Will I show up to confession?

Homily

2nd Sunday of Easter

Divine Mercy Sunday

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village

27 April 2025

AMDG

Will I show up to confession?

I know, I know.  Lent is over. The penitential season of Lent has passed over into the graces of Easter, through which we rise with Christ to newness of life.  Still, if we are paying attention , we will notice that the best confessions are not Lenten ones, but Easter ones.

It is the Risen Christ who appears to the scared apostles who is eager to forgive.  The Risen Christ of Easter comes not for revenge, but to show the greatness of the Divine Mercy.  Peace be with you!  I come not for revenge, but for forgiveness.  Then He breathes on them and asks them to be instruments of this divine mercy.  This all happens not during Lent, but in the new days of Easter!

Then we have Thomas' confession. You might notice that he forgets to confess missing Mass on the first day of the Lord's resurrection.  But he doesn't make the same mistake twice.  He shows up on the 8th day of recreation, and confesses that he's scared, and he has doubts.  So do I, Thomas!  Thanks for being my hero and for confessing on my behalf.  I'm not from Missouri, but I'm a show-me kind of guy.  I know believing is seeing, not seeing is believing, but I'm just to scared to believe.  Lord, help my unbelief.

Thomas' Easter confession is received within the embrace of divine mercy.  If you don't trust that there is a love stronger than death, then feel for yourself.  I feel so blessed that Pope Francis, the icon of the Risen Christ, fought like hell to let us see one last time that there is a love stronger than death, as he went through the square on Easter Monday.  Pope John Paul did the same exactly 20 years ago, as he appeared at the window overlooking the square, even though he was completely paralyzed and unable to talk, so that we could see his wounds and feel them, and sense his trust in the divine mercy that begets eternal life.  

What heroes are in our midst, who allow me to place my doubts in a love stronger than death within the wounds of Christ as manifested in his beloved disciples and in his vicars the Holy Fathers of our faith.

I have only to move myself behind the closed door of the confessional, and beg for the mercy to heal my doubts, to confess like Thomas eventually did, so that I can proclaim, even at the cost of my own life, the truth of the Resurrection!