The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
Six weeks ago, on the Second Sunday of Easter, we celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday. On that day, the Gospel reading described the disciples in a locked room with their hearts gripped in fear (John 20:19-31). In the midst of those uncertain circumstances, Jesus came to them proclaiming his message of peace and trust.
The Church, in her great wisdom, repeats this Gospel reading today on Pentecost (John 20:19-23). Again, Jesus speaks peace into the depths of the disciples’ fear. Re-hearing this Gospel feels like Jesus’s two arms around me at the start and close of the Easter season, these words personally wrapping the last six weeks in his peace.
How are you feeling as we close this Easter season? Maybe you feel like Ezekiel in today’s Vigil reading, scanning in every direction to only see a vast plain of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1). Or do you distinctly resonate with Paul as he writes, “all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now” (Romans 8:22). From racism and violence to sickness and unemployment, the evidence is clear that there is brokenness in the world. There are moments when the weight of it all threatens to overwhelm and I, like the disciples, just want to lock the door and hide away.
And yet these two days, Divine Mercy Sunday and Pentecost, call us to trust in God’s mercy and embrace the peace Jesus offers.
But how do we have peace when surrounded with uncertainty?
How do we trust in God’s divine mercy amidst loss?
Paul gives us the answer in today’s Vigil reading: “The Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings” (Romans 8:26). The Holy Spirit is our answer, a promise kept by God, our trustworthy Father. Anchored by the Holy Spirit, we can have peace when the world is not peaceful. Led by the Holy Spirit, we can trust in God’s mercy in any circumstance. Only by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we can say, “Jesus is Lord” with eyes that have not seen.
Mercy. Peace. Trust. These elements of Divine Mercy Sunday are amplified by the grace of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. As we close the season of Easter and embark into Ordinary Time, may our prayer be simple and prayed as naturally as breathing:
Come Holy Spirit. Fill me with your peace.
I started praying this prayer about seven years ago, at a time when my prayer life felt dry (i.e. virtually nonexistent) and I was struggling to adjust to a new phase of life as a newlywed graduate student. I felt I had forgotten how to pray, but I could breathe – and in breathing I prayed this prayer on repeat. In…and out. Peace in...fear out. And with each breath, God was fulfilling his promise to me, Jesus was stepping into my locked room, and the Holy Spirit was taking the weights off me, one by one. Breath by breath. For once we accept the Spirit’s peace in ourselves, we can then begin the work of living it out in the world.
Kassie Manning, Ph.D. is the Operations Director and co-founder of Every Sacred Sunday. When not thinking about books, she can be found around Texas climbing tall rocks, searching for lost chapstick, or making pros/cons lists about camper trailers. Say hi here or email kassie@everysacredsunday.com.