1 Pt 1: 3-9
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
God’s great mercy offers hope
As we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, in a world brought to a standstill by a powerful pandemic, we are called to remember God’s great mercy that “has given us a new birth into a living hope…imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith.”
Words of hope in the early Church, in the midst of very real threats to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Words reminding us today that God’s “great mercy” is not only in a miraculous protection from the threats of disease or economic collapse, but in a living hope that is imperishable and undefiled, in a new birth into the Body of Christ, crucified and risen.
“Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy.”
—Fr. Christopher J. Viscardi, SJ, is a Jesuit of the Central and Southern Province teaching theology at Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL.
Prayer
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my entire will. All that I have and possess, I have from you. All to you I now return. Dispose of me wholly according to your will. Give me only your love and your grace and I will be rich and ask for nothing more.
—Suscipe prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola