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Reflecting on Divine Mercy Sunday, I would like to look at the word mercy. I want to share with you some random thoughts on mercy.<\/p>\nReflecting on Divine Mercy Sunday, I would like to look at the word mercy. I want to share with you some random thoughts on mercy.<\/p>\n
Mercy = a heart moved by misery.<\/p>\n
Mercy began with the first sin; however, there are consequences.\u00a0 In Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve realize, because of their sin, that they are naked.\u00a0 What does God do?\u00a0 He makes clothes of animal skins.\u00a0Thus, one of the consequences of the original sin is that animals had to die. We teach that original sin is passed on from generation to generation.\u00a0 Too, the effects of sin are passed down from generation to generation.\u00a0 An example. Think about alcoholism or anger. What do we say?\u00a0 That is the way his father or grandfather were.<\/p>\n
What does sin bring?\u00a0 Old Testament priests were marked by severity. Punishment was severe for sinners, sometimes leading to separation (think leprosy).<\/p>\n
Jesus is ruled by mercy and solidarity. (If you want to see the difference, read the story of the Prodigal Son.\u00a0 The son who leaves home ends up feeding the pigs.\u00a0 Jewish people cannot eat pork. That gives you an idea of how difficult the times had become for the son.\u00a0 In the day, when you returned and had done what the younger son did, the result was public shame and expulsion from the family.\u00a0 However, Jesus Christ, portrayed by the father, teaches us a different way).<\/p>\n
The Old Testament law couldn\u2019t heal (a leper, etc.).\u00a0 It could only keep a disease from spreading. Only Jesus Christ could heal. When Jesus Christ died, the Holy of Holies (the place where only the chief priest could enter one per year) was exposed.\u00a0 With the new Holy of Holies \u2013 Jesus Christ \u2013 people are no longer told to stay away.\u00a0 Jesus Christ tells them to come.\u00a0 He is love and mercy.<\/p>\n
Our current model of running the church often is marked by maintenance rather than outreach. Mercy requires movement \u2013 that we go out.\u00a0 The culture does not applaud priesthood today.\u00a0 People desire revenge, not mercy.<\/p>\n
How did the early Church grow? People saw mercy.\u00a0 Unwanted babies, which were tossed over bridges, were picked up by Christians.\u00a0 People also saw the willingness to suffer and die for their faith.\u00a0 People wanted to be part of this.<\/p>\n
Story of the Apostle Thomas<\/strong><\/p>\n On the Second Sunday of Easter, our gospel story was Thomas\u2019 encounter with the resurrected Christ.\u00a0 From Harper\u2019s Bible Dictionary, page 1066, I would like to share with you the story of Thomas.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the twelves disciples or apostles of Jesus, called \u201cDidymus\u201d He alone appears to be a tower of strength when he encourages the disciples to accompany Jesus into a hostile Judea even if it means death (John 11:16).\u00a0 He appears to be without understanding when, in John 14:5, he confesses his ignorance about where Jesus is going and therefore finds it difficult to follow him.\u00a0 He is commonly remembered as the \u201cdoubting Thomas\u201d who refused to believe in Jesus\u2019 resurrection until he saw the scars and was invited to place his fingers where the nails were driven and his hand into Jesus\u2019 side (John 20:24-29).<\/p>\n The story stands as a paradigm for all Christians who are called to believe in Christ without having seen him or having been granted tangible proof of his existence (verse 29).\u00a0 Thomas\u2019s response is that of all who later believe:\u00a0 \u201cMy Lord and my God!\u201d I enclose a legend of St. Thomas. Hence he is called by some patron of architects and masons, and his symbol is the builder\u2019s square.\u00a0 In another, Thomas saw the king trying in vain to haul ashore a huge beam of timber. As for the story of Thomas\u2019s death, it is believed he was martyred at Meliapour in south India.\u00a0 One account says he was run through with a lance at Coromandel in the East Indies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reflecting on Divine Mercy Sunday, I would like to look at the word mercy. I want to share with you some random thoughts on mercy. Mercy = a heart moved by misery. Mercy began with the first sin; however, there are consequences.\u00a0 In Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve realize, because of their sin, that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-weekly-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rescathroch.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rescathroch.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rescathroch.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rescathroch.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rescathroch.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2868"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.rescathroch.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2879,"href":"https:\/\/www.rescathroch.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2868\/revisions\/2879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rescathroch.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rescathroch.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rescathroch.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rescathroch.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n(twin) in the Gospel of John (John 11:16; 20:24; 21:2).\u00a0 He appears in each of the apostolic lists (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13).\u00a0 Receiving little mention in the synoptic Gospels, Thomas becomes important in the later portions of the fourth Gospel (the Gospel of John).<\/p>\n
\n(verse 28).\u00a0 In John 21:1-14, Thomas is one of the small group of disciples who goes fishing and then sees the risen Lord. He is recorded as among those gathered in the upper room after the ascension (Acts 1:13).\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cLegends of Thomas in India abound.
\nIn one, the King of the Indies, Gondoforus, gave a small fortune to Thomas to build a palace.\u00a0 Thomas turned around and spent it on the poor, thus \u201cbuilding a superb place in heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nEven with men and elephants he failed.\u00a0 So Thomas asked to have the beam, intending to use it in building a church.\u00a0 His request being granted, he hauled the beam ashore with a string.\u201d\u00a0 Taken from Father Peter Klein\u2019s, Catholic Source Book, Copyright 1990, page 226).<\/p>\n