Divine Mercy Sunday – C

          Remember the Peace sign of the sixties? Its original meaning in the context of the Viet Nam war protests carried quite an emotional impact. Eventually, the peace sign was severed from its context, overused, and lost its punch. Now it is a joke.

          Not true for the greeting of peace that the resurrected Jesus gave to the disciples who were “locked” in “for fear of the Jews.”  “Peace be with you.” Jesus showed them his hands and his side. And then Jesus said it again: “Peace be with you.” This is no peace that can be overused or lose its punch. Nor is it a peace that can ever be severed from its resurrection context. The depths of the peace that Jesus offers includes receiving the Holy Spirit and forgiving sins, the reception of God’s Divine Mercy – gifts given to us by the risen Lord.

          In the last months of his life, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, of Chicago, authored a little book titled, The Gift of Peace, which is a compilation of reflections on how to let go and allow God to give us peace in our lives. The book was intended to help others understand how our good and bad experiences are always present in our human condition and, that if we “let go,” if we place ourselves totally in the hands of the Lord, the good will prevail.    

The disciples did not always know how to do this either. They were frightened and in disbelief, however, they believed at the tomb because they saw the Lord. The early converts believed because they saw “signs and wonders.” 

We believe because we, too, see the signs and wonders of God’s presence:  peace and forgiveness, love, and generosity. It is by living in peace and forgiving others that our Easter celebration extends beyond this octave day into the very fabric of our lives. Our Easter Alleluia! is not simply a song on our lips during these weeks of Easter. It should be a song in our hearts that spills out in the way we relate to others. Alleluia! is the song of our lives that, like Jesus, brings peace and Divine Mercy. Alleluia! is the song of our belief that calls others to utter “My Lord and my God!”

          In his book, The Gift of Peace, Cardinal Bernardin writes, “When we are at peace, we find the freedom to be most fully who we are, even in the worst of times. We let go of what is nonessential and embrace what is essential. We empty ourselves so that God may more fully work within us and fill us with His love. And we become instruments in the hands of the Lord.”

          In this gospel of John, Jesus says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive men’s sins, they are forgiven them; if you hold them bound, they are held bound.” This is our invitation of Jesus to be instruments of His Divine Mercy in the world. This is our invitation of Jesus to let him envelop our lives with his peace and love. This is our invitation of Jesus to let go all the nonessential in our lives and cling to what is essential: our family, our loving God and faith community, our values that are life-giving and support the common good of our society.

          In the last line of this gospel, John says: “…these have been recorded to help you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, so that through this belief you may have life in his name.” 

What better way to have faith and to share it than to seek His Divine Mercy and come here to the table and receive his Body and Blood which nourishes our faith and sustains it in challenging times. Alleluia! He is Risen! Let us Rejoice and be glad!