The Homily of Father Jose
April 7, 2024 - Second Sunday of Easter
Divine Mercy Sunday - “The Gift of Peace”
After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples who were full of fear and were in a locked room. He showed them his hands and his side after He greeted them with His peace. He said: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you. And when He had said this, he breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (John 20:22-23). With these words Jesus instituted the sacrament of Penance. He gave this authority to his apostles and their successors, the ordained bishops and priests of the Church.
When Jesus appeared to His disciples, His main gift for them and others was the Holy Spirit and His Peace. Jesus entered the room and said: “Peace be with you”. The apostles were without peace. They were without Jesus. In today’s gospel we find Jesus saying three times: “Peace be with you”. Our Lord is the only giver of Peace. So if we are not in peace, we know why. That is because Jesus is not with us. So, let us run to Jesus with clean hearts and ask Him to stay with us. Then, He will fill us with His holy Peace. He will fill us with His joy. We know many people who have plenty of money and material goods, but they have no peace and joy. Now we know the reason.
We can not attain the peace of Christ without a clean heart. For a clean heart, we need the sacrament of Penance. We can not receive Christ, the Prince of Peace, if we are not in the state of grace. St. Paul said: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor 11:27). That means we would be committing another mortal sin. So let us receive the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace with a clean heart, mind and body! “Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we thank you for your gift of Peace. Grant your Peace to those who are hurting now.”
Amen