You and I are Missionaries of God’s Mercies to the World!
Acts 5:12-16; Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31
We know, for historical fact, that God’s Mercy came to us in a human form about 2000 years ago – Jesus Christ of Nazareth – who came, lived among us, and died for our salvation. If for no other reason, the statements of John 3:16-17 prove it beyond doubts: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him”. Today, Divine Mercy Sunday, God needs human recruits for his boundless mercies to reach every human being in the world! “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14) because God is not interested in an abstract mercy but a concrete and palpable mercy, mercy with hands to touch and feel, with legs to reach out to people, and a heart that is full of love and compassion! It is not about God, but about you and I becoming God’s mercies to the world!
Our gospel today inaugurates you and I as the missionaries of the mercies of God: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21). It wasn’t angels that God sent to show his mercy to us, but a human being, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of man. Just as people were able to approach him for help – spiritually and physically – God still needs physical representatives of his love today, human beings, to carry on the legacy and agenda of God’s mercies around the world. Our gospel specifies two ways of showing the mercies of God to the world, namely, through the forgiveness of sins and by spreading the good news that salvation has been won for human beings in Jesus Christ. If the Twelve apostles were the recipients of the Holy Spirit to forgive sins, the rest of us are incorporated as missionaries of the power of God’s salvation for everyone who believes. We are to crusade the fact that faith in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead brings the mercy of salvation to the human race: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29). Each time you and I talk about the resurrection of Jesus, every time you and I forgive a wrong done to us, we become the face and presence of the resurrected Christ to our broken world!
Today, the words of St. Paul are being fulfilled in you and me, when human beings are God’s mercies to one another: “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:13-15a). You and I are the concrete presence of God in the world today – the missionaries of his mercies; God sends us to continue the works of his mercies wherever we may find ourselves – we are sent, not to judge and condemn, but to offer hope of repentance to sinners. What the apostles are doing in today’s first reading has been entrusted to us: “Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them” (Acts 5:14). The examples of your life and mine must be strong and powerful enough to give the resurrection message credibility that will attract others to the faith.
On the lips of each one of us should be the gospel of God’s mercies upon us because of the forgiveness of our own multiple sins. We take to others the good news that we have not been condemned by God despite our sins. The salvation granted to us, through the merits of Jesus’ death and resurrection, is what we share with other people. We must disabuse people’s minds of their unworthiness to receive God’s mercies and forgiveness, in spite of the ubiquity of sins in ourselves and around us. The apostles who deserted Jesus, at the point of his crucifixion and returned to their former jobs, see Jesus seeking them out once more and entrusting his message of salvation to them. Just as Jesus didn’t sack/fire the apostles, so does he retain us among his missionaries, weak though we are.
We may be tempted today to blame Thomas for his lack of faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, haven lived with him for three years. However, we were there in the apostles and past generations of those who believed on the basis of apostolic confession. On our part, we confess the mercies of God on the grounds of the faith of those who were there – apostolic faith – the faith of our fathers and mothers; just like today’s citizens, who were not there at the independence of our nations but are beneficiaries of the sacrifices of past generations. Apart from the doubts of Thomas that provides the proof for us when he touched Jesus, that Jesus was both flesh and blood after his resurrection, the doubts of Thomas helps us to forgive ourselves and others who doubt our faith and the credibility of Christianity. Those of us living in Islamic states or who are victims of religious and racial terrorism question the possibility of forgiveness and love of our enemies. The magnitude of all kinds of sins around the world challenge our faith in a better future and the hope of eternal salvation. Yet, as missionaries of the Divine Mercy, after several years of Christianity that surpass Thomas’ three years with Jesus, we still struggle along with our faith. The love and compassion we expect from God for ourselves, let us extend the same to others, our fellow sinners.
Our continuous faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ in our imperfect world is a testimony to the resurrection of Christ. The fact that you and I refuse to abandon the faith of Jesus Christ in the darkest of nights of our faith, we provide light and courage to our brothers and sisters in the same situation of doubts and struggle. Like Thomas did, as long as we are ready and willing to challenge Jesus and offer him the opportunity to prove the veracity of the resurrection to us, to that degree do we keep faith alive. Yes, there are the daily miracles of love and Christian charity that serve as beacon of light and hope that evil has not conquered the world yet. The inter marriages we witness to, hospitalities from unlikely quarters; solidarity of many a human movements in the face of human problems and tragedies. Here and there, we experience the unity of love and sacrifice. There too do we see the power of the resurrection of christ – the resilience of the human spirit – the Spirit of God in us.
Indeed, the book of Revelation, our second reading, tells us how our faith can catapult us to lonely places like the island of Patmos: “I John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus” (Revelation 1:9). On account of our faith in Jesus Christ, we too do experience the abandonment of loved ones and friends. Just as John keeps faith in our second reading, you and I must remain unyielding and indefatigable in our confession of the mercies of God that go beyond human weaknesses. In our doubts, we still hear the voice of Jesus saying to us – “do not be afraid”. It is the victory of Christ that is the precursor to our own victory, because he lives, so are we alive also. So, be the sign of the resurrection of Jesus to everyone you meet today, the proof that Jesus is alive and risen from the dead.
Assignment for the Week:
Pick up your Bible and try to find five passages in the Law and the Prophets that prove that Jesus is the Messiah.