ACTS 5: 12 – 16

Many signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high honour. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and pallets, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

The Word of the Lord

RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 118: 2 – 4, 22 — 27a (R.) 1

R/. Give praise to the Lord, for he is good; his mercy endures forever.
Or:
Alleluia

Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His mercy endures forever.” R/.

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the Lord has this been done,
a marvel  in our eyes.
This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice in it and be glad.  R/.

O Lord, grant salvation;
O Lord, grant success.
Blest is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord;
the Lord is God, and has given us light. R/.

SECOND READING
REVELATION 1: 9 – 11a, 12 – 13, 17 – 19

John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches.” Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a Son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand upon me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Now write what you see, what is and what is to take place hereafter.”

The Word of the Lord.

ALLELUIA 
John 20: 29

Alleluia.
You believed, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord; blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. Alleluia

GOSPEL
JOHN 20: 19 – 31

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “You have believed because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

The Gospel of the Lord
[24/04, 07:00] Tk: REFLECTION: The Mercy of God in Superabundance!
Sunday, April 24, 2022

What a grace-filled day this is! It is the eighth and final day of the Octave of Easter. On this eighth day of Easter we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. It is a day when the flood-gates of mercy are opened wide and God lavishes us with more than we could ever hope for.

Divine Mercy Sunday has been celebrated for years as a private devotion. But in the year 2000, Pope Saint John Paul II, who himself was an extraordinary instrument of God’s mercy, put this feast on the Church’s official calendar as he raised Sister Faustina to sainthood.

Saint Faustina was a member of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Krakow, Poland. She died in 1938. She came from a simple and poor family of farmers, had only three years of simple education and performed the humblest of tasks in her convent. But she also was a mystic who was privileged to have many private revelations from our Lord which she recorded in her diary of Divine Mercy.

She writes of her experience on February 22, 1931:

In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red and the other pale. In silence I gazed intently at the Lord; my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with great joy. After a while Jesus said to me, ‘paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You.’

Later, Jesus explained to her in another vision:

“The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous; the red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My most tender Mercy at that time when My agonizing Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross….Fortunate is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him.”

Jesus spoke again to her of His desire that the Solemnity of Divine Mercy be established:

“On that day (the 8th day of Easter each year) the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity.”