Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, the Second Sunday of Easter, all of us the faithful celebrate together as well, the Feast of the Divine Mercy, celebrating the most merciful love of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, through Whom and Whose works have brought mercy and forgiveness to mankind steeped deep in sin and darkness.

The essence of today’s celebration is the fact that we mankind have lived in sin, and darkness have corrupted our hearts, minds and soul. Ever since the very first moment mankind had sinned through Adam and Eve, our forebears, we have been tainted by the wickedness of sin, and by the vile nature of our human pride, our greed and desire.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, sin is what had separated us from the love of God, from His grace and blessings, and it is what keeping us away from truly being able to receive the Lord’s promised inheritance, and the eternal life which He has promised us. Remember, brethren, that God created all of us because He loves us all, and He loves us all whom He had created with His own hands. He never intended for us to be cast out and to be destroyed, but we ourselves, we have rejected Him and refused to walk with Him in His path.

It was by our refusal to obey the commandments of the Lord, by our desire to follow our own wishes and wants, that had led us to such a state of sin and separation from God, beginning from the time of Adam and Eve, when they were tempted by Satan to disobey God and eat from the forbidden tree, because they desired to be like God and to be great and filled with knowledge.

And we also know of how the people of Israel refused to listen to God and to His servant Moses, and they constantly grumbled, rebelled and disobeyed His commands, despite having made the covenant, the pact sealed with the blood of sacrifices with God. They thought better of their own wants and needs, and they acted in ways which came contrary to the way of the Lord, all to satisfy their own desires.

And we continued in this manner for many generations. Across time and ages, people continued to live in accordance with how they wanted to live and not obeying the Lord, but rather listening to the words and sweet lies of Satan, to his temptations and lures to pull us away and to make us to be far apart from God and the salvation and life He intended to give us.

But despite our sins and our wickedness, and despite our constant rebellions, which had aroused His great wrath and anger, God still loves us all, each and every one of us. If He does not love us and instead despises us, it would have been easy for Him to destroy us if that is His intention. He created us, therefore it would have been equally easy for Him to cast us out into the utter darkness. But it was not His intention for us.

God wants to show us His love and mercy, and rescue us from our afflictions. And this year, this is a very special occasion where we celebrate the nature of mercy itself. This year is the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, when we are coming together to reflect on God’s merciful heart, and to bring His works of mercy to all the people who have not yet received His mercy.

Therefore, all of us are called and invited to partake together the wonderful mercy of our Lord. And we are called to realise how great is His mercy, and how we should open ourselves, our hearts, minds and soul so that He may come in and bring His merciful love into each one of us, so that we may be thoroughly transformed from creatures who lived in darkness and filled with rebelliousness, into those who seek the light of God and are righteous and just in all their deeds.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, yet, there is something very important that all of us have to take note here. While we speak about mercy, there seems to be quite a serious misunderstanding and misrepresentation of mercy, especially regarding the mercy of God in our Christian communities, even among the hierarchy and the leaders of the Church. We misrepresent mercy in the way that may end up leading sinners not to salvation but to even greater sins.

Why is this so? That is because there were those of us who urged that the Church and the faithful had not done enough to show mercy upon sinners, people who have not been obedient to the teachings of the Church, those who committed adultery through illegal remarriages, those who followed aberration forms of relationships and living a life of sin, and many others. And these were calling for us essentially to unconditionally show the mercy of God to them that they may be saved.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we must never forget that there are always two sides to a coin. And similarly, for God’s mercy we have to know that there is God’s justice too. What does this mean brothers and sisters? God loves us, and all of us are deserving of His mercy, but He does not love our sins, and thus He does not approve of the sins which we have committed in this life.

Many people mentioned that we should not judge others because of their sins, and rightly, yes, we should not do so, because God will judge us equally for our own sins in the same way that we have judged others for their mistakes and sins. However, not being judgmental does not equate with tolerating the sins of sinners and allowing them to continue with their sins, as some of those in the Church were proposing to do, in the name of greater ‘pastoral care’ or ‘inclusiveness’.

True mercy is what we need to show, brothers and sisters in Christ, and this means that we must not judge, but must do all we can to persuade and bring the sinners back into the light of Christ our Lord. And sometimes, many of us think that making the path easier for them to walk on will help them, but it is not necessarily so, and certainly Jesus Himself had said that, if we are to follow Him, difficulties will be on our path, and we have to carry our own crosses if we are to follow Him.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, we do not allow those who have sinned, particularly those who have committed adultery and serious forms of sin to receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord, as they were not yet worthy to receive Him worthily until they have repented their sins. Some favoured welcoming them and making it easier for them that they may repent, but the risk is there, brethren, that they may continue to walk in their sinful paths, and commit even greater sins by receiving the Lord unworthily.

It is not that we want to condemn sinners, as we certainly do not do so, and we are also sinners too. But what we are concerned with, what the Church is concerned about, is the salvation of souls. Remember the Lord said that might as well we lose our lives in faith in the Lord and yet gain the eternal life and salvation, rather than gaining the approval of the world and yet lose our souls? It is the same in this manner.

Are we all concerned enough for one another, for ourselves, sinners and wicked people before the Lord, that we want to try to help one another by understanding the meaning of repentance and penitence? Let us all make it clear to one another, that we welcome everyone, and all sinners are called to God’s mercy, but then, it is ultimately our choice. Do we want to change our lives and our ways of life? Do we want to take up God’s offer of mercy? And if we accept His mercy, which means changing our lives, then should we not abandon all of our past sins and abandon behind all wickedness without reservation?

Yes, let us all make it clear at the end of today’s discourse. God’s mercy is given to all, and offered to all, but in order for the mercy to have work in us, then we have to accept it, not just by mere words or proclamations, but also through real deeds and actions. And we cannot continue to live in sin, pretending that nothing have changed, or that God will forgive us no matter what we have done. We have to abandon our adulterous and wicked ways, aberrations of relationships and other things not in accordance with God’s ways.

Let us all bring God’s true mercy to one another, that God’s mercy and love may awaken them from their slumber in the darkness and bring them into the eternal light. Let us all strive to die to our sins and to reject all forms of wickedness and temptations that Satan had placed on us to prevent us from reaching salvation. Let us all reject all worldly ways and seek the Lord in all things. God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.