Masterpiece Sunday - Divine Mercy

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Caravaggio, 1601-1602. 

We have been in this blessed Easter season for one whole week. 

Can you feel the grace? Can you feel the mercy? 

This Divine Mercy Sunday was put into place to remind us of how supernatural, how awe-inspiring, how deep, how wide is the mercy of God. The mercy that He extends to us is His body, blood, soul and divinity raised from the dead. What a thing that we are allowed to celebrate and partake in. 

This painting is one of the best known of Saint Thomas, who doubted Christ’s resurrection, as he was not there when Jesus appeared to the rest of the apostles. Incredulity means the unwillingness or inability to believe something. I think that Thomas would have experienced both of these feelings. How many times have we been unwilling to accept good news in fear that it might not be true? Or that it would not be how we expect it to go? Thomas might have been unwilling to accept that he was not there when Christ appeared, feeling like he missed out and was passed over. With the magnificence of Jesus, an inability to believe would have been a fair response. How many parables have we heard that we do not quite understand, that we still are not purified enough to have the ability to understand and believe? 

The Lord blesses those who do not see and believe, but that does not stop him from helping Thomas’ unbelief. This painting shows it beautifully - Christ moves His robes, grabs Thomas’ hand, and guides Thomas to feel the wound in His side. Christ merciful love helped Thomas to believe that He truly was resurrected, that He did not forget or abandon them.

Christ pulls us from our unbelief into belief. To walk the path not often or easily traveled can be scary, but it is what we are called to as Christians. This Lent we were able to walk the difficult path of the cross with Our Lord and now He asks us to walk with Him in His Resurrection. The Resurrection can be just as difficult because it begs us to believe the unbelievable and live out a reality that we often do not see or experience. It is God’s mercy that sweeps us up into the belief of our faith and trust that He will do what He promises. 

God’s mercy reaches down to us from heaven, and brings us up to Him. We do not have to do anything to deserve or earn it. We just have to simply ask for it and receive the divine mercy that the Lord wants to shower down onto us. 

This Easter season, may we look as closely as Saint Thomas and his companions do into the wounds of Christ. Here we can find our hope, our joy, and everlasting divine mercy that brings us to perfection in Our Lord.

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Incredulity_of_Saint_Thomas-Caravaggio_%281601-2%29.jpg , public domain.