Divine Mercy Sunday
Knights of Columbus Board
St. Mary’s Seminary Spiritual Center, Baltimore
April 11, 2026
I. Believing in Mercy
One week ago, on Easter Sunday, we renewed the promises of our Baptism. We rejected sin and the lure of evil. We rejected Satan, the father of lies. But we did not stop there. We also renewed our profession of faith: our faith in the God who created us and all that exists; our faith in God the Father who sent his Son into the world to redeem us; our faith Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who died and rose from the dead, and is now exalted at the right hand of the Father; our faith in the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier . . . and yes, our faith in the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church that continues the saving mission of the Risen Christ in every age and in every corner of the world until he returns in glory.
But if we had to sum up our faith in one word, what would it be? That word would be “mercy”. As Pope St. John Paul II taught, we always experience God’s love as mercy. With all that is within us, let us believe in God mercy, hope in it, and cherish it.
II. What Is Divine Mercy?
With faith seeking understanding, let us also reflect on what God’s mercy is. It is neither a mere judicial decree, like a presidential pardon, nor is it like a “Get Out of Jail Free” card, as if we were playing Monopoly. Because God respects our freedom and dignity, he is not content merely to cover over our sins with a decree or simply ignore them.
Indeed, the Father loved us so much that he sent us his only begotten Son. In the power of the Holy Spirit, took flesh and was born of the Virgin Mary. He preached the Good News. Healed the sick. Forgave sins. Raised the dead. At length, he was crucified for our sins. As we look upon Christ crucified, we glimpse the enormity and severity of sin, but we also glimpse the limitless depth and goodness of divine mercy. Though sinless, Jesus took upon himself our sins. He is indeed “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
“In [him] there is mercy and fullness of redemption!” (Ps 130:7).
III. Overcoming Skepticism
This is mystery we believe in. Yet, like the Apostle Thomas, we can be skeptical. We can think our sins are too great to merit God’s forgiveness. We can imagine that God tires of forgiving us, especially if we struggle with the same old sins. Or, it can happen that the merciless, angry culture we live in rubs off on us. We can absorb the “zeitgeist”, the spirit of the age, almost without realizing it.
Yet, it cannot be that way with us. The Lord loves us too much and too deeply for us to doubt the power of his mercy or to simmer in our own anger. He really has conquered sin and death and restored our humanity. What’s more, he has bestowed on the Apostles and their successors the power to forgive sins in his Name and in his Person. We show we believe in his mercy by going to Confession frequently, by laying before the Lord and the Church our sins with honesty and trust, by receiving absolution and doing penance with a humble and contrite heart. What a grace and joy to be healed of our sins in the depths of our souls by the Risen Lord in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. There we invited to find redemption and joy in Jesus’ open side, that is, in his open heart, the very abyss of God’s mercy, a heart which says: “. . . whose sins you shall forgive,” he says, “are forgiven them.” Let us not doubt his presence, power, and mercy, but like the Apostle Thomas, let us exclaim, “My Lord and my God!”
IV. Believing and Bearing Witness
But even that is not enough. It is not enough just to believe in Divine Mercy; nor is it enough simply to receive God’s mercy. If we are believers in God’s mercy and its recipients, then we must also be witnesses to God’s mercy, individually and collectively, as members of the Church, the Body of Christ, and as members and leaders of the Knights of Columbus. How do we bear witness to God’s mercy?
First by our willingness to forgive those who wrong us and offend us. Time and again the Lord Jesus linked the forgiveness of our sins to our readiness to forgive those who sin against us. Jesus wove this into the Our Father and preached a parable on our duty to forgive others from our heart. In an unforgiving world, we bear witness to Divine Mercy by our readiness to forgive and forget, even when it is difficult to do so. Isn’t this the heart and soul of our principles of fraternity and unity? A readiness to forgive wrongs that forges bonds of faith, friendship, & fraternity.
But our witness to Divine Mercy extends beyond our readiness to forgive. It also includes our readiness to engage in the works of mercy. St. Augustine taught that “mercy is heartfelt sympathy for another’s distress, impelling us to comfort him as best we can.” This means being ready to help a neighbor in need, and to do so with tenderness and generosity. Realizing how lavish God’s merciful love really is, we in turn are to share that love with a neighbor in need without expecting repayment or acclaim. Unselfish love bears witness to God’s mercy, that mercy which is, after all, a gift we neither deserve nor earn. Isn’t this the heart and soul of our principle of charity? Isn’t the spirit in which the Order protects and fosters life at all stages, helps those in distress, protects widows and orphans?
Through the prayers of Pope St. John Paul II and St. Faustina Kowalska, coupled with the prayers of our beloved founder, Blessed Michael McGivney – formed in this very chapel for the Holy Priesthood – may we, as leaders of the Knights of Columbus believe in, receive, and bear witness to God’s mercy, saying by our very lives, “Jesus, I trust in Thee!”