Throughout this week, we have been celebrating the Octave of Easter where the Church calls us to stay focused on the Resurrection. And today, it’s appropriate that we conclude the Octave with the Church drawing our attention to something that stands at the very heart of the Resurrection: Divine Mercy. Easter isn’t just about Jesus raising from the dead; it’s really about what that Resurrection means for us. It means that sin and death no longer have the final word. It means that failure isn’t the end of the story. It means that God’s mercy is stronger than anything we have done.

And that’s exactly what we see in the Gospel. The apostles are locked away in the Upper Room, afraid, still carrying the weight of Good Friday. These are the guys who had run away, who abandoned Jesus, who denied even knowing Him. And yet, when the Risen Lord comes to them, He doesn’t come with anger or disappointment. He comes with peace. He shows them His wounds. They are the signs of His suffering, but they’ve been transformed into signs of mercy. And then He breathes on them and gives them the authority to forgive sins. In that moment, the mercy that flows from His pierced side is entrusted to the Church. That is the foundation of what we celebrate today on this Divine Mercy Sunday.

The feast comes to us because Jesus specifically asked that the Church celebrate it. In 1931, Jesus began appearing to a Polish nun who would later become St. Faustina Kowalska. The appearances were recorded in her diary. St. Faustina describes conversations with the Lord that are quite tender, but also very direct. Jesus spoke to her not with abstract theology, but in a way that was relatable and personal. Those conversations revealed His Heart, a Heart that was burning with love and mercy for the world.

Through St. Faustina, Jesus made a request. He asked that a feast be established in the Church dedicated to Divine Mercy, to be celebrated on this very day, the Sunday after Easter. He wanted the world to know that His mercy is unlimited, that He doesn’t hesitate to give it, that it isn’t reserved only for the perfect. He wanted us to know that it is offered freely to sinners, to the broken, to those who feel far away.

When Pope St. John Paul II canonized Faustina in the year 2000, he officially established this Sunday as Divine Mercy Sunday for the entire Church. And he did that not simply as a devotional addition, but because he recognized something essential. The world desperately needs mercy – not just in a general sense, but in a deeply personal way. John Paul recognized that all of us need to know that we are not defined by our worst moments, by our biggest mistakes and regrets. We need to remember that no sin is beyond the reach of God’s forgiveness. We need to know that there is always a way back to the Lord.

If we are honest with ourselves, we all carry something. Maybe it is a past sin that still lingers in our memory, or a pattern that we struggle to break. Maybe it is doubt, like Thomas, wondering if God is really at work in our lives or confusion about what God is calling us to do with our lives. Maybe it’s a wound or a moment of suffering that we can’t seem to heal. Divine Mercy Sunday is a reminder that none of those things put us outside the reach of Jesus. In fact, those are often the very places where He wants to meet us the most!

Jesus once told St. Faustina: “The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to my mercy.” (Divine Mercy in My Soul,  723). Hear that again! “The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to my mercy.” What a striking statement! It turns our usual way of thinking upside down. We tend to think we need to have everything together before we approach the Lord. But Jesus is telling us the exact opposite. He wants us to come as we are. Bring the mess. Bring the wounds. Bring the doubt. That’s where His mercy is poured out the most.

In just a few moments, we will come forward to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. Do we realize that this isn’t separate from Divine Mercy? The Eucharist is the very source of that mercy. The same Jesus who appeared in the Upper Room, who showed His wounds to Thomas, who spoke words of peace to the Apostles, is the One we receive. This is our encounter with Divine Mercy.

Don’t let today remain just a celebration that happens once a year during Easter. Recognize that God’s mercy is available to us every single day. Respond to that mercy. Take one step toward the Lord today. If there is something we have been holding onto, bring it to the Lord in prayer. If we need to go to confession, take the opportunity this week. Spend some more time with the Lord in Adoration. Receive that mercy from Him. But don’t stop there! We also have to extend that same mercy to someone else. Forgive someone. Be patient where we would normally be frustrated. Choose mercy in a situation where it isn’t necessarily deserved.

Divine Mercy isn’t just something we celebrate. It’s something we receive. And once we receive it, it’s something we’re called to give away. Let’s go out, taking the message of Divine Mercy to the world, and lead others to an encounter with Jesus.

Photo: The Hand of Christ, the blowup. Used under Unsplash license.