Jesus I trust in you

by Fr. Adrian  |  04/24/2022  |  From the Clergy

A Happy Easter to all of you!

This weekend (the first Sunday after Easter) is Divine Mercy Sunday. I wanted to share with you a great description of this feast from Divinemercysunday.com:

"Today is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, the 8th day of the Feast of Easter in which Blessed Pope John Paul II said that we receive the Easter Gift. And what is this very special Easter Gift? It is the special gift of the total forgiveness of all sins and punishment that the Catholic Church offers in the form of a plenary indulgence today. But, why today? What sets this day apart from any other day? Today is the Octave Day of Easter; the last day of the world’s greatest feast. And shouldn’t the world’s greatest feast offer the world’s greatest gift; the total forgiveness of all sins and punishment, or in other words, “a straight ticket to Heaven” if we should die today in this perfect state of sanctifying grace? And what is Divine Mercy? The word “Divine” means “given by God” or “like God”. The word “Mercy” means “the refraining from harming or punishing offenders”. So simply put, Divine Mercy is “God refraining from harming or punishing offenders”.

How did this feast come to be established in the Catholic Church?

In the Jubilee Year 2000, Blessed Pope John Paul II established this new feast indicating that he had fulfilled the will of Christ. He must have said this because he believed that our Church needed to re-emphasize the tremendous gift of Divine Mercy that the Lord wants to pour out on each and every one of us.

In the Old Testament, God told Moses to celebrate their most important feast called the Day of Atonement, once a year, and to prepare for that feast, they were to afflict themselves and offer up animal blood sacrifices. On the last day, God would forgive their sins. It was for them, an annual preparation for the Judgment.

The Jews of today still celebrate this feast, which they call “Yom Kippur”. This is the Jews’ biggest feast and it lasts for a full ten days. In fact, most of the important feasts in the Old Testament lasted for 7 or more days. Even weddings would last for a whole week or more. So why shouldn’t we celebrate Easter for at least a full 8 days?

So this Feast of Divine Mercy (Divine Mercy Sunday) is like our modern day fulfillment of the “Day of Atonement”. An annual preparation for the Judgment, an annual feast to get perfectly right with God. Are we now starting to understand how important this feast is for us, today?

Ok, let’s take it a little further. What is the last instruction that Jesus gave His Church before He died and what is the first instruction He gave His Church after He came to life again? The very last instruction was the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the Eucharist, at the Last Supper. The very first instruction, after His Resurrection from the dead, was the institution of the Sacrament of Confession. These 2 sacraments comprise the Fount of Divine Mercy. The 2 sacraments needed to receive the total forgiveness of sins and punishment on this feast day.

Recall what Jesus said to His Apostles in the Gospel today: “Receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained”. This happened on the very night of the Resurrection when the Apostles were hiding from fear of the Jews. Also, recall that St. Thomas wasn’t there on that Sunday, but was actually there on the following Sunday. Could this be God’s Providence to set up this feast associated with trust in Jesus?” Do not be afraid to approach this fount of mercy. Do not be paralyzed by your sins, or the thinking that you are not worthy go God’s mercy-you are!

As we continue to celebrate the Easter season, remember these words daily: Jesus I trust in you.

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