Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Second Sunday of Easter, which is also known since just over a decade ago as the Divine Mercy Sunday, the day and special occasion when we celebrate the Lord’s merciful love and forgiveness for us all. It is at the heart of our Easter celebrations to understand and appreciate the fullness of God’s mercy which He had shown to us all.

In Easter we rejoice because of the love that God had shown us through Jesus, which was so great such that He was willing to give Himself as the sacrificial offering and victim for the purification of our sins. Our sins and faults are the burdens which He bore, and the wounds which He received, were the iniquities and wickedness which we had committed in life.

Like the parable and story on the prodigal son, the story which Jesus told the people and which we all mostly know, we are the prodigal sons in the story. We are the prodigal sons and daughters of our Lord, by our disobedience against His will, and by the various acts of hatred, injustice, selfishness and other negativities which cast us apart from God and His love.

The father is our Lord and Father, God who is always concerned about us day and night, at all times, waiting for us to return from our waywardness, and for us to make that effort to turn back to Him, who is always waiting for our return, for our repentance from our sins. He is always available, and His arms are always open and ready to welcome us back, and this is His mercy.

But mercy alone is not complete and is not enough. God offers His mercy freely, but will we take that mercy and follow Him? Are we able to persuade ourselves enough and put enough effort to stop whatever wickedness we have committed and fully embrace God’s mercy and thus be genuinely and completely reconciled to Him? These are the questions which we really should ask ourselves as we reflect on the Most Divine Mercy of our Lord on this day.

God loves all of us and He wants us to be thoroughly converted, not just making empty promises and empty profession of faith. If we seek God’s mercy, then we must also change our ways and put in a great effort in order to do that. God loves us all, but He hates thoroughly the sins and wickedness which we performed in this world, in His sight and presence. If we do not change our ways, then what we are seeking is false mercy.

And it is this false mercy that some elements in our Church had been trying to force and administer to all those who have sinned and still live in that sin which had separated them from God. If we offer false mercy to others, not only that it would create the false impression that God does not mind that we continue to live in sin, but thus also make us to be lazy and complacent, in continuing to walk down our sinful path.

We must beware lest the temptations of the world and the lures of the devil get to us. It is the seeds of evil and rebellion, of disobedience and haughtiness, of pride and selfishness that he placed inside each one of us because of our sins. Do not let our minds and hearts be deceived because of what we think is the easier path in life. God wants His peace and mercy to be upon us, but this does not come about easily and without difficulty.

Temptations are abundant, and life will not be easy for us to resist all of them. The pull of money, of power, of fame and human praise, as well as many other worldliness separating us from the righteousness in God are challenges that we have to face. Indeed, this may seem to be difficult, but certainly not impossible for us. What we need is courage and the willpower to make a difference to ourselves.

Hence, brothers and sisters in Christ, what we need to do, is to change ourselves first. We have to commit ourselves to the new way of life, that is to walk upright in the presence of God. And we can begin that by learning to forgive one another, letting go of our anger and hatred to one another. We mankind are often bound by our emotions and our inability to let go of our grudge.

Let us ask ourselves this question then, are we able to be forgiven by God if we have not forgiven others around us first? If we hold grudge against others and refuse to forgive them, then what right do we have to demand or deserve mercy from the Lord? Forgive and you shall be forgiven too, and in the Lord’s Prayer, we also ask God to forgive our sins just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday let us all remind each other, that we have much to do. We have to begin with ourselves, practicing mercy and forgiveness in our own lives, but we also have to still be concerned about our sins. We cannot just forgive and let everything go on as if nothing had happened. When we forgive others, we too should remind them to change their ways and embrace repentance sincerely, and this too we should do, if we had harmed others in any way.

Let us all be proactive in our faith and grow in our devotion to Him. Let us look to His merciful heart and seek that mercy, all the while devoting ourselves to the path of righteousness in accordance with the way that our Lord had taught us to do. God’s mercy be upon us, and with our sincere repentance and turning away from sins, may all mankind receive His grace, love and salvation. God bless us all. Amen.