“Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20:22-23).
When Jesus appears to his disciples after the crucifixion and resurrection, he could have done anything but what he did. Because of their abandoning and denying Jesus, He could have justly rejected them and found new disciples to follow Him. But He did not. Instead he offers them peace and the very gift of his Spirit. It is His Spirit that enables them to forgive themselves and one another. We have received the same Holy Spirit and can experience the same forgiveness that the apostles experienced in the upper room.
This Divine Mercy Sunday is an awesome opportunity to receive God’s forgiveness–a gift that God never tires of offering to us. To speak more on Divine Mercy Sunday, I will share the words of Jesus to St. Faustina, who asked that she help to spread this message of mercy to all…
“My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy 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. 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 grace flows are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy." (Diary, 699)
Are you lacking peace? Do you desire His mercy? If so, celebrate His mercy! Come to Him! Isn’t it awesome that all of eternity will be spent contemplating His love and mercy? Why wait? Contemplate it now! Enter into His mercy and come to the Divine Mercy Service at 3:00pm. If the divine floodgates are opened on this day, let us then open our hearts and receive what He is ready to give!
Have mercy on us and on the whole world!
Fr. Jeremy
