DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY, SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER APRIL 11, 2021

MASS READINGS:

A reading of the holy Gospel according to John 20:19-31

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.

So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them.

Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.

But these are written that you may come to believe

that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,

and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

REFLECTION

The Octave, or eighth day, of Easter has always been considered special by Christians. Christ, after His Resurrection, revealed Himself to His disciples, but Saint Thomas wasn't with them. He declared that he would never believe that Christ had risen from the dead until he could see Him in the flesh and probe Christ's wounds with his own hands. This earned him the name "Doubting Thomas."

A week after Christ rose from the dead, He appeared once again to His disciples, and this time Thomas was there. His doubt was vanquished, and he professed His belief in Christ.

Nineteen centuries later, Christ appeared to a Polish nun, Sr. Maria Faustina Kowalska, in a series of visions that took place over almost eight years. On one Good Friday, the tortured but not yet crucified Jesus appeared to Sister Faustina and said, "You are My Heart. Speak to sinners about My mercy".

Christ's Divine Mercy is the love that He has for mankind, despite our sins that separate us from Him.

Jesus told Sister Faustina how very pleasing to Him were prayers of atonement. "The prayer of a humble and loving soul disarms the anger of my Father and draws down an ocean of blessings."

Among those visons, Christ revealed the Divine Mercy Novena, which He asked Sister Faustina to pray for nine days beginning on Good Friday. That means that the novena ended on the Saturday after Easter--the evening of the Octave of Easter.

This feast was extended to the entire Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II on April 30, 2020, the day that he canonized St Faustina.

Indulgences for Divine Mercy Sunday

A plenary indulgence (the forgiveness of all temporal punishment resulting from sins that have already been confessed) is granted on the Feast of Divine Mercy to all the faithful who go to confession 8 days before or after Divine Mercy, receive Holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, who, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. 'Merciful Jesus, I trust in you!' or Jee-sus ... Mer-cy)."

Have a Blessed Divine Mercy Sunday.