Second Sunday of Easter –

Divine Mercy Sunday 2006

Divine Mercy Pilgrimage to Knock  

Homily by Most Reverend Philip Boyce, OCD, Bishop of Raphoe

             Appearing to his disciples on the evening of Easter Sunday, the Risen Lord Jesus breathed on them. His breath was a symbol of the Spirit he was about to impart. He then said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained (i.e. not forgiven)” (Jn 20:22 -23). Jesus was Divine Mercy made visible. He understood the weakness of our human condition. He forgave the sins of the repentant and asked forgiveness for those who crucified Him. His mercy does not leave us in our sinful habits, as if they were of no importance. Rather, it invites us and gives us the strength to rise from the darkness of our sinful habits and walk in the light of holiness.  

            By contrast, we find it hard to forgive at all, when someone really offends or hurts us. Revenge and retaliation are often the human response to offence and insult. Under the plea of human justice, mercy is often forgotten. God’s merciful love, however, is without end. During Holy Week and on Easter morn we celebrated the miracle of God’s mercy towards us all. It was an outburst of divine mercy that completely transformed the world. It came to pass through the love of our heavenly Father who, in order to redeem the slaves of sin, did not draw back before the sacrifice of his Only Son on the Cross of Calvary.  

            The Cross is the clearest sign of God’s love and mercy. It never ceases to speak to us of God the Father who is absolutely faithful to his Covenant of love with us. Believing in the Crucified Son of God, raised up for our sake on the Cross with his Sacred Heart pierced by a lance, “means (as Pope John Paul II said) that love is present in the world and that this love is more powerful than any kind of evil in which individuals, humanity or the world are involved. Believing in this love means believing in mercy. For mercy is an indispensable dimension of love: it is as it were love’s second name” (Dives in Misericordia, No 7).  

            Mercy is the attitude of God’s love, when faced with His sinful and weak creature. Merciful love cannot condemn if it sees a spark of repentance and contrition.  

            Today, the Second Sunday of Easter, is the day on which we have been asked to celebrate Divine Mercy. You are well aware of this. From all over the country, you have come to Knock Shrine to honour the Mother of Mercy and also the Polish Sister, Saint Faustina , chosen by God to bring to the attention of the Church and of the world the rich treasures of Divine Mercy, flowing from the pierced Heart of God’s Son.  

            You are all familiar with the Divine Mercy Chaplet and with the stream of mercy and grace that comes through its devout recital. To Sr. Faustina , the Lord said: “My daughter, tell the whole world about my inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy (on the Sunday following Easter) be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day, the very depths of my tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of my mercy… Let no soul fear to draw near to me, even though its sins be as scarlet”.  

            In order to receive that mercy in greater abundance, the Lord, through Sr. Faustina urges us to receive the Sacraments. “The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day, all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are obened” (Diary, p. 285).  

            To ensure that we do receive this greater outpouring of merciful forgiveness and are cleansed from all sin, this Sunday has been enriched with a Plenary Indulgence, under the usual conditions of Sacramental Confession, Eucharistic Communion and a prayer for the Pope’s intentions. It is granted to all who have a spirit of complete detachment from sin and take part in prayers and devotions held in honour of Divine Mercy – as you do in Knock today.  

            I can well imagine that you, who are devoted to Divine Mercy, are also people who receive the grace of the Sacrament of Confession devoutly and regularly. Confession is the most plentiful source of Divine Mercy that we have. Precisely because it is a Sacrament, instituted by the Lord to forgive sins committed after Baptism, we can obtain more mercy through a good Confession than in any other way.  

            Today’s Gospel passage reminds us of how the Risen Lord gave his apostles and priests the power to release or to withhold the streams of Divine Mercy on a fallen world. He had formerly promised to give the Spirit, now He confers the Spirit: “Receive the Holy Spirit”, he says, and with these words he confers a sacred power on the Apostles. They were to be judges of the inmost conscience; they and all ordained priests would be able to say: “I absolve you from your sins…”; they would bring peace to troubled hearts; they would channel Divine Mercy in the Sacrament of Penance. Those who make a sincere individual Confession, are repentant and promise with God’s grace to amend their lives, walk away flooded in mercy, cleansed from sin and guilt, risen to a new life of grace.  

            It is sad to see this Sacrament of Mercy and forgiveness so neglected in our day. This comes about because the sense and awareness of sin have sadly diminished. Sr. Faustina , the Apostle of Mercy, would surely wish us all to reawaken our appreciation of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Sacrament of Divine Mercy.  

            As an Easter gift to his fearful and astonished disciples Jesus transmits the mission of being ministers of Divine Mercy. Through the Holy Spirit, He gives them the sacred gift of being able to forgive sins. This gift seems to flow from his wounded hands and above all from his pierced side. From it there flows forth a wave of mercy over the whole world.  

            St. Padre Pio once wrote: “Let us have trusting recourse to the Sacrament of Penance, where the Lord always waits for us with infinite tenderness. And once our sins have been forgiven, let us forget them, because the Lord has already done so before us”. Only this Sacrament of Confession gives us the certainty of being forgiven by Divine Mercy.  

            “ Jesus , I trust in you.” This prayer is certainly on your lips and in your hearts very often. It expresses the attitude of a soul that trusts in “the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation” (2 Cor. 1:3). It invokes Divine Mercy “on us and on the whole world”. It becomes a repeated echo of love in our hearts. It is the reply of our love to his divine mercy.  

            May Sr. Faustina , in whose intercession you trust, pray for us all at the Throne of Mercy. And may Our Lady of Knock, Mother of Divine Mercy, whom we venerate today, lead us to the open Heart of her Son. With both of them we wish to repeat again and again “ Jesus , I trust in you”.