Fr. Jorge Miró shares with Exaudi readers his commentary on the Gospel of this Sunday, April 27, 2025, entitled “Christ is Risen! Alleluia!”

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The Word that the Lord gives us today is breathtaking. In the Gospel, we see how the Risen Jesus Christ appears to the gathered disciples and shows them his hands and his side—the signs of the crucifixion. Jesus shows them that he is alive and that the cross has been transfigured: fruitful and glorious.

God heals our wounds with mercy. In these wounds, we experience that God loves us to the extreme, that he has made our wounds his own, that he has carried our weaknesses in his body. The wounds are channels opened between him and us, pouring out mercy on our misery, says Pope Francis.

We see Thomas—as we often do—full of doubt and distrust, ending with the confession of faith: My Lord and my God!

In the second reading, we contemplated Saint John, exiled on the island of Patmos for being faithful to the Lord: because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

Jesus appears glorious: I am the First and the Last, the Living One; I was dead, but behold, I am alive forever and ever. The Church is in his hand: He protects and governs her. He does not want to inspire fear, but trust: Do not be afraid… I have the keys of death and the abyss.

The risen Jesus Christ lives in the Church. She receives peace from the Lord, the gift of God, the fruit of Jesus Christ’s victory over sin and death. She receives from the Lord the mission: As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. Likewise, she receives the power and the commission from Jesus to forgive sins. Receive from the Lord the Holy Spirit, who is the great gift.

We are called to be Christians in the Church. And not in the Church of your dreams, but in the real, holy, and sinful community to which the Lord has called you. And why? Because this is what God wanted, who did not create you for solitude, but for relationship, communion, and self-giving.

Christ wanted his disciples to form the People of God; he wanted us to live in community. And this People of God, this community, is the Church.

The Church grows with water and blood: living the richness of Baptism and nourished by the Eucharist. She grows by trusting in the Lord.

The Church grows by welcoming God’s love and proclaiming his mercy: to those whose sins you forgive...

The Church grows in mission, open to the Spirit and allowing herself to be led by Him.

Today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast instituted by Saint John Paul II. This feast invites us to live the first and most important truth of Faith: God loves you, and He will never stop loving you.

He created you out of love and to love, and He created you to live with Him forever. To live by Faith is to live life as a love story with the Lord. Enjoy it!

Happy Sunday! Happy Eucharist!