In the Holy Eucharist, Mercy Himself, give us Himself--Mercy!

Today as many of you know we celebrate one of the newest feasts in the Church…today we celebrate the “Feast of Divine Mercy.” This is the day that Jesus promised, through his private revelations to St. Faustina, to open the flood gates of His mercy to repentant sinners. And on this years feast of mercy, there is an extraordinary proclamation. Pope Francis has announced a “Holy Year of Mercy,” which will begin on December 8th, of this year. An unfathomable grace just when the world needs it most.
Celebrating God’s mercy on this first Sunday after Easter is not a new ideal however; this Sunday has always been centered on God’s Mercy, for “His mercy endures forever!” The longer I am a priest the more deeply I am convinced that we are all in need of God’s mercy, from the greatest sinner to the greatest saint. We can, none of us, heal ourselves--save ourselves…it is all the mercy of God, nobody is good enough!!! Only with the Mercy of God can we be victorious over the world.

The Mercy of God is indeed offered to all, but not all receive the Mercy of God. Only those who realized they are need of the Mercy of God can receive it; that is, only those who recognized they are sinners in great need of mercy and so confess their sins. And additionally, only those who are willing to give mercy to others can receive mercy…This is what we pray for in the Our Father…to receive forgiveness, that is mercy, to the extant we forgive, that is show mercy to others; and showing mercy to others by carrying out the corporal and spiritual works of mercy and treating all with justice and so mercy. Having received the Mercy of God ourselves, we are called to be instruments of God’s Divine Mercy to others.

Jesus, our Risen Savior, is present to us now, not as Divine Judge, but as Divine Mercy. Later, at the end of our lives and at the end of the world He will comes as Divine Judge but now He is only Merciful Savior. To often, I think, many treat Him as a divine judge and so are afraid or unwilling to turn to His mercy. Others have convinced themselves they are no longer in need of God’s mercy, that is only for those “others” who they thank God they are not like. But now is the time of mercy; the time of justice is coming so let us be open to God’s mercy now and so repent and seek His forgiveness for our sins with sorrow and a firm purpose of amendment to change our lives, with His help of course.

To be open too and to receive the mercy of God is really too be open to and receive the love of God. This requires of course that we respond to this Love of God by believing in Him and His only Son Jesus. This faith in Jesus as the only Son of the Father is not however, just believing that He exists, but it is also living out what we believe by faithfully following His Commandments with the help of His grace.

Faith is really believing in all of the teachings of His Holy Church and striving, again with the help of grace, to live those teachings out with charity in our daily lives. And His Commandments, the teachings of His Holy Church, are not burdensome, for those who are begotten of God, for those who love God…for His yoke is easy and His burden light.

Our Holy Gospel, and our Catholic Faith, reminds us that ultimately the Mercy of God is not a thing, but a Divine Person. Mercy has a name and that name is Jesus!!! Jesus, Himself is the Mercy of God incarnate in the flesh…He is the Mercy of God come to earth; and His is the Mercy of God still on earth in the Holy Eucharist. The Holy Eucharist is then the Mercy of God; It is not a something, but a Someone—Jesus-Mercy…and so to open ourselves to God’s Mercy is to open ourselves up, in faith, to Jesus’ true presence in the Holy Eucharist…this is ultimately what it means to believe in the Father’s only begotten Son; it is to believe that the Holy Eucharist is Him—Jesus, the Divine Mercy of the Father and so the source of all mercy.

The image of Divine Mercy that Jesus ask to painted is one of the most popular images of Jesus in the Church today…but again it is not a new Image…It is the same image as the image of the Sacred of Heart of Jesus. Both of these images of Jesus, “Divine Mercy” and the “Sacred Heart,” are really an image of the Holy Eucharist…that is what Jesus looks like in the Holy Eucharist. The Holy Eucharist contains the Resurrected Body of the Lord, a wounded body that still bears the nails in the hands and the pierce side and heart, wounded for our transgressions.

Of course, if we really could see what Jesus fully looks like in the Holy Eucharist we would die of Joy, for it would to be see what Jesus looks like in heaven…it would be to see the very face of God…the Beatific Vision, our Ultimate Goal….After St. Faustina, had the image painted of what Jesus first showed her, she was greatly disappointed. But she realized that it was the best that we could portray on this earth. What she saw was so much more, beautiful. Yet even what she saw was merely as minuscule peak into that which “eye has not seen nor ear heard…;” namely, Jesus in His glorified human body with the glory of His Human soul and His divine nature shining through. We actually look on this Sacred Beauty whenever we look at the Holy Eucharist; this is why it must be veiled under the appearances of bread and wine, for we could not fully look upon Jesus present there and live.

Our feast today reveals to us the love, and so the mercy of our God. A love and mercy that is still with us, still available to us, in and through the Sacraments of the Church; especially, the Most Blessed of All sacraments the Holy Eucharist. In all the Great Sacraments God continues to touch us with His mercy…;but in the Holy Eucharist, Mercy Himself, give us Himself--Mercy!

Baptism gives us the capacity to receive God’s mercy in all of the other sacraments…In confession we are healed of the times we rejected God’s commandments and so failed to love Him and neighbor. And healed by confession, with our baptismal grace restored and strengthened, we can receive more fully Mercy in the flesh in Holy Eucharist and so be empowered with Divine Power so as to Love more perfectly, dare I say divinely. In the Sacraments we can, if we are properly disposed in faith, receive the divine strength to live the Commandments more faithfully; especially the greatest Commandment, to love God and one another with the very Love that God has for each one of us-to mercy to others.

When we behold the Mercy of God in just a little while as the Holy Eucharist is held up for us let us, like St. Thomas, cry out, “My Lord and My God!” Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is literally God standing in our midst and offering us His Peace…a Peace not that the world can give but only that the Holy Eucharist can give. Let us not be unbelieving but believing. For blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.

And finally this Sunday, let us remember to pray for the dispensers of God’s Mercy—His priests…those on whom He continues to breathe the Holy Spirit in order, “whose sins they forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins they retain are retained,” in the Sacrament of Confession. Let us pray for the priests who bring us the Holy Eucharist, the very Mercy of the Father, by offering the Holy Mass through the power of the same Holy Spirit given to them on the day of their Ordination.

And let us pray for all souls, especially those sinners who are in most need of God’s mercy…O God in whom Mercy is endless and the treasury of Compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase your Mercy in us, that I difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to You Holy Will, Which is love and Mercy itself. Jesus I trust in Thee….Jesus I trust in Thee….Jesus I trust in Thee.. Let us invoke the intercession of Our Lady who held in her arms; the Mercy of God made man…(Pope Francis. Angelus address St Peter’s Square. 17 March 2013). May she, the Mother of the Holy Eucharist, help us to understand God wants to use us to bring His Mercy into our sinful world. Dear Holy Mother help us to offer ourselves fully at this Holy Mass so that we may be transformed into instruments and images of God’s Divine Mercy for our families, neighbors and our world….