Second Sunday of Easter (or Sunday of Divine Mercy)

 Readings of the day: RB 55:15-22

Mass: Ac 4:32-35; Resp Ps 118; 1 Jn 5:1-6; Jn 20:19-31

Today’s musings…

THE COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS WAS OF ONE HEART AND MIND.

Another one of my favorite lines in the Bible takes me to the psalmist: How good it is, how pleasant, when the people dwell as one! (Ps 133:1). Moreover, today we hit the jackpot! St Benedict uses Ac 4:35 in his chapter, ‘Clothing and Footwear for the Community,’ read today: There is one saying from the Acts of the Apostles which the Abbess must always bear in mind, namely, that ‘proper provision was made according to the needs of each’ (RB 55:20)

On this Sunday of Divine Mercy, we contemplate how the mercy of God bestowed upon us calls us to be united with one heart and one mind—to dwell as one in Christ Jesus. We are called to be bearers of mercy. Pope Francis uses these words: God covers us with His mercy, He enfolds us in Christ, so that we become instruments of his goodness (Pope Francis, Twitter, April 7, 2018). As believers ‘that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God’, and instruments of the love, mercy, and goodness of God, we look out for one another by tending to the needs of others; by seeking forgiveness and reconciliation; by making peace our quest and aim—peace be with you. Words from St John are fitting: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God, and everyone who loves the Father loves also the one begotten by him. In this way we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And the greatest commandment: Love the Lord God with your whole heart, your whole soul and all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

THE COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS WAS OF ONE HEART AND MIND.

Jesus Christ taught that man not only receives and experiences the mercy of God, but that he is also called ‘to practice mercy’ towards others: ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.’ The Church sees in these words a call to action, and she tries to practice mercy. All the beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount indicate the way of conversion and of reform of life, but the one referring to those who are merciful is particularly eloquent in this regard. Man attains to the merciful love of God, His mercy, to the extent that he himself is interiorly transformed in the spirit of that love towards his neighbor.

(Pope St John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Dives in Misericordia, 14)

HOW WILL YOU BE AN INSTRUMENT OF

GOD’S MERCY, LOVE, AND GOODNESS TODAY?