“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy is
everlasting.” (Psalm 118:1)
There’s a story that apparently is part of church legend,
but I did not hear until last night when I was listening to the homily of an
archbishop from up north. It goes
something like this: On the day of the
final judgment, the day of victory when evil and the devil’s minions are
finally vanquished, there is obviously great rejoicing in heaven. Everyone is singing and dancing in paradise
except Jesus who is standing quietly at the gates of heaven. Someone goes and asks the Lord why he is
standing there, to which Jesus replies: “I am waiting for Judas.” This story is so powerful because it reminds
us that Jesus never gives up on any of us.
He is always ready to forgive even the ones who have betrayed him.
This is a great lesson on Divine Mercy Sunday that takes on
a special meaning during this Jubilee Year of Mercy. God is always ready to forgive and reach out
to us even in the darkest moments of our sinfulness. Even when we think we have done something so
horrendous that we feel does not merit God’s mercy, he gives it to us anyways
for as the psalm reminds us: his mercy is everlasting, it knows no bounds. Look at the disciples in today’s gospel who
are still hiding in fear after Christ died.
I mentioned this in passing last week, but all of these men, except
John, deserted Jesus while he was on the cross.
Yet when Christ appears before them, he does not seek vengeance or an
explanation, he simply gives the disciples what they had been missing in their
hearts: peace. “Peace be with you,” the
Lord says three times today. Peace is
what we get when mercy is given to us.
Peace is what we feel when we are embraced by the merciful arms of a God
who waits patiently for us.
This morning Pope Francis defined mercy as “the bridge
between God and man; opening our hearts to the hope of being loved.” That was the problem with Judas. He had his own agenda. His heart was closed off to being truly loved
by Christ. Thomas, on the other hand,
though he doubted upon receiving Christ’s mercy and peace allowed his heart to
be so overcome that he exclaimed “my Lord and my God.” God’s mercy transforms
hearts, and it should transform us in such a way that we are merciful towards
others. Mercy must be an act, not just a
warm and fuzzy feeling we get after coming out of confession. There are so many instances in the gospels
where people who experience Jesus’ mercy through healing or forgiveness
immediately go and share the good news of that mercy with others. I was discussing this with a priest friend of
mine yesterday and we lamented how quick we are to seek the Lord’s mercy, but
how slow we are to be merciful to others.
So be merciful just as your Father in heaven is merciful as Jesus
reminds us in Luke’s gospel.
Today we celebrate that God’s mercy triumphs over even the
darkest of sins, and as a priest I experienced that mercy first hand during
those long hours in the confessional during Holy Week. I read an article on a Catholic website the
other day that the Sacrament of Reconciliation was dying. Well, my parishioners apparently never got
that memo because that south wall of the church always had a long line whenever
the confessionals were open during Holy Week.
God’s mercy has triumphed. This
is the cause of our joy. So if you haven’t
experienced this mercy and joy because you feel that your sins are
unforgivable, just think about that story I told earlier. If Jesus would wait for Judas because he hadn’t
given up on him, how could he possibly give up on you?
