Ignatian Reflections

24 April 2022 «

Written by Jon Polce S.J. | Apr 24, 2022 4:00:00 AM

24 April 2022

Second Sunday of Easter
Sunday of Divine Mercy

“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.”

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. The Divine Mercy image was given by God, in a private revelation, to the polish nun Sr. Faustina in the early 20th century and this image was entrusted to the world through John Paul II. In 2001 he declared the Sunday after Easter to be Mercy Sunday which we celebrate today.

On the image of the Divine Mercy is the prayer: “Jesus I trust in you.” This is the invitation from the Lord in the Scriptures and through Divine Mercy: that we might trust in him, trust in his Mercy, entrust our whole selves to the Mercy of the Holy Trinity.

In the Gospel, Thomas does just that. In the tender scene narrative in today’s readings, Thomas longs to see and touch the wounds of Christ. Only these wounds will ground his faith and his trust. Only these wounds, the wounds on the Resurrected Christ, will bring him peace during his doubt. Thomas was one of the first to come to the wounds of Christ in search of Mercy and Peace and from these wounds he received a spirit of trust by which he cried out “My Lord and My God.”

By Christ’s wounds, Thomas was healed. By Christ’s wounds we too can be healed. Christ’s wounds are a fount of mercy for us and for the whole world. Let us, like Thomas, approach them today and every day with our doubts, fears, sufferings, and sins, and receive from these wounds mercy, grace, and peace. Jesus, I trust in You.

  April 24th, 2022