Earlier today, Bishop Dennis Sullivan offered a special Divine Mercy Sunday message to the Hispanic community of South Jersey:
Below is the English translation:
My sisters and brothers, I am delighted to have this opportunity to communicate with you. I thank, Andres Arango, the director of our Office of Evangelization for helping to organize this communication with our Latino family in the diocese of Camden. Please, continue to watch Walking to Pentecost which Andres produces. It will help you through this Easter Season which ends with the Solemnity of Pentecost when the Spirit of God fell upon the Apostles of Jesus and turned them into missionary disciples of Christ. We are those disciples now who by example and words teach and preach our Catholic faith.
In the past weeks, especially in Holy Week, you have been very much in my heart and in my prayers. I want to thank Andres for communicating with you via social media and your pastors who are doing the same. This technology is a gift from God.
I am aware of the difficulties you are dealing with as we suffer the effects of this crisis…..family or friends who may have the virus; isolation from the community; school age children at home learning and studying by video conferencing; loss of employment; less income; food insecurity; worries about the future and not able to go to church on Sunday, or participate in Bible study and small groups. These realities and many more weigh heavily on your hearts.
It is important for me as your pastor to say that God is not far or distant from us. God listens to your pleas; is aware of your suffering; is accompanying you through this difficult period. We have just celebrated Holy Week, the Paschal Mystery, Jesus’ death and resurrection. Christ entered into the bitterness of the human experience in His Passion and Death on the Cross. He passed through it and was raised to life. His dying and rising is the pattern for our dying and rising. There is lots of dying as a consequence of the disaster of this virus but we will rise from it. Through cooperating with what government officials are asking us to do, we see that the numbers of those who have the virus or have died from it are beginning to flatten out. There will be a resurrection from this virus for all of us.
This Sunday is the second Sunday in Easter, also known as Divine Mercy Sunday. Many of you daily offer he Divine Mercy Prayer at the hour of Mercy, 3 PM. Saint Faustina, a nun from Poland, was the recipient of these revelations from the Lord about the mercy of God.
That mercy was poured out on the Cross of the Lord. Poured into us through the Sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist and Penance. The very colorful image of the Divine Mercy with rays emanating from Jesus and from His heart; these rays of grace reach into us. Through the Sacraments the Lord purifies us. He gives us life. Christ’s very life. May we gratefully receive His mercy and share His mercy with others, so that through us He may heal all who have wounded hearts.
On this Second Sunday in Easter we hear the Gospel story about the encounter between the Risen Jesus and Thomas, one of His disciples, who was not present when the Risen Lord appeared to His followers. Thomas does not believe what they tell him. This time when the Risen Lord appears Thomas is present and the Lord invites Thomas to touch His wounds. In this way Thomas can know and believe that Jesus rose from the dead. The Risen Jesus is the same Jesus who was nailed to the Cross. “Touch me” He says to Thomas who puts his fingers in the wounds and then utters his prayer of belief, “My Lord and my God.”
We touch the Lord by faith. His wounds are glorious wounds. Glorious because they achieved for us salvation. Glorious because they have stayed with the Risen Lord in the glory of His resurrection. The Christ who suffered on the Cross is the Christ who is risen from the dead. His wounds can heal us as we endure the suffering that has resulted from this virus.
In the Letter to the Hebrews chapter 6, verse 19, we read the following “Here we have an anchor for our soul.” The early Christians adopted the image of the anchor to refer to Christ. The anchor steadies the boat in the waters. However, when the waters are turbulent the boat rocks. Christ is our anchor. He steadies us while we rock through the turbulence we experience in our own lives, such as now with this corona virus. Jesus keeps us safe and holds us in God’s love. Let us hold on to Him as we pass through these rough times. He is our Hope. “Christ, my Hope is risen.” is an acclamation found in an ancient Paschal hymn.
He is your hope, sisters and brothers. Let us pray together the Divine Mercy Prayer to Christ, our Hope. Let us keep the faith and encourage our children and families to do likewise. We will soon be together again and form our communities of faith in our parishes. Let us pray for each other and remember all those who are the victims of this terrible virus, especially the sick and those who have died.
Once again, I wish to thank you for being with me. Know that I love each of you very much and am encouraged in my faith by the example of your faith. May God bless each of you.