From our Pastor’s Desk

Dear Family:

This weekend we celebrate the last day of the Octave of Easter. In the year 2000, Pope St. John Paul II canonized St. Faustina, and made the second Sunday of Easter the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday. St. Faustina was a Polish nun gifted with mystical visions, messages, and revelations from the Risen Jesus.

This is a rare instance when a personal revelation is authenticated to the degree that it becomes a Sunday celebration by the Universal Church. The feast was situated well, following the Easter Sunday, to show that the events of the incarnation, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus for the redemption of humanity were from the gratuitous mercy of God. God’s mercy is gratuitous because humanity did nothing to merit it.

St. Peter writes in the second reading, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,…” St. Faustina wrote in her diary, “Proclaim that mercy is the greatest attribute of God. All works of his hand are crowned with mercy” (no. 301).

The image of the Divine Mercy of Jesus showing two rays, one reddish (symbolizing blood) and the other whitish (symbolizing water), with the words “Jesus, I trust in you” at the bottom, is one of St. Faustina’s visions. The image takes us back to the passion, crucifixion, and death of Jesus. St. John narrates in his gospel, (Jn. 19:33-34), “But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out.” Jesus tells us during the Last Supper the meaning of his blood, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Jesus, also, tells us the meaning of his water in his encounter with the Samaritan woman, “Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

We must admit that God has shown us His mercy to the fullest. We have plenty of testimonies, stories and Scripture passages that reveal to us this truth. However we must also admit the we live in a world where all ideas are required to be tested by one’s own experience. I recall one of my brothers doing this with electricity. The curiosity of a child goes wild and if it is not attended quickly, it could bring consequences sometimes we could regret. My brother found himself in this predicament when he was about five years old. He plugged in a bobby pin into an electrical outlet. As you could imagine, my brother received the shock of his life, literally.

To test an idea by our own experience it is not just a characteristic of a child, but of most of us. Not many of us accept someone else’s reasoning very easily. We are quite capable of doing our own thinking and testing. Parents are often confounded by this problem, especially with maturing children. The children seem to have this desire to try things for themselves, rather than depend on the word or experience of the parents.

I have always felt sorry for Thomas in today’s Gospel. His fault was what we, who live in a scientific age, would call “virtue.” He needed evidence he could test for himself. And we see him move impressively from disbelief to belief. Thomas’ doubt brought him a positive result. He was privileged to be the only person Jesus asked to put his finger into his side where the lance pierced. Jesus appears and offers him the proof he is asking for. “Put your finger in My wounds and your hand in My side.” The Gospel does not say Thomas did this. In fact, it is implied that he did not. Without touching, Thomas says, “My Lord and my God.” He exclaimed the greatest profession of faith, “My Lord and my God.” Let us encounter Jesus as Thomas did. Let us hear Jesus asking us to put our finger into his side. May we, also, receive our own healing.

You and I obviously live in a time in which we do see the risen Christ face-to-face. Not that Christ is removed from us; remote from us. Far from it. He is present in the word and in the broken bread. He is present where He promised, where two or three are gathered in His name. If you love Him, He told you that He and His Father will make Their home with you.

The trouble is, we cannot see Him or touch Him, as we can see and touch so many others we love. It makes for problems. It tests your faith. Still, although we have never seen the risen Christ, we still exclaim, “My Lord and my God.” It is no wonder Christ said, “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet still believe.”

But for all its unparalleled importance, faith alone is not enough. St. James once said, “What does it profit you to say you have faith, but not works? Can faith alone save you?” If a brother or sister is ill and in lack of daily food, and you say to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled” without giving them the things they need, what good is that? Faith without works is irrelevant. In your own life’s journey, you will meet thousands of people of all kinds. Will you be able to see divinity in humanity? Or will you be blinded by the human things that make for hostility and hatred?

Like the Disciples on the road to Emmaus, our hearts will burn within us when we recognize the risen Christ in those around us. Because you believe in the risen Christ you have not seen, you will learn to love and serve the Christs you see every day. They are all around you. The first reading informs us how the early Christians practiced their faith. They went to the temple to pray according to the Jewish religious tradition. They also gathered in their homes every day to celebrate the Eucharist: the “breaking of bread,” in obedience to the command of Jesus during the Last Supper, “Do this in remembrance of me.” As Catholics, we are required to gather to celebrate the Eucharist in remembrance of him, and we are required to gather in our homes to pray. A family that prays together stays together. Unfortunately, many families do not gather to pray.

However, we, the Eucharistic Parish of St. Katharine Drexel, as a family of God gathered around the altar of the Lord during the celebration of the Paschal Tridium. What a joy, what a blessing to be able to share with so many the greatest love of all: Our Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. I would like to thank all those who worked so hard during each celebration. You touch my heart and I am sure the hearts of so many in our community and perhaps the hearts of those visiting for the first time. This is the Joy of Easter! This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad being One Body, One Spirit, One Family! Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Katharine Drexel, Saint Michael the Archangel, St. José Gregorio Hernández, Pope Saint Pius X, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Charbel, pray for us.

Yours in Christ!
Fr. Omar