Jesus reminds us of His Mercy for us. He doesn’t force His Mercy on us. He waits for us to ask for His Mercy and once we ask He is more then generous!
One of the great ways to receive His Mercy is in the Sacrament of Confession! Jesus meets us in this Sacraments and tells us we are forgiven. We see the building blocks of this Sacrament in the Old Testament, especially in the book of Leviticus. (In Bible in a year podcast; Father explains the foundations of the Sacraments in day 42) We also see the Sacrament being instituted as we know it in todays Gospel:
Gospel
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But he said to them,
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.
But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that through this belief you may have life in his name. The Gospel of the Lord!
Have a Blessed Easter Season!