SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER (SOLEMNITY OF DIVINE MERCY)—C

(Acts 5: 12-16     Rev 1: 9-13, 17-19     John 20: 19-31)

The celebrations of the various events of the Holy Week bring home one question: Why should God go that far to die for us? The answer lies in the fact that God loves us so much, even when we keep on running away from his love by our rather strong desire for opting for sin over totally abandoning our wills to that of God. This brings us to the reality of the mercy of God which we refer to as the Divine Mercy.

God always remembers that we are pitiable or miserable. This rather unfortunate state of ours is due our connection with the Fall of Adam; but through the Paschal Mystery of Christ, and our baptism in him, we have been set free from the bondage of sin and death. The grace of God serves as an antidote to make us fight against the lure of sin. This grace makes us yearn to do the will of God at all times, though we constantly ignore it and, rather, prefer to follow and do our own unguided wills. 

God’s merciful love is ever-abiding. We must, therefore, place our total trust in this merciful love of God and avoid sinning if we want true peace reign in our individual and communal lives.  The good news is that the greater our sins the more God’s mercy and love are there to make us new; we only have to use the faith planted in us by God to honor God’s invitation to trust and believe in Him. Our trust and total abandonment in God’s merciful love is a true testament of our willingness to choose God over sin. We ought to strive daily to believe, know and do God’s will for us. This is the way for us to turn away from sin and be committed to the mercy and love of God: Trust and Obey God.