During that first week after the event of the Resurrection, the disciples remained fearful of the Jews, yet they continued to gather together in the temple and in the homes for the breaking of the bread. They rejoiced, yet remained fearful about this new future unfolding before them.
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. (cf. John 20:19 f).
On this Second Sunday of Easter full of the joy of the Resurrection of Jesus, we celebrate God’s Merciful Love. “In the various readings, the liturgy seems to indicate the path of mercy which, while re-establishing the relationship of each person with God, also creates new relations of fraternal solidarity among human beings”. (Pope John Paul II April 30, 2000).
The devotion to the “King of Divine Mercy” began in Poland in the 1930s. On February 22, 1931, Jesus appeared to Saint Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun, while she was praying in her cell. In the course of many visions and visitations, Jesus revealed to her his request for the feast of Divine Mercy. Jesus asked her to paint the vision of His Merciful Divinity being poured from His Sacred Heart. He promised: “Every soul believing and trusting in My mercy will obtain it.”(Jesus’ words, Diary 420. The words “Jesus, I trust in you” are to be written below the image.
Jesus requested this devotion to be spread to the whole world: “I want the image solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter, and I want it to be venerated publicly so that every soul may know about it. (Jesus’ words, Diary 341)
These are basic facts behind this Sunday’s designation as Divine Mercy Sunday. May this brief explanation invite us to help re-establish the relationship of each person with God, and thus create new relations of fraternal solidarity among human beings, in particular during this Corona Virus Pandemic.
I was hard pressed and was falling, but the LORD helped me.
R. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, his love is everlasting.
