Homily For The Second Sunday Of Easter (Divine Mercy) Year B.


Acts 4:32-35; Psalm 118:2-4.15-18. 22-24; 1 John 5:1-7; John 20:19-31.

“MERCY AND LOVE: THE TESTIMONIES OF THE RESSURECTION!”

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide.

·      Today is the Second Sunday of Easter. We are still in the joy of Easter when Christ broke the chains of death and has now risen as he said he would. Our faith in God is strengthened, our courage reassured, and our hope is renewed that our God is not a dead but a living God.

·      Today also, the church sets aside this Sunday to reflect on the Divine Mercy of God. It is this eternal mercy of God that led him to sacrifice his only begotten son to die in order to redeem us on the cross of Calvary. And there he declared to the whole of creation that “it is finished” (Jn. 19:30), meaning that the prize for our sins and waywardness has been paid in full.

·      Today while we bask in the joy of Easter, our trust in the mercy of God should even make us more joyful. An opportunity is given to us to reflect on the extent to which God our creator is willing to go in order to win salvation for us. His mercy is inexhaustible and immeasurable. While we enjoy this mercy, we too are called to show mercy and forgive those who may have hurt us too.

·      The theme for our reflection today is “Mercy and Love as testimonies of the resurrection. Of what gain will the rising of Jesus from the dead be if it does not inspire us to turn our life around and begin to bear testimony to his teaching and commandments.

·      In the first reading (Acts 4:32-35), we see that the number of those who came to believe in the gospel increased day by day. The witnessing of the early Christian community became an inspiration for others to follow and join the “new way”. The apostles preached and more people were converted.

·      What stood out with these early Christians which have become a model for us the Christians of this era, was that the early Christian community shared all they had in common ensuring that no one in the community was in need because they cared for the welfare of all. They showed mercy and love to each other ensuring that everyone lived in peace and harmony

·      Friends in Christ, wherever there is true love, there is peace and tranquility. This is what we see with the early Christian community and it is a serious challenge to us today especially as we seek to testify to the resurrection of Christ Jesus. No better way can we express this, than to trust in the providence of God and share our goods with each other.

·      The second reading (1 John 5:1-7), on the other hand, stresses that love is the identity of God and to dwell in God is to dwell in love. And there is no better evidence of this love we have than to offer our lives in service of those around us through caring, obeying God’s commandments, sharing, loving, forgiving, and living in peace and harmony.

·      Dear friends in Christ, the love of God is a special gift to us, and it is evidenced in the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross, he took on our burdens so as to make life less burdensome for us. Hence, the love of God is not burdensome rather it is a challenge to bring to life the commandments of God.

·      In the gospel reading (John 20:19-31), we see that if we live according to the precepts of the gospel, God continues to make himself available to us. He came to his disciples today and greeted them with the gift of peace. How come peace was the first gift of Jesus to his disciple?

·      The breath and the gift of peace to his disciples is an invitation to become disciples of peace wherever we find ourselves. Jesus not only gave them peace but commissioned us to become evangelizers of the message of the resurrection wherever we go with the prompting and direction of the Holy Spirit. There can be no peace where there is no forgiveness and mercy.

·      Friends in Christ, while we are celebrating the fact of the resurrection, it will not be surprising that there are some of us who are yet to come to terms with the fact of the resurrection just like Thomas today. Today, Jesus appears to us in the Eucharist within the context of this mass, it is an opportunity to make a firm commitment to our faith in him and like Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God” (Jn. 20:28).

·      We pray today that God will continue to reveal himself to us and inspire us to be true witnesses to his resurrection and let it inspire us to make true the gift of faith we have received by allowing those around us to benefit from the mercy, love, and peace of God through Christ our Lord, Amen!

·      Happy Sunday!!!

 

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