Divine Mercy Sunday
Quite often, we Christians do not appreciate what God does in our lives, especially, His graces, mercies and blessings to us. On many occasions, we have even not accepted that without God in our lives, we cannot be anything or achieve anything in life. Today we celebrate the Divine Mercy Sunday which reminds us to appreciate, cherish and reciprocate God’s love and mercy to us in our thoughts, words and actions. Divine Mercy is defined as God's love for us His children reaching down to meet our needs and overcome our miseries. Divine Mercy has also been described as a form of God's compassion for His creatures, an act of grace based on trust or forgiveness. So if God’s love, mercy and compassion is the center of His Divine Mercy for us, how do we appreciate and cherish such acts of love, mercy and compassion?
Our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles 4:32-35 by telling us that "the community of believers was of one heart and mind," informs us that ‘Love’ is one of the essential ways of appreciating and reciprocating God’s mercy and compassion to us. By loving others as God loves us, we cherish and show our gratitude to Him for His mercy towards us. Saint John in his first letter Jn 5:1-6 today’s second reading reminds us that ‘Obedience’ to God’s commandments is a very important way of showing our love for Him and appreciating His mercy, graces and blessings to us.
The story of Thomas in our gospel reading today from the gospel of Saint John 20:19-31 doubting that our Lord has resurrected unless he sees the mark of the nails in his hands and puts his finger into the nail marks and puts his hand into his side, emphasizes the importance of continually deepening our faith in God. Remember, Faith which is our belief in God shown in our thoughts, words and actions is very essential in accepting and appreciating God’s mercy for us.
Hence my brothers and sisters in Christ, as we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday today, let us meditate on, cherish and appreciate God’s love, compassion and mercy towards us because they are pathways made available to us by God so that we can experience His everlasting love for us and witness to Him in our world today, Amen!
