Yesterday, the Second Sunday of Easter, in days gone by, was known as “Low Sunday” – a lesser Easter celebration – or “Quasi-modo Sunday” from the first two words of the Latin entrance antiphon at Mass: “Like newborn infants” speaking about those baptized at Easter. It is the day that the newly baptized officially put away their white robes, hence, it was known liturgically as the “Sunday of putting away the albs.” And yes, the name of this feast is the origin of the name of the hunchback, Quasimodo, in Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” The foundling was so named because he was discovered at the cathedral on the Second Sunday of Easter.
For centuries the Easter liturgies have proclaimed the mercy of God. From Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday to the Eighth Day of Easter, the divine love song of mercy is chanted with abundant alleluias. In tomorrow’s responsorial psalm we will sing three times, “His mercy endures forever.”
In the year 2000, at the Mass for the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska, Pope John Paul II made a surprising announcement in his homily. “It is important that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church, will be called ‘Divine Mercy Sunday.’ ” Clearly it is not a new feast, but neither is it an optional title for this solemnity; rather, Divine Mercy is the integral name for this Feast Day.
For many people there are two contemporary stories that continue to stand out in memory. One is the story of the Amish community that walked to the home of the man who had killed 5 of their children to tell his widow they forgave her husband for what he had done, and they consoled her for the loss of her spouse. They buried their anger before they buried their children.
The other well-known story of forgiveness that you may recall was depicted on the cover of TIME magazine in 1984. It pictured a prison cell where two men sat on metal folding chairs. The younger man wore a black turtleneck sweater, blue jeans and white running shoes. The older man was dressed in a white robe and had a white skullcap on his head. They sat facing one another, up close and personal. They spoke quietly to keep others from hearing their conversation. The young man was an attempted assassin; the older man was Pope John Paul II, his intended victim. The pope held the hand that had held the gun whose bullet had torn into his body. At the end of their 20-minute meeting, Ali raised the pope’s hand to his forehead as a sign of respect. John Paul shook Ali’s hand tenderly. When the pope left the cell he said, “What we talked about must remain a secret between us. I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust.”
Our Gospel (you’ll recall) begins with the risen Christ appearing to the apostles on Easter night. Jesus calms his disciples by saying and giving them “Peace.” He shows them the scars of his Passion, his wounded hands and side, the evidence of his saving work through his suffering, death and resurrection. Then he breathes on them and explains what the divine breathing means with the words, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, whose sins you shall retain are retained.” He gives to the apostles, from the treasury of divine mercy, the power of mercy for penitents and the assurance there is nothing for us to fear. That’s what the divine mercy of God is all about.
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
