April 19th 2020 is Divine Mercy Sunday. On this Divine Mercy Sunday we reflect on the unfathomable mercy of God. We recall the words of St Thomas Aquinas : “Mercy consists in bringing a thing out of NON-BEING into BEING.”
We see this transpire concretely in the life of the early church. The believers devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to prayers.” They were filled with awe; they were witnesses of wondrous signs; they lived for the good of the other; they were selfless and generous; they were overflowed with exultation and sincerity of heart.
In our present situation – the COVID-19 pandemic – with hundreds of thousands died in other parts of the world, much more in Europe and US, there are lots of unsung heroes, priests, doctors, and health professionals who lived like the early Christians, offered their lives so that others may possibly live or recover from infections. These front-liners became susceptible to the tentacles of coronavirus. Many of them succumbed to death, but God “in His great mercy” gave them – and us – a “living hope” through the Resurrection of Jesus.