Pastor's Column 4-24-2022
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April 24, 2022Dear Parishioners,
The joy of Christ’s resurrection continues this weekend. For the past week the Church throughout the world continued to celebrate Easter. The great news of Christ’s triumph over sin and death cannot be contained to a single day. So this past week the prayers and readings at Mass and in the Liturgy of the Hours all focused on the empty tomb and the encounter with the Risen Christ.
Once again, I would like to offer a word of thanks to everyone involved in the preparation for Holy Week and Easter Sunday. A lot of work happens behind the scenes enabling us to worship our Lord with beautiful decorations, uplifting singing, the practical needs of welcoming parishioners, proclaiming the readings, distributing Holy Communion, and so much more. As my first celebration of Holy Week as pastor I found last week particularly moving. The words of encouragement I have received have certainly been much appreciated. Seeing our parish church so well attended for the liturgies was another heartening and encouraging part of this Easter.
This weekend we celebrate “Divine Mercy Sunday.” St. John Paul II declared the second Sunday of Easter “Divine Mercy Sunday.” It originates in the apparitions of our Lord to a Polish nun St. Faustina who died in 1938. Faustina had been gifted with extraordinary visions of the Lord Jesus. One of the most extraordinary is the Lord revealing his sacred heart with rays of white and red light. She interpreted these rays as the radiating forth of divine mercy. White symbolized baptism and red the blood of the Eucharist. Behind this vision lies the Gospel of St. John:
But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness — his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth — that you also may believe.
The blood and water flowing from the side of Christ is the background for the Divine Mercy image seen by St. Faustina. This “river” that flows out from the side of Christ harkens back to the Old Testament prophecies. Around 600BC, in a vision the prophet Ezekiel foresaw a river flowing from a New Temple. This river would bring life to all the creatures of the earth. Prior to its destruction in AD70, the Temple in Jerusalem would have blood and water flowing out through a duct system during festival seasons. At that time, huge numbers of animals were sacrificed as sin offerings to God by the priests.
Our pierced Lord on the Cross is a sign of the fulfillment of that promise. In the Gospel Christ identifies himself as the New Temple from whom the river of life will flow. When the soldier pierces his side with a lance, and blood and water flow forth, this scene fulfills the prophecy of Ezekiel and Christ’s identity as the New Temple. The animal sacrifices of the past, which could not adequately reconcile God with humanity, are fulfilled in the perfect sacrifice of Christ. From his side comes the river of mercy.
The flow from the side of Christ also points to a deeper reality. The true “river of life” which flows from Him is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to us through the Sacraments. Hence, the symbolism of the Divine Mercy Image and the piercing in the Gospel point to the Sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist (as well as the Sacrament of Confession should a person commit mortal sin after receiving Baptism). The sacraments, then, are efficacious signs of God’s mercy. If you want to receive the Divine Mercy, you receive the Sacraments.
In a bit of practical news: We are in the process of submitting our parish’s Rice Bowl Contributions. Those contributions go to help the poor and needy throughout the world. Thank you to everyone who donated. If you still have a Rice Bowl, you can bring them to the sacristy before or after Mass.
In the Risen Christ!
Fr. Barrow
