On this Divine Mercy Sunday, a fitting last day of the octave of  Easter, we reflect on the 20th chapter of John’s gospel, where the risen Christ appears to His disciples. This gospel, featuring Doubting Thomas and the institution of confession, reveals God’s boundless mercy, flowing from the wounds of Jesus.

Thomas’s doubt is not a flaw but a gift. Pope St. Gregory the Great said, “The unbelief of Thomas is more profitable to our faith than the belief of the other disciples.” By touching Christ’s wounds, Thomas confirms the reality of the resurrection—Jesus’s glorified body is the same one crucified thus linking us to the Passion and mercy.

That ocean of mercy comes through Christ’s wounds and thus the words of scripture “I am the gate, says the Lord, whoever enters through me, will be saved” are fulfilled in Him; The wound in the side of Christ is the gate of mercy from which flows the rich gifts of all the Sacraments beginning with Baptism that gives entrance to all other sacraments. It includes confession reconciling us with the Father and one another. Jesus empowers His disciples to forgive sins, offering us reconciliation—a direct encounter with God’s mercy. “He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.  This sacrament heals and restores us, making mercy tangible and real and rendering life hopeful. Finally His wounded side culminates in the communion with our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, the Body of Christ Himself indeed the hand of Thomas would touch the very heart of our Savior whom we feed on at every Mass. (see the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano)

In modern times this feast day was revitalized by Saint Faustina Kowalska, a nun with the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Krakow, Poland at the turn of the 20th century. Beginning in 1933, Christ granted her a series of apparitions which, at his request, she recorded in a diary now known as ‘Divine Mercy in My Soul’.  That day Jesus gave her a mission, saying: “Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart.”

Pope John Paul II read her diary and was deeply moved by it. While he was Pope he beatified and canonized Faustina, and he declared the Sunday following Easter to be an official feast for the entire Church.  Later after his death, I attended his canonization on this very feastday of Divine Mercy on April 27th, 2014. 

In her diary she wrote that Jesus told her: “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.  I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy.”

Let us approach confession with confidence, receive the Eucharist with gratitude, and extend mercy to others. May this feast inspire us to live as witnesses to the mercy that flows from Christ’s heart, bridging us to God despite our sins.