By Fr Joshan Rodrigues –
Look up at the blackness of space on a clear, cloud-less night, and you may be mesmerised and enraptured by the sight of millions of stars, twinkling in the night sky. The darkness and emptiness of space remains, and the stars are not powerful enough to dispel the darkness completely, yet the dark and despairing night is transformed into a canvas of beauty. Our attention is fixated not on the darkness but on the beauty of the light.
Christ’s Resurrection brought victory over death, and Light has dispelled the darkness, yet we may quite often continue to be saddened and discouraged by the prevailing evil that plagues humanity and our personal life circumstances. Yet every believer becomes a radiant star that reflects the Light of the Redeemer. The Easter mysteries reveal the fullness of God’s love for us, and when we embrace and live the fullness of life that only God can bring, we become ‘mini-lights’ that reflect the Light of the Saviour.
The enduring message of Divine Mercy Sunday which immediately follows Easter Sunday, is that inspite of the prevailing darkness, sin and evil in our lives and in the world at large, humanity must engage the fullness of God’s Mercy unleashed on the Cross and made victorious by His Resurrection. For the believer, this becomes an opportunity to see every evil as a potential for pouring out God’s Mercy; it makes us a channel to transmit the Light of Christ to those still walking in darkness. In this way, even ‘shadows’ point to the ‘Light’, because shadows do not exist without light.
This is brought out powerfully in the readings of the Sunday, through two personalities, one of whom is Peter. We read of how the Mercy of God was made present in the early Church through the healing of the sick. They are cured of their maladies when just the ‘shadow’ of Peter falls on them. Just a short while ago, Peter had denied the Lord, yet by himself receiving God’s mercy and forgiveness, the apostle Peter becomes a ‘Vessel’ of God’s Mercy, in Jerusalem and to the whole world. Even sinners and sceptics become fonts of mercy.
Speaking of sceptics, Divine Mercy Sunday always reminds us of Thomas the twin who doubts the truth of the apostolic witness. He must see for himself the Jesus he knew and loved. Thomas’ incredulity should not be held against him, because the other disciples had been given the privilege of ‘seeing’ the Risen Lord. His ‘refusal to believe’ could also be interpreted as his deep longing to see and touch, to experience for himself what the others had experienced. He wanted to personally meet and encounter Jesus.
When the Lord Jesus appears to Thomas the next Sunday, his words to him are not of rebuke but of invitation, “Doubt no longer, but believe!” Just as the Lord encountered the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we are reminded that the Lord Jesus meets us in our moments of desperation, fear, anxiety, hopelessness – even unbelief and scepticism – and offers us the free gift of His Light and Love. All we need to do is keep our hearts and minds open in a spirit of seeking and surrender.
There is an element of denial and doubt in all of us, as we journey through life afflicted by the darkness of sin and suffering. Yet there is nothing that cannot be overcome by accepting God’s invitation of entering into a relationship with Him; there is no sin that cannot be overcome by mercy. If we open ourselves to the power of Christ, through prayer and the sacraments, we too will experience the Divine Mercy. Like Peter and Thomas, we too will be touched by Him and brought to the fullness of life.
May the Easter Season become for us a celebration of Divine Love! Happy are we who have not seen and yet believed!
Fr Joshan Rodrigues is the Managing Editor of The Examiner, Catholic Newsweekly of the Archdiocese of Bombay. He is an alumnus of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome in Institutional and Social Communications. He has done brief stints with the DeSales Media Group in Brooklyn, New York and Communications Office of the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales, London. He frequently blogs on faith and culture on his wonderful blog: ‘Musings in Catholic Land’