Homily: April 27, 2025, Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy )

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Jesus said to the disciples, “Peace be with you,” and then immediately showed them His hands and His side, His wounds.

Even in His glorified, resurrected body, Jesus bears the nail wounds of the crucifixion. When it is our turn to see Him face to face, we too will still see His wounds.

They are important to Him. To us, they are proof of His sacrifice, a permanent reminder of His love, the pain He endured for us. To Jesus, they are physical signs of His full obedience, even unto death.

We too have our own wounds, sufferings we experienced which leave behind scars: physical, mental, emotional and social. These scars can be manifested in the form of physical impairments and imperfections, anger temperaments, deep bitterness and sadness, or even intentional avoidance of social situations which could trigger the painful memory.

But we don’t always show these openly, we tend to hide these painful, hurting part of us from others, we try to look ok on the outside. Most of the time, only those whom are closest to us, whom we love and trust, will get the privilege of seeing the scars of our hurts, and even experience the effects.

Jesus is doing the same. He didn’t go around revealing His wounds to strangers. He showed them to His friends.

Even though the disciples had abandoned Him out of fear, He did not abandon them, He came back to them.

He came back to bring peace, to restore the relationship, to mend what was broken. 

He came back to continue the story, which was left with many questions and no conclusion, the story of redemption.

He had told them outright that He is the Messiah, so how could it all end before the completion of His mission?

So, He came back, to show them and teach them much, much more about the work of God, the plan of salvation, the way of mercy.

God’s plan of salvation is not about sending a superhero to earth, fight fierce battles with the enemies, then saving all the weak earthlings and giving them luxurious, comfortable and carefree living forever and ever. No.

God’s plan of salvation is about sending His only Son, to come as a human who would suffer and die in the hands of the enemies, then conquer death to raise Him up, thereby empowering all His people with the gift of never-ending life, with Him in heaven, forever and ever.

His wounds show us what our sins did to Him. His wounds also show us what He did to our sins. These wounds could have been ours to bear, but He bore it.

Despite having born all those fatal wounds, He has risen. The wounds remaining on His resurrected body show us that despite all our sins, we too will rise at the end of time, if we remain with Him.

That is mercy. God’s mercy. Divine Mercy.

That is salvation, God’s plan, God’s way, God’s time.

By showing us His wounds, Jesus is showing us His forgiveness, reconciliation and invitation to continue the story of our salvation with Him.

So let us carry our difficulties, our brokenness, our burdens, and keep walking, let us never stop following Jesus, to Calvary, to our own earthly death and ultimately, to our resurrection and eternal life, with Jesus.

Peace be with you. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.


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