By Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
The need to overcome the world !?!
April 11, 2021: 2nd Sunday in Easter Time
The Sunday of the Divine Mercy
Acts 4: 32-35; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20: 19-31
Celebrated as the Divine Mercy Sunday, the second Sunday of Easter time or the Low Sunday of the Easter Octave, reminds us of the importance of the image of Christ as the Mercy of God. This is probably the reason why the Saintly Holy Father, Pope John Paul II chose this day, when he wanted to institute a feast for the Divine Mercy revealed to the world through Sr. Faustina. This revelation that came about in the twentieth century, is as important as the revelation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus made through Sr. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century. The message however is the same – God’s boundless and merciful love. This image of Christ as the Mercy of God, should be second to none other than the image of the Risen Lord, for a Christian – that is in short what the Church wishes us to understand.
Pope Francis, in these 8 years of his pontificate has reiterated again and again about the primacy of the Mercy of God – he has insisted that the identity of every Christian, the identity of the Christian Community, the purpose of the mission of the Church, and the goal of every evangelising activity should invariably be the Mercy of God. When he announced the year of Mercy and called every son and daughter of the Church to be merciful as the Father, what he intended to achieve was the same: to make of us people of mercy. Being people of mercy is our call, there is no doubt about it. But the question arises whether it is really possible, when we look around and consider seriously, the kind of world we live in!
“I have overcome the world,” says Jesus, and continues, “if you accept me as the Saviour, you have overcome the world too!” That is the crux of the second reading and that leaves us with a serious question: is there a need to overcome the world? There was a time in philosophy and theology, people spoke of two diametrically opposed realities – good and evil, righteousness and sin, pure and profane, and in the same logic, spiritual and worldly…as if to say, what pertained to the Spirit did not pertain to the world and what pertained to the world was to be shunned and overthrown. In that logic, overcoming the world made sense! But have we not grown in our thinking? Have we not become more balanced and holistic in our thinking…should we still thinking of shunning the world, as if world is opposed to what is Spiritual and what pertains to God? Yes, we have grown. It is not a dichotomy that we promote when we speak of overcoming the world – what we refer to here is more about the tendencies and modes of thinking, than the world or the earth or the creation. It is a mindset. Today’s mindset can be referred to as a millennial mindset.
Millennial mindset, is that of development, progress, advancement and going forward. It cares only to fix goals and targets such as project 2020 (they have been talking about this for the past 3 decades and after all 2020 just passed us by without any noise, all under the pandemic pressure!), or Goals 2030, or fancy names such as MDGs, SDGs, and what not! It is all about arriving somewhere…and for that we are ready to sacrifice anything, anyone and any value. Population seems to be rising, so do what you want it has to be brought under control – kill, abort, conspire, control, exploit, manipulate! Economic prosperity has to be achieved, so throw all liabilities out – even if they are persons – old, invalid, children, poor, weak, the so-called ‘uncultured’. Science offers us progress and that has to be pursued, so experiment with whatever you wish – be it lives, living beings, the earth, the unborn lives, the uncared-for lives, the voiceless masses. This is the Millennial world that we are living in. Now think! What is mercy in this world?
The Risen Lord and the community that arose around him gives us, in the first reading and the Gospel today, three manifestations of true mercy in this millennial world – we would do good to pay heed.
The first manifestation of Mercy today is Unity of Heart and Soul. It is not about the pacts signed and deals contracted at the international level smiling before the cameras and each one goes back and does what one wants. It is unity of heart and soul, the simplicity that is found in the Almighty, the same simplicity that the Almighty placed within us when we were created…that oneness…which was them broken into pieces by sinfulness and wickedness of the evil one. Oneness of heart and soul…feeling for the other, caring for the other, fending for the other, as for onself…that is oneness of heart and soul. This is mercy today in this millennial world. How many really care for everyone, especially the suffering ones? We are more worried about what Bill Gates says, and what the millionnaire space tourists claim…where is the value of the individual persons here on earth? Fundamental rights are breached and persons are taken for granted. The moneyed and the powerful are having their way and making their wish become law for everyone else! Will the hearts and souls of goodwill unite?
The second manifestation of Mercy today is No one in want. Will we ever achieve this state? How many Governments and Non-Governmental Organisation, Religious Orders and Social Service Organisations, National Bureaus and International Agencies have objectives like ‘removal of poverty’… it should make us laugh out loud, to see this on paper! Mercy is merely a word, until even one in my vicinity is in want. Whom do we blame – the person himself or herself? the system? the policies? …blame what you want, or blame all that you can, but the fact is, we are far from mercy. As people of God, in whichever way we can, we need to work in concrete towards this aim: no one in want, wherever we are. Let us not wait for multinational agencies and govermental bodies to intervene and change the situation, let us begin with DOING what is at hand, and making it a possible state of life: no one in want. Today, how many persons and communities, how many families, stand in need, affected by crises of varied kinds…the pandemic, the economic, the emotional and so on! What is our concrete response?
The third manifestation of Mercy today is Peace and Forgiveness. Jesus was not understood by his disciples. He was ditched by them and handed over to the enemies. He was killed by their treachery and insolent attitude. He rose, as he had already instructed then. And they did not seem to believe. He came among them, they did not recognise and did not believe even when explained. One of them even asked for some childish signs and proofs. After all these what did Jesus offer them? Forgiveness and Peace! That is mercy, the unbounded love of God, the merciful embrace of the Father manifested in Jesus, the Christ. Peace, that comes from forgiveness, that is the fundamental offer of the Mercy of God. Today, how many stand in need of peace! How many wounded hearts need the gift of forgiveness and capacity to forgive! Are we in our own way, instruments of peace and forgiveness wherever we are, or are we creating more barriers and more blocks to unity of hearts and souls? Are we part of the problem or are we part of the solution?
Celebrating the Divine Mercy today – we need to resolve to be manifestation of mercy in this millennial world… overcoming its insensitivities, partialities, self centredness and inhumanities. Yes, we need to overcome the world, a mindset of this sort! And we can overcome, with the Merciful Lord on our side. Peace be with you, because I am with you says the Risen Lord to us today. Let us receive the Lord, and take the Lord to everyone in need of Mercy and Love.
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He is currently pursuing his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him.