Divine Mercy Sunday
19th April 2020
The French artist Jacques-Louis David painted the
above portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte between 1801-1805. It is commonly titled ‘Napoleon
Crossing the Alps.’ The artist expresses, with out a shadow of doubt,
the enigmatic figure of Napoleon who conquered so much of Europe in the late 18th
and early 19th centuries. Upon his horse the emperor comes across as
both commanding and formidable. However there is a wonderful story about
Bonaparte that shows another side of his character not revealed in this
portrait.
A mother once fell at the knees of Napoleon begging
for pardon for her son. The boy in question was a solider who had more than
once deserted his regiment. The emperor replied that the young man, as well as
absconding without permission from the army, had also committed a number of
other offences and the justice to be delivered was death.
"But I don't ask for justice?”, said
the mother. "I plead for mercy.”
"But your son does not deserve mercy.” Napoleon
replied.
"Sir,” the woman cried, "it
would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for.”
"Well, then,” the emperor said, "I
will have mercy.” And he spared the woman's son.
Mercy cannot be earned, bought, taken or ever
deserved. It is a gift freely given as
Napoleon demonstrated to the pleading mother. This Second Sunday of
Easter we are reminded of God’s mercy for all of us. In the Gospel today (Jn
20:19-31), Our Lord grants authority to the disciples to share his divine mercy
with others.
‘He
said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so am I sending
you.” After saying this he breathed on them and said:
“Receive
the Holy Spirit.
For
those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven;
for
those whose sins you retain, they are retained.”’ (Jn
20:21-23)
The Sacrament of Confession is instituted and
firmly established through Jesus’ authority, bestowed on the Apostles. Jesus
wants the Easter mystery not to be confined to a memory, an historical past
event but something real, alive and active transcending all time. He wants to
give life to all those in darkness. He wants to raise up all those in the tomb.
He wants to cleanse and renew them through the forgiveness of their sins. From
the Cross he has washed us with his blood and he wants this, his life giving
blood, to awaken us and bring us back to real life. We are blessed to have this
wonderful and tangible gift of Jesus’ mercy in the Sacrament.
We in turn are asked to be people who forgive and
show mercy to others. To receive mercy is wonderful but to share and give it to
others, especially to those who we find difficult is a challenge! During the
reign of Elizabeth I the Church in England was persecuted. St. Edmund Campion,
a priest and eventually a martyr for the Faith, was betrayed and arrested.
While in prison he was visited by the man who had betrayed him. Not only did
St. Edmund forgive his betrayer, he also urged him to leave England where he
might be in danger himself, and gave him a letter of safe-conduct to a Catholic
nobleman in Germany. St. Edmund Campion showed true mercy, even to his own
Judas, because he had experienced Jesus’ mercy himself.
Within our own parish of St. Mary’s there are many
people who are becoming disciples of mercy through their own loving actions.
Over the past few weeks I have been contacted by people offering their services
to help others who might be experiencing some difficulties during the lockdown.
As a result of this generous self giving, a number of vulnerable people are now
getting their shopping done. Others have found the present Covid-19 emergency
psychologically a worrying time. Again thanks to kind parishioners we have been
able to share, following GDPR guidelines and the law, contact details so that either
through phones calls, video links or email people are able to communicate with
others. There are acts of mercy taking place each and every day that are not
public or will ever be recorded but again each act is a burst of light in the
darkness of the tomb. Each deed of loving mercy is a witness to the power of
Jesus Christ, even in the most difficult and challenging of times. Alleluia!
If you would like to volunteer to help another
parishioner, in any way, living in the parish boundary then please do email sean.obrien@dioceseofsalford.org.uk
My sincere thanks to all those who are doing so much now.
I would like to appeal to your financial mercy. It
is not a subject I like talking about but it is an important issue. Thank you
to all those who are keeping their offertory envelopes at home and saving them
up each week for when they return to Mass. That is the sensible and wise thing
to do as we are unable to bank any monies. I am very grateful for the financial
sacrifice you are making for St. Mary’s especially in these difficult economic
times. Some people are now setting up direct debits/ standing orders so that
the parish is regularly receiving an income in a very safe and efficient way.
If you would like to do this then please contact me.
Another act of mercy is being given by Mgr John
Armitage, Director of the Walsingham Shrine. He is about to lead an eight day
retreat via the Walsingham website and its Youtube channel. Each day he will
give two talks and there will be plenty of opportunity for prayer. For more
details please see the shrines website www.walsingham.org.uk
.The retreat will begin this Sunday afternoon (19th April).
May God Bless you all and keep praying.
Happy Easter
Fr. O’Brien