On the first universal celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday
April 22, 2001
Divine Mercy: The Easter Gift
"Fear not, I am the first and the last,
and the living one; I died,
and behold I am alive for evermore"
(Rev 1:17-18).
and the living one; I died,
and behold I am alive for evermore"
(Rev 1:17-18).
We heard these comforting words in the Second Reading taken
from the Book of Revelation. They invite us to turn our gaze to Christ, to
experience His reassuring presence. To each person, whatever his condition,
even if it were the most complicated and dramatic, the Risen One repeats:
"Fear not!; I died on the Cross but now I am alive for evermore";
"I am the first and the last, and the living one."
"The first," that is, the source of every being
and the first-fruits of the new creation; "the last," the definitive
end of history; "the living
one," the inexhaustible source of life that triumphed over death forever.
In the Messiah, crucified and risen, we recognize the
features of the Lamb sacrificed on Golgotha, who implores forgiveness for His
torturers and opens the gates of heaven to repentant sinners; we glimpse the
face of the immortal King who now has "the keys of Death and Hades"
(Rev 1:18).
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy
endures forever! (Ps 117:1). Let us make our own the Psalmist's exclamation
which we sang in the Responsorial Psalm: "The Lord's mercy endures
forever!" In order to understand thoroughly the truth of these words, let
us be led by the liturgy to the heart of the event of salvation, which unites
Christ's Death and Resurrection with our lives and with the world's history.
This miracle of mercy has radically changed humanity's destiny. It is a miracle
in which is unfolded the fullness of the love of the Father who, for our
redemption, does not even draw back before the sacrifice of His Only-begotten
Son.
In the humiliated and suffering Christ, believers and
non-believers can admire a surprising solidarity, which binds Him to our human
condition beyond all imaginable measure. The Cross, even after the Resurrection
of the Son of God, "speaks and never ceases to speak of God the Father,
who is absolutely faithful to His eternal love for man. ... Believing in this
love means believing in mercy" (Rich in Mercy, 7).
Let us thank the Lord for His love, which is stronger than death and sin. It is revealed and put into practice as mercy in our daily lives, and prompts every person in turn to have "mercy" towards the Crucified One. Is not loving God and loving one's neighbor and even one's "enemies," after Jesus' example, the program of life of every baptized person and of the whole Church?
A great joy
With these sentiments, we are celebrating the Second Sunday
of Easter, which since last year, the year of the Great jubilee, is also called
"Divine Mercy Sunday." It is a great joy for me to be able to join
all of you, dear pilgrims and faithful who have come from various nations to
commemorate, after one year, the canonization of Sister Faustina Kowalska, witness
and messenger of the Lord's merciful love.
The elevation to the honors of the altar of this humble
religious, a daughter of my land, is not only a gift for Poland but for all
humanity. Indeed the message she brought is the appropriate and incisive answer
that God wanted to offer to the questions and expectations of human beings in
our time, marked by terrible tragedies. Jesus said to Sister Faustina one day:
"Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy"
(Diary, 300). Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives
from the risen Christ and offers to humanity at the dawn of the third
millennium.
The Gospel, which has just been proclaimed, helps us to
grasp the full sense and value of this gift. The Evangelist John makes us share
in the emotion felt by the Apostles in their meeting with Christ after His
Resurrection. Our attention focuses on the gesture of the Master, who transmits
to the fearful, astounded disciples the mission of being ministers of Divine
Mercy. He shows them His hands and His side, which bear the marks of the
Passion, and tells them: "As the Father has sent Me, even so I send
you" (John 20:21.)
Immediately afterwards, "He breathed on them, and said
to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained' " (John
20:22-23). Jesus entrusted to them the gift of "forgiving sins," a
gift that flows from the wounds in His hands, His feet, and especially from His
pierced side. From there a wave of mercy is poured out over all humanity.
Let us relive this moment with great spiritual intensity.
Today the Lord also shows us His glorious wounds and His Heart, an
inexhaustible source of light and truth, of love and forgiveness.
His "Sacred Heart" has given men everything:
redemption, salvation, sanctification. Saint Faustina Kowalska saw coming from
this Heart that was overflowing with generous love, two rays of light which
illuminated the world.
The two rays, [according to what Jesus Himself told her],
denote blood and water (Diary, 299). The blood recalls the sacrifice of
Golgotha and the mystery of the Eucharist; the water, according to the rich
symbolism of the Evangelist John, makes us think of Baptism and the Gift of the
Holy Spirit (See John 3:5; 4:14).
Through the mystery of this wounded Heart, the restorative
tide of God's merciful love continues to spread over the men and women of our
time. Here alone can those who long for true and lasting happiness find its
secret.
"Jesus, I trust in You!"
This prayer, dear to so many of the devout, clearly
expresses the attitude with which we too would like to abandon ourselves
trustfully in Your hands, O Lord, our only Savior.
You are burning with the desire to be loved and those in
tune with the sentiments of Your Heart learn how to build the new civilization
of love. A simple act of abandonment is enough to overcome the barriers of
darkness and sorrow, of doubt and desperation. The rays of Your Divine Mercy
restore hope, in a special way, to those-who feel overwhelmed by the burden of
sin.
Mary, Mother of Mercy, help us always to have this trust in
your Son, our Redeemer. Help us too, St. Faustina, whom we remember today with
special affection. Fixing our weak gaze on the Divine Savior's face, we would
like to repeat with you: "Jesus, I trust in You!" Now and for ever.
Amen.
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