Finding Peace Through the Mercy of God
The early Church is described in this way, “With great power the apostles bore witness to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” We are also told how they gave this witness to the risen Christ, “There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need.”(Acts 4:33-35) Thus, they gave witness to the risen Christ by readily sacrificing something to meet the needs of others in community.
They gave witness to the Resurrection by becoming signs and instruments of divine mercy in our world. Divine mercy triumphed over sin, evil, suffering and death at the Resurrection because that was when our crucified Savior, Jesus Christ, rose from the grave to give us the things that we needed the most but did not deserve at all. He willingly sacrificed Himself to merit for us things that we needed but did not deserve e.g. divine graces, forgiveness, peace, love and hope, etc.
The risen Christ appeared to His terrified disciples not to deservedly rebuke them but to give them peace, “Peace be with you.” (Jn 20:19) They could not find that peace by huddling together behind locked doors in fear of the Jews. This peace is first a gift of divine mercy from the risen Christ. In His mercy, Jesus freely offered them that gift of peace that their scared hearts badly needed and which they did not deserve because of their unfaithfulness to Him. He showed them the wounds on His hands and side to impress on them the truth that He willingly sacrificed His life so that they could have this precious gift of peace.
But this peace is not a just a gift to be received; it is also a response to the call to mission as signs and instruments of divine mercy to the world by the power of the Holy Spirit, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you…Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven and whose sins you retained are retained.” (Jn 20:21-22) In His mercy, He has also called and equipped us with His own Spirit to be on mission for Him as signs and instruments of His mercy in our world. For us to possess and enjoy His gift of peace, we too must be ready to sacrifice something so as to meet the needs of others, whether they deserve it or not.
