Resurrection of Christ…” (Acts 4:32-35).
Like Thomas, Mary Magdalene,
Peter, Cleopas, and the Eleven Disciples, we all do have moments of doubt,
uncertainties, confusions, disbelief, hopelessness, selfishness and
frustrations. Conscious also of those moments we might have acted
uncharitably or mercilessly towards our neighbors, we are invited today to deep
our hands into those wounds of Christ! And be filled with faith and
strengthen by Christ, our wounded healer!
The Eucharist we shall soon move
up to celebrates provides us a fitting opportunity to deep our fingers into
these wounds of Christ. As we come up today to receive, May we be strengthen
with mercy, love (1 John 5:1-6), hope (1 Pet 1:3-9), faith and unity to say
with Thomas “my Lord and My God.”
And may our families, streets,
neighborhood, churches and workplaces continue to be true channels and conduits
for the transmission of Divine Mercy and faith in the Risen Christ.
2nd Homily Second Sunday of
Easter (Divine Mercy) ABC: Reflections - Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo
Readings: Acts 2:42-47; Ps
118:2-4,13-15,22-24; 1 Pet 1:3-9 (A); Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6 (B); Acts
5:12-16; Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13,17-19 (C) and John 20:19-31(ABC)
Deeping our Hands into the Wounds
of Christ!
From Easter Sunday to Pentecost
the Church celebrates those fifty days that the Risen Jesus goes around by
his appearances strengthening the faith of his “seemingly” disillusioned
disciples over the events of the victory of the Cross; that supernatural event
beyond the powers of Anna, Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin and Pilate other opponents
of Jesus. Even it took a while, for friends of Christ, his mother, Mary Magdalene,
his disciples, the apostles, especially Thomas, being human like any of us to
come to terms with the mystery of the Resurrection (John 20:24-29). He
needed to deep his hands in his wounds!
They needed the power of Christ’s
Peace (love, reassurance, well-being, okeyness) to calm their fears and be
strengthened in the supernatural gifts of faith and fortitude by the Holy
Spirit, wherever they were hiding for fear of persecution. You will recall the
other day, in Luke Chapter 24: 13-35, at Emmaus, when Jesus walked besides
Cleopas and his friend on their return from Jerusalem, clouded in sad conversation they
did not recognized Jesus until the Risen Christ spent time breaking bread with
them. Besides, walking with his disciples, or breaking bread with them in other
appearances, he ate baked fish with them (Lk 24:35-48) and also gave them
encouraging instruction by the beach at the Sea of Tiberias
(John 21:1-14)
In today’s Gospel the Risen
Lord invites Thomas to touch his wounds (John 20:19-31); wounds that
would heal Thomas’ wounds of disbelief and faithlessness; wounds that
replaces lack of peace with Peace of Christ; wounds that replaces the spirit of
darkness with God’s Spirit of Light. Thomas touches wounds of testimony to the
healing truth, courage, unlimited mercy and inexhaustible love of Christ.
He touches wounds of love, unity; wounds that would empower communion and the
sharing and the preaching of the early Christian Community.
We are told in Acts of the Apostle,
“All who believed were together… (as we are today in this church) they
devoted themselves to teaching of the apostles and to the communal life
(Konoinia), breaking of bread and praying together….” (Acts 2:42-47).
Moreover, “They were of one heart and mind and no one claimed that any of his
possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power
the Apostles bore witness to the Resurrection of Christ…” (Acts 4:32-35).
You want to see what unity and
the power of togetherness can offer, as individual, families, Church,
religious/seminary communities and even as a nation
Their witnesses and togetherness
were blessed with the spirit of sharing, faith, communing with one another;
that same communion that our first communion friends and children will be
sharing with us during these Sundays, between now and the Pentecost.
Like Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Peter, Cleopas, and the Eleven Disciples we all do have moments of doubt, uncertainties, confusions, disbelief, hopeless and frustrations. Conscious of those moments we are invited today to deep our hands into those wounds of Christ! And be faith- filled, healed and strengthen by Christ our wounded healer!
The Eucharist we shall soon move
up to celebrates provides us a fitting opportunity to deep our fingers into the
wounds of Christ. As we come up today to receive, May we be strengthen
with mercy, love (1 John 5:1-6), hope (1 Pet 1:3-9), faith and unity to say
with Thomas “my Lord and My God.”
Also may our society and the
Church be blessed with fruitful Evangelization, Spirit of Sharing, Peace, Love
(1 John 5:1-6), hope (1 Pet 1:3-9), faith and unity. And may our families,
streets, neighborhood, churches and workplaces continue to be channels and
conduits for evangelization and transmission of faith in the Risen Christ.
