Dear Church Family,
Today is Mercy Sunday! Alleluia! I am sure glad that I have reconfirmed, in the last 10 or so years, this celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday. Certainly we already know that God is filled with pure love and mercy. He wants to do whatever He can to forgive us and welcome us back. Sometimes in circumstances we feel we have sin and we are not worthy of His mercy and forgiveness but, He keeps telling us over and over again and the Church tells us by proclaiming this Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. Again and again we are told that our God is loving and merciful. Alleluia!
I have been a tennis player all my life. I now play with a bunch of old buzzards, me being one of them. We almost always have a good time. Of all the players, there is one who is a stickler for the rules. If there is a questionable shot out-of-bounds or on the line, I would just say, “Oh, take it over.” But not him. It’s either right or wrong. He says, “The rules are the rules.” I am so glad that God isn’t just into “the rules are the rules” with no exception. Today, Church family, celebrate the tremendous love that Jesus has for you and you will enrich your life with the total conviction that your God will give you every break possible, with you being sorry, of course. Alleluia!
Thomas had the reputation of not believing, unless it is strictly proven. Seeing is believing too, Thomas. Maybe he had a little of that “stick to the rules” mentality and not wavering but he had a real conversion. I can just image the Lord coming into the room with the disciples and Thomas was with them. The Lord saying to Thomas, “Here, see the marks of the nails in my hands, feet and side.” I can feel a conversion of Thomas saying so powerfully with total awe and a spirit of asking mercy when he said, “My Lord and my God!” We see Jesus so merciful saying, “Ah, forget it, now you know. You just needed a little boost in your faith.” Blessed are those who have not seen but believe. Again we want to be a converted Thomas who more than appreciates the Lord, forgiving, loving and full of mercy. Alleluia!
In the Acts of the Apostles we see the early Christians so full of love and mercy that they were acting like they lived in a Utopian (perfect) society of total mercy and love. They probably did to a great extent. It is a little bit unreal because that is not the way people of the world act. Maybe this reading is telling us that it is possible for you and me to live with more mercy, love and forgiveness. We can take people as they are, let things go, start over again and all is well. Alleluia!
Love, Fr. Bob
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