His Merciful Love is Everlasting
Second Sunday of Easter - Sunday of Divine Mercy
Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31
At the beginning of the Gospel of John, we hear this testimony about Christ: "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). The "sin of the world" refers to the lack of faith in Christ and His saving work (see John 16:8-9). Today, the risen Lord gives His disciples the power to forgive and to retain sins. Sin leads to death, but God the Father, in His mercy, gives us life through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ (John 20:31).
"As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (John 20:21). The risen Christ appears before the fearful disciples and greets them with the words: "Peace be with you!" It is this peace that they need, a peace that transcends all understanding (Phil. 4:8). Although they have already heard the news about the empty tomb, their hearts are still paralyzed by the fear of the outside world.
Jesus breathes on the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit, and with this gift, they receive the mission of forgiving and retaining sins. He who had on earth the power of forgiving sins (Mark 2:10) now gives this power to the Church. "God reconciled us to himself through Christ and entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation. (...) We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God! "(2 Cor. 5:18.20).
The word "breathed" brings to mind the book of Genesis, where God blew the breath of life into man formed from the dust of the earth (Gen. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:45), and also the book of the prophet Ezekiel, where the breath from God enters dry bones making them alive (Ezek. 37:9). The meaning of this "breathing" is explained in the book of Wisdom. God molded man, "and infused him with an active soul, and filled him with the breath of life" (Wisdom 15:11). Today, the risen Christ, breathed the Holy Spirit on the disciples, and rivers of living water flow out of their hearts (see John 7: 37-39). This gift is promised to everyone who believes in Christ.
The “sin of the world” refers to the lack of faith in Jesus and His saving work, but faith in Jesus conquers the world. This faith is expressed in obedience to God's commandments, which does not spring from a fear of punishment, but from love. The Holy Spirit makes us aware that God the Father knows us better than we know ourselves and loves us more than we love ourselves. Therefore, the commandments which He gives to us are for our good, "and His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).
In the Gospel, we meet fearful disciples hiding behind closed doors. In the second reading, those same disciples "witnessed to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power" (Acts 4:33). Their courageous testimony drew others to faith and so the Church is being formed. The Church is portrayed as a family in which there are no divisions and nobody lacks anything, because the believers - God's children - support each other. This is the triumph of God's mercy. By their faith, the believers practice the commandment of loving God with all their minds, hearts, and strength, and through their concern for others, they practice the commandment of loving one’s neighbor. Our Lord is indeed good, and His merciful love is everlasting (Ps. 118:1).