Homily on Easter Sunday for Easter

Homily on Easter Sunday for Easter-only Catholics

Today on Easter Sunday I would like to address those among you who come to Mass only on Easter Sunday and so miss a super special event called Divine Mercy Sunday.

Divine Mercy Sunday is a Super-Special Sunday for those who need more and want more.

There is more, there is more, there is so much more!

All of us have desires that are so deep within us that we hardly recognize them and rarely express them – but there is a longing for more: more peace, more joy, and more love. There is thirst for knowledge of God and for a union with Him – a communion with Him.

The Lord wants to respond to this deep desire of ours for more. So, seek the God of love and mercy who waits for our free “yes” and free acknowledgement that it is the Lord Himself that we seek. The Lord cries out to each and all of us: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). The Lord offers us an invitation and he stands at the door of our hearts: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev 3:20). If we open our hearts to Him and to His desire for us, which is greater than our desire for Him, then He comes in and dines with us!

This is the Super-Special gift of the Sunday after Easter, the eighth day known as Divine Mercy Sunday! It was officially declared by the late Pope John Paul II of happy memory, as a feast for the whole Church, a feast for the Third Millennium, focusing on God’s Merciful love for you and me.

Come to the Feast for the fulfillment of your deepest desires. Come prepared with a good Confession in order to receive the best and holiest Communion you ever received and dine at the Lord’s Table and feast on the gift of Himself to you. Enter into Holy Communion with the Lord Jesus and be blessed by His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Come to the feast and drink deeply of the desire of your life. The Lord’s desire for you is an infinite ocean of love and mercy.

The feast emerges from the depths of the Lord’s mercy (see Diary entry #420) and the Lord pours out a whole ocean of graces – upon souls who approach the fount of His Mercy on that day. On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to the Lord, even though its sins be as scarlet. The mercy of the Lord is so great that no mind, be it of man or angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity (see Diary 699).

Don’t let your sins of the past be an obstacle. Approach the “Tribunal of Mercy” (Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession). The Lord’s presence is only veiled by the presence of the priest (see Diary 1602).

The Lord Jesus calls out to you, from His Merciful Heart, “Come to the feast and Trust even more!” Trust in Jesus even more!

Receive the gifts and grace of Divine Mercy Sunday with thanksgiving, and then share them with others, so that they too may experience the fulfillment of their deepest desires of their hearts. Tell them to trust in Jesus even more!

St. Faustina “the great apostle of Divine Mercy in our time” (John Paul II, Divine Mercy Sunday, April 10^th, 1994) recorded the words of the Lord about His desire for the salvation of souls and His desire for our holiness:

“How very much I desire the salvation of souls! My dearest secretary, write that I want to pour My Divine Life into human souls and to sanctify them if only they were willing to accept My grace. The greatest sinners would achieve great sanctity, if only they would Trust in My Mercy….” (Diary 1784).

Trust in Jesus even more! Written by Rev. George W. Kosicki, C.S.B.