Christ the Cornerstone

Open your heart to Christ’s invitation of love

The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the Lord has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it. (Ps 118:22-24)

The Second Sunday of Easter is known as Divine Mercy Sunday. On this day, we continue our celebration of Easter joy by recalling how completely God showers us with his love and forgiveness.

The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was the supreme act of mercy by God the Father who sent his only Son to redeem us from our sins.

Jesus is the face of mercy. He is love Incarnate, and his whole life was intended to demonstrate how much God loves and forgives us. While dying on the cross, he forgave us. As he rose from the dead, he liberated us. And even now, while he sits at his Father’s right hand in heaven, he sends his Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with God’s abundant mercy.

We are free to refuse God’s forgiveness. We can say no to the invitation to repent, confess our sins, and accept the merciful love that is offered to us in Christ.

Our Lord never forces us to do anything. He invites, encourages and even pleads with us to turn to him with open hearts. He gives us his grace to assist us, and he points to our Mother Mary and all the saints who intercede for us and show us the way. But, in the end, it’s up to us.

Too often, we have a hard time believing that God’s forgiveness is real—or that it can apply to us. Like

St. Thomas in Sunday’s Gospel reading, we demand proof: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail-marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (Jn 20:25).

And yet, despite our unbelief, our Lord does not hesitate to show us his wounds and to reassure us that his love and mercy are ours for the asking:

Then [Jesus] 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” (Jn 20:27-30).

Jesus wants nothing more than to receive from us a profession of faith that acknowledges God’s mercy. When we allow him to liberate us from our slavery to sin and heal us from the spiritual blindness that refuses his forgiveness, he blesses us and makes us holy.

As the psalmist prays in the Responsorial Psalm for the Second Sunday of Easter:

I was hard pressed and was falling, but the Lord helped me. My strength and my courage is the Lord, and he has been my savior. The joyful shout of victory in the tents of the just. (Ps 118:13-15)

When we fall into the disobedience of sin, the Lord helps us. He is present always, and his mercy is always available to us. We simply need to pray: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” As often as we say this prayer, the answer is always the same (even if we don’t hear or understand it). When we seek God’s mercy, he says to us: “Your sins are forgiven. Go, and sin no more.”

The sacrament of reconciliation (penance) is the concrete, tangible way that we can experience God’s love and mercy. When we confess our sins, promise to sin no more, make a sincere act of contrition, and do penance, we are assured that God’s love and mercy are with us.

This great sacrament is God’s instrument of healing and of joy. When we let go of the burdens of daily life, and allow God’s grace to change us, we will experience a foretaste of heavenly glory. Like St. Thomas, our doubts about Jesus will evaporate, and we will know with all the certainty of faith that we are forgiven.

Christ is the cornerstone, the foundation for everything that we say and do in life. Divine Mercy Sunday flows directly from the humility and the liberating love that Jesus showed when he came down from heaven to live, die and rise again for us.

As we continue our celebration of the Easter season, let’s allow our God to show us his love and forgiveness. And let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us sinners. †