By Fr SAJU
With great sadness, on Monday 21 April 2025, we received the news that His Holiness Pope Francis, an apostle of mercy of our time departed us for his eternal reward. May His Holiness rest in peace.
The Pontificate of Pope Francis has reminded us precisely of the closeness and tenderness of God toward us. Mercy, he said, is “the air we breathe”, meaning that it is what we need most, without which it would be impossible to live.
While we hold the late Pope in our thoughts and prayers, he continues to stay as a beacon of mercy. The Second Sunday of Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday when Church reflects on God’s infinite Love and Mercy for His people. Divine Mercy Sunday was officially instituted by Pope John Paul II at the canonisation of St. Maria Faustina on 30 April 2000.
During St. Faustina’s short life, the Lord Jesus assigned her three basic tasks, firstly to pray for souls entrusting them to God’s incomprehensible Mercy; secondly to tell the world about God’s generous Mercy; and finally to start a new movement in the Church focusing on God’s Mercy.
Saint John Paul II said, “Believing in the love of God means believing in His mercy.”
Pope Francis believed in the love of God which made him to inspire many to embrace God’s mercy and to share God’s compassion which was visible during his Pontificate.
The Gospel for this Sunday (Jn 20:19-31) presents the fearless Apostle Thomas, in his uncompromising honesty, demanding a personal vision of, and physical touch of the risen Jesus to experience the joy of resurrection of the Lord. Thomas had not been with the disciples when Jesus first appeared to them. As a result, he could not understand and accept that his Lord appeared to others without him.
Thomas, who even dared to go with Jesus and die, never imagined that Jesus could appear to others without him. Subsequently, Thomas who had a profound faith and deep understanding in Jesus’ love and mercy, demanded to have a personal encounter with him which was made available to others.
Thomas was privileged to have the risen Lord appear to him and then he made his profession of faith in the Lord.
Today, St. Thomas and Pope Francis inspire us to experience God’s love in life and to share God’s compassion and mercy with people around us.