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Mercy and Peace are Gifts from the Risen Christ
Last year after Easter I headed to Florida with priest friends for vacation. We had the chance to visit my friend and former seminary professor Fr. Patrick who is a pastor in the Orlando diocese. Patrick had an unfortunate mishap and broke his toe the day before the weekend Masses so my friend Fr. Ralph and I were pressed into service to cover the weekend Masses at the parish. I remarked that if a priest is not able to preach on divine mercy on short notice there is something wrong. Now with that statement out there I was hoping I didn’t choke.
Sunday morning greeted us with a deluge of rain and as a woman came in the church soaking wet she remarked to Fr. Talbot, “see what we are willing to do for Jesus.” Fr. Ralph who is known for his quick Irish wit, shot back: “Jesus hung on the cross for six hours for you, it’s the least you could do!” Game on! Fr. Ralph and I in our respective homilies described our connection to Fr. Patrick and relayed with some humor why we were presiding and preaching.
I centered my preaching on the Divine Mercy of God - which seemed to be solid ground given the Feast. Specifically, I conveyed that the death and resurrection of Christ - the heart of the paschal mystery - flows from the extravagant love and mercy of the Father. During Easter, Christians celebrate with joy and festivity the great Pash of the Lord - the passage from death to new life of Christ and the gift of new life that awaits believers who grasp the hand of our risen Lord. What St. Augustine said about the incarnation can also be applied to the resurrection: the foundation for such great gifts is sheer grace - an act of gratuitous mercy on the part of God.
One of the keys to understanding the deep meaning of Divine Mercy and the gift of new life extended to us through the resurrection of Christ, is to focus on what Christ meant when he said to his disciples on Easter Sunday evening: “Peace be with you.” We can think of peace in many different ways, including an absence of conflict or a feeling of calm. But Jesus’ expression of peace - which he repeats three times in the Gospel for today - is better captured by the Hebrew word “shalom.” It is more than contentment and much deeper - it conveys a completeness, a wholeness and harmony. As Julian of Norwich said centuries ago, in Christ “all is well, all manner of thing is well.” On that Easter evening all was redeemed, reconciled, and restored to God.
The risen Christ wishes to convey to his beleaguered disciples the good news that his death and resurrection has restored a fallen humanity to the love of the Father. The effect of this great gift is the deep peace - the shalom - that accompanies the resurrection. Now, through the gift of his Spirit - referred to as the Johanine Pentecost - they are commissioned to go forth to be instruments of reconciliation, healing, and peace through the forgiveness of sins. Thomas who was not there originally wants proof and he gets it in abundance when, as the Catholic tradition in India conveys, he places his hand in the wounded side of Christ and feels the beating heart of his Lord. “My Lord and my God,” Thomas exclaims.
As we bask in the glow of Easter and ponder anew the gifts of mercy and peace that are ours through Christ’s resurrection, we are more than mindful of the lack of peace that pervades our world - including in Ukraine and elsewhere - and we know too the persistent doubt about God’s transcendent love that so many experience. Maybe they are like Thomas - maybe they just want proof. It is up to Christians to provide this proof in taking up Christ’s invitation to live a radical and inclusive love that knows no bounds and goes to the ends of the earth. Christ’s love still holds the power to transform our beleaguered and wounded world. We must be willing to enlist to be emissaries of this divine love and to give others the proof they are looking and longing for.
Peace,
Fr. Griffith
