Dear friends,
We are today at the end of our Divine Mercy Novena. We offered to the merciful Heart of Jesus the souls He commanded us to draw to him for them and all of us to experience the abundant mercy that flows from his Sacred Heart. The encounter with the merciful Lord as we interact with the Divine Mercy image that led us to contemplate the pain but also the radiance of the mercy that comes from water and blood gushing forth from the sacred Heart of the Lord shows us that there is no heart the Lord cannot touch, and no life He cannot change and transform. He said to Saint Faustina, “ My gaze from this image is like My gaze from the cross” (Diary, # 326).
Let us reflect on that gaze as we raise our eyes to Him who was made sin for us to save us from the bondage of sinfulness, and meditate on the three words “Jesus, I trust in You.” To Saint Faustina, he says again: “I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: “Jesus, I trust in You” (Diary, # 327). Have you ever thought of keeping this vessel in your house and in your heart? Today is the time we are invited to deepen our devotion to Divine Mercy, the other way to express our faith in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus where from gushed water and blood to cleanse us.
Both today’s second reading and the gospel are built around the invitation to trust in Christ. John tells us that he heard the voice of the one who told him not to be afraid, for he is the living one. And when appearing to his disciples, Christ utter the same words of invitation and assurance: “Peace be with you!” in other words, ‘be not afraid’ or simply “Trust in me.” These are exactly the words he says to Thomas and to all of us today. Would you believe in Him to see the greatness of his mercy and love for you? When we look around ourselves, we can but count the so many fearful and worrisome situations. The tendency is for us to lock ourselves in bubbles to be considered as our comfort zones or safe haven. Unfortunately these comfort zones are unable to grant us true peace and safety. They are all illusory and offer us ephemera solace. To experience true peace, we are invited to trust in the Lord who builds our confidence when he gives us his own peace, inviting us to trust in Him.
Easter as we know it is the celebration of God’s abundant mercy. But to experience it, we are invited to undertake the journey of progress in the experience of the encounter with the Lord. We are invited to move from doubt to faith as in the case of Thomas in today’s gospel not because we have seen with our human eyes but with the eyes of faith. To move from human eyes to the eyes of faith means for us to undertake to journey of the encounter with the Lord from our struggle to grasp that mystery with our heads and minds to immerse into the mystery with humble and trusting hearts. It is only when we embrace the resurrected Lord in our hearts that the event of the resurrection and of His presence in our midst will be experienced. It is only when we open the ears in faith that we will be able to hear Him say. “peace be with you,” and “be not afraid.” It is exactly when we utter the words “Jesus, I trust in You!” that we will be able to profess our faith in the Risen Lord like Thomas, and say “my Lord and my God.” Today is the time for us to undertake that move and journey with the Risen Lord as we shift from faith as just human attempt to understand God to faith as embrace and trust in Jesus Christ, with the assurance that He always will be and is the source of our true peace and happiness.
Let us continue to pray for one another and for our parish family as we strive to open the eyes and the ears of our faith to see and hear the Lord offering us his own peace and comfort.
Fr. Emery