{"id":2858,"date":"2019-04-28T12:22:15","date_gmt":"2019-04-28T16:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2858"},"modified":"2019-04-28T12:22:49","modified_gmt":"2019-04-28T16:22:49","slug":"2nd-sunday-of-easter-year-c-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/2nd-sunday-of-easter-year-c-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"2nd Sunday of Easter, Year C – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2<\/a>nd<\/a><\/sup> Sunday of Easter, Year C<\/a>
Acts 5:12-16
Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24 (19)
Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19
John 20:9-13
April 28, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Sunday we heard that the tomb of\nJesus was empty.  That was Easter\nSunday.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today we celebrate the Second Sunday of\nEaster.  Today we hear how Jesus appeared\nto his disciples to show them that He is indeed risen.  It is not just our souls that go to\nHeaven.  If we believe in Jesus, we will\nall rise body<\/em> and soul in the\nResurrection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I said today is the Second Sunday of\nEaster.  In the year 2000, Pope John Paul\nII designated this Sunday to also be Divine Mercy Sunday.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we hear the word \u201cmercy\u201d, our\nthoughts might turn to the forgiveness of sins. \nForgiveness is an important part of God\u2019s mercy.  Knowing our need for forgiveness, Jesus first\ndied for our sins.  Then, during his\nappearance in the locked room, Jesus gave the Apostles the power to forgive\nsins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need mercy in the world today.  Pope John Paul II knew this when he named this\nSunday as Divine Mercy Sunday.  Likewise,\nPope Francis also understood the need for mercy today when he proclaimed a\nJubilee Year of Mercy.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, God\u2019s mercy is not only about\nGod\u2019s forgiveness.  At the core of the\nmessage of Divine Mercy that came through St. Faustina is that God loves us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus died because God loves us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus appeared to his disciples in the\nlocked room out of mercy because He knew they were confused and did not\nunderstand what had happened.  A week\nlater, Jesus appeared again when Thomas was in the room.  Jesus knew Thomas did not believe what the\nother disciples told him about Jesus\u2019 appearance.  Jesus appeared to Thomas not to condemn him\nbut to help him believe.  Jesus appeared\nto Thomas because of God\u2019s Divine Mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus \u201csaid\nto them, \u201cPeace be with you<\/em>\u201d because He knew they were all struggling and\nconfused.  In his mercy, He offered them\npeace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of us receiving God\u2019s Divine Mercy is\nto share it with others.  It begins with\nforgiving others.  Think of the words we\npray in the Lord\u2019s Prayer, \u201cforgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, our call to share God\u2019s Divine\nMercy is not only about forgiveness.  In\ncalling for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis wanted everyone to realize\nthat \u201cmercy\u201d is about the way we treat others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the books published by the Vatican for the Jubilee Year of Mercy was entitled, The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy<\/em>.  The Corporal Works of Mercy come from Matthew 25:31-46 and call us to perform physical acts of mercy to feed the hungry and clothe the naked.  There are a total of seven Corporal Works of Mercy.  There are also seven Spiritual Works (found in various scripture passes) like \u201cinstructing the ignorant\u201d and \u201ccomforting the sorrowful\u201d (for a more detailed discussion on the works of mercy, please see my video presentation at http:\/\/www.renewaloffaith.org\/video—the-journey-to-jesus–acts-of-mercy.html<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes we are the ones in need of\ncorporal and spiritual works of mercy and sometimes we are the ones called to\nperform these acts of mercy.  Both\nrequire us to trust God.  When we need\nhelp, we can trust God to provide.  When\nwe are called to perform works of mercy, we might feel lacking.  Here, we are called to trust God to provide\nwhatever we need to do as He asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus greeted his disciples with \u201cPeace be with you<\/em>.\u201d  This \u201cpeace\u201d is what we seek.  It is not simply the absence of war and\nviolence.  No, the peace that Jesus\noffers is a deep peace.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of his message of Divine Mercy to\nSt. Faustina, Jesus told her, \u201cHumanity will never find peace until it turns\nwith trust to Divine Mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message of Divine Mercy is meant for\neveryone.  In the second reading, John found\nhimself \u201con the island called Patmos.<\/em>\u201d  Patmos was a penal colony.  He was sent there by humans for giving\ntestimony to Jesus.  I would imagine that\nGod sees this as an opportunity for John to proclaim Divine Mercy to other\nprisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus offered the message of Divine Mercy\nto St. Faustina in early 20th<\/sup> century Poland.  That was not the beginning of Divine\nMercy.  Jesus himself showed Divine Mercy\nin curing the sick, driving out demons, and dying for us on the Cross.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s mercy goes back even further.  God has always been merciful.  Our psalm today repeats, \u201cHis mercy endures forever<\/em>\u201d three\ntimes.  (Psalm 136 repeats \u201cfor his mercy endures forever<\/em>\u201d over and\nover.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We give thanks that \u201chis mercy endures forever<\/em>\u201d whether it be his forgiveness, his\ncompassion for our physical needs, or his help spiritually, we \u201cgive thanks to the Lord for he is good.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is always merciful.  Our experience of Divine Mercy begins in\nBaptism.  It continues always.  Knowing of God\u2019s Divine Mercy, we can pray\nthe words found on the image of Divine Mercy, \u201cJesus, I trust in you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2nd Sunday of Easter, Year CActs 5:12-16Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24 (19)Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19John 20:9-13April 28, 2019 Last Sunday we heard that the tomb of Jesus was empty.  That was Easter Sunday.  Today we celebrate the Second Sunday of Easter.  Today we hear how Jesus appeared to his disciples to show them that He is …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘2nd Sunday of Easter, Year C – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[29,82,150],"tags":[591,592,593],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-K6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2858"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2860,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858\/revisions\/2860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}