Christ is Risen! He is Risen, indeed!
About 8 years ago, I had the beautiful opportunity to visit the Divine Mercy Shrine during World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland during the Jubilee Year of Mercy. The presence of the Lord in that chapel was palpable.
Ever since that visit, and having been struck by our Lord’s love and mercy there, I have had a massive Divine Mercy image in my room in seminary. It currently hangs in my office here at the parish. Every time I see it, it is a reminder of the need to make our Lord’s love and mercy known here in our parish. It is so easy for us to see our Lord, at times, as the far off distant guy who wants to punish us. This image proves otherwise.
The image shows us how our Lord encounters us: He has one hand raised in blessing, one foot stepping out toward us, while the other points to his heart which has blood and water flowing out. The look of love from our Lord’s face taken with all the other details is an invitation from him for us to come back to him, to return to that relationship of love with him.
We return to that relationship with him by going to confession in which he shows us nothing but his love and mercy. When we go to confession, we hand over all of our sins and our Lord shows us nothing but his love and mercy.
If you haven't been to confession in awhile, I invite you to return to our Lord and the love and mercy he desires to show you. Nothing is better than returning to that relationship with Jesus.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew