+Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God.” We all
recognize these familiar words of the Apostle Thomas who insisted on seeing and touching the wounds of Jesus
in order to believe that he has, in fact, risen from the dead! Jesus tells
Thomas that belief can come from a
more direct contact with Jesus –according to his wishes; but for the greater majority “believing in the divinity of Jesus”
would produce the “seeing of Him” that people long for; for such seeing is a
very real, but supernatural and invisible kind of seeing! But in either case:
the same prerequisite is absolutely necessary: BELIEF IN THE DIVINITY OF THE RISEN JESUS!
But we may ask, why does not
God make things easier for us, more plain, more visible, more real, on terms
that we can understand: “our terms”?
The answer is that he wants us to walk through this life by FAITH; which
is on “his terms!” He can do that: He
is God. He wants us to walk in a certain amount of darkness, and confusion and
struggling; he wants us to always be
looking up and out, away from ourselves, for him, in hope and with love in our
hearts for him and for others, as we make our way to our heavenly homeland!
Earth, as it is now, is not a home for Christian people - nor for anyone else,
for that matter – heaven is! And if everything were so plain and simple, we
would forget we need God and he would be sad that we no longer want to come and
live with him!
This
explains the main theme of today’s celebration: the “divine mercy” of God! God delights to show mercy, give help,
give comfort, bring aid, and give healing of mind, body and spirit: but that
can only happen if we, as human beings, count ourselves qualified – and what
qualifies us is our regard of our own utter nothingness, emptiness and
misery without him! For this is
absolutely true! WITHOUT GOD WE
ARE NOTHING and we can do
nothing! And there is nothing more tragic and wonderful than that! Blessed
Abbot Columba Marmion OSB, a favorite spiritual writer of mine, who was
beatified in the year 2000 by Pope John Paul II, tells us that the abyss
of our misery calls to the abyss of God’s mercy!
It is not our perfection to dazzle God who
is surrounded by myriads of angels. No, it is our misery, our wretchedness
AVOWED (recognized and proclaimed) which draws down his mercy [on us his beloved adopted sons and
daughters]. Is this not what St. Thomas said to Jesus on the Octave night
of Easter: Jesus, I was so wrong, I was
so full of myself, I always have to have proof for everything, but now I
avow my nothingness in the light of your totality: you are my Lord, you are my God, you are my EVERYTHING!
When any of us comes into the
presence of Jesus, we must come humbly, hands held open, and satisfied to rest
at his feet as we await our “marching orders” from him – who will work through
us! For since the day of our baptism our
lives are not our own, they are his! And what a magnificent sense of
usefulness and joy comes to the disciple who
lets Jesus do for others, through us, whatever he wants!
And today, as I have alluded
to, we remember four other people of our own times who allowed this
instrumentality to happen to them: St. Faustina Kowalska who was Jesus’
personal secretary in writing down his wishes to be known as the great
distributer of Divine Mercy –
flowing from his Sacred Human Heart! Now,
St. Pope John XXIII, whose sense of mercy and compassion was very evident in
his desire to begin a grand renewal of the spirit of the Church, grounded in
true care and concern for all people everywhere, which has come to full flower
now in the life of our current Holy Father, Pope Francis. And of course, St.
Pope John Paul II, who espoused the Divine
Mercy Message, canonized Sister Faustina in the year 2000 (April 30), and
declared the Octave Day of Easter, (the Second Sunday of Easter - today) to
also be known as Divine Mercy Sunday:
so that the application of the merciful events of the Passion, Death and
Resurrection of Jesus can be summarized and celebrated!
The
world needs Divine Mercy appreciation, celebration and application more than
ever
– for the time to bring all things to fulfillment may be near – and that is why
we have this Feast and the Image to focus on and celebrate today!
Thank
you God for “the abyss of your providential love and mercy” that
you so willing pour out like and ocean
on any who declare “the abyss of their own misery, their own nothingness, their
own helplessness” and ask for all of
your help! You respond instantaneously! You respond generously! For You are our Lord, You are our God, You
are our ALL!
God bless you! Amen!
Alleluia!
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