The Divine Mercy Message: Hope In A Time Of Devastation

​Father John Jimenez is a long-serving priest and teacher in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Here is a recent homily at Church of the Visitacion.
On this second sunday of Easter, we encounter three aspects of the mystery of the Resurrection. One is the doubt of Thomas, and our doubt, and how he comes to believe. Second is the peace given to us when we stand in the presence of the Risen Lord. Third is the transformation that the Risen Lord acts in us, as we see in the Acts of the Apostles, where they lived by sharing all things in common. They saw the Risen Lord, especially in those in need, and they shared as sisters and brothers.
Our challenge, as we live this eighth day of creation, is, do we really believe that our Lord is risen? How do we respond to those most need, in this our redeemed world?
We look to Thomas as one who came to believe after first doubting. Pope John Paul calls Thomas a modern man, because he seeks evidence, he must touch the wounds of Christ before he can believe.
We, too, are the same. We want evidence before we love and trust. We won't reconcile until someone else takes the first step. Our relationships are written on a contract in a pound of paperwork, rather than by a handshake and giving our word.
For many, it is the wounds and tragedies of life that cause us to doubt the existence of God. How is it that Thomas came to believe by touching the wounds of Christ?
There are many wounds that we have, both personal and societal, that we do not touch. Better left unsaid. Yet, without touching them, without trying to heal these wounds, they fester, and bleed in unseen ways.
Into this world of doubt and darkness, God has delivered His Divine Mercy, delivering His own Son over to the suffering and wounds caused by sin, and raising Him up to live with us and walk with us when we have to face the trials and tragedies of life. He gives us hope in an ultimate peace.
It was a time of darkness and despair in the history of Poland when our Lord appeared to a simple nun, Sr Faustina, assigned to the simple chores of convent life.
Why has Poland suffered so much throughout history? There was a time in the Middle Ages when Poland, Lithuania, Hungary and Ukraine were, together, one great catholic kingdom, where power was distributed amongst free, small, family farms and small towns of special crafts and enterprises.
They were free because they lived by a moral order and a catholic culture that helped tie the bonds of trust. They were free because they did not have to depend on some emperor, or some corporation or international bank to manipulate markets and force people to immigrate to new lands. They were free because they were not caught up in some social media recording everything they do and making algorithmic calculations of all their behaviors, an internet of things where we are more worried about what people do in virtual reality, leading to envy, vanity driven conflict, rather than helping and caring about people in the real world.
For a period of 300 years in the Middle Ages, the people of Catholic Eastern Europe lived a free way of life that did not depend on colonization or enslaving others. They did so because each family and community could sustain themselves by what they produced themselves. This is called Distributism and the Catholic Law of Subsidiarity.
Yet, the late Middle Ages and the modern era saw the rise of great international empires, seeking to control international markets through war and oppression. Advances in technology were it's tool. Thus, in the 20th century we hav eth world wars of great powers, and the civil wars in their former colonies
And with war comes suffering and tragedy and trauma. And what do soldiers and bombed out communities do to deal with the trauma and tragedy? We drink, we smoke, we live lives of vice and try to forget, try to escape. Yet, our sins become wounds which cut us off from God, in which we wound each other, and pass down generation to generation.
On October 5th 1938, The Risen Lord appeared to Sr Faustina, living a simple life of prayer and work in a convent. He told her, "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"
One year later the Germans invaded from the west, and the Soviets invaded from the east. Poland was no more. Millions were forced to work in labor camps in slave like conditions, including Karol Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul). Thousands of priests, nuns and lay leaders were shipped off to soviet prison camps in the frozen gulags of Siberia
It was under these desperate conditions that the seed of the Divine Mercy message was planted, of Thomas touching the wounds of Christ and experiencing His healing words, "Peace be with you."
On this Divine Mercy Sunday we move from touching the wounds of the Risen Lord, to the healing that Christ brings. To heal the wounds of society, and to heal our personal wounds, we are called to turn to the Merciful Jesus, and hear His healing words "Peace be with you"
The prayers of Divine Mercy are very healing. Imagine churches full, and streets full of processions, like waters flowing from the Temple in the prophecy of Ezekiel, praying in rhythm, "Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins, and those of the whole world. For the sake of His sorrowful passion, Have mercy on us, and the whole world"