Since their Baptism on Holy Saturday these converts wore white robes. Now in their everyday dress they must go out as witnesses that “Christ is the Truth” (Epistle).
God the “Father” bore “witness” to this at Christ’s Baptism by “water.” God the “Word” became our “Blood” witness on the Cross. God the “Spirit” gave witness when by Him Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary. Yes, this is the triple “testimony of God” which we, too, must witness unto others—that “Jesus is God” (Epistle). To the “doubting Thomases” of all future ages, Jesus gave a new proof of His Divinity in today’s Gospel, “written that you may believe...and that believing you may have life.”
Mercy Sunday
This Sunday is Mercy Sunday. Our Lord appeared to Sr. (now Saint) Faustina in 1935 and asked that the Chaplet of Mercy be said in reparation for sin and to achieve the conversion of the hardest hearted sinner.
One can use ordinary Rosary beads as the chaplet. Begin with the Our Father, Hail Mary and Apostles Creed. Say the prayer, “Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Body and Blood and Soul and Divinity of Thy dearly beloved Son in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.” On the ten small beads of each decade say, “For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” The chaplet in concluded with, “Holy god, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world,” which is said 3 times.
By our sincere efforts sinners who would otherwise go to hell for all eternity can be converted because they have somebody to pray for them. God wishes to be merciful but apparently seeks some effort from ourselves.
Jesus' words to Sister Faustina:
When you go to Confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flow down upon your soul and ennoble it. Every time you go to Confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden in the priest, but I Myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns away from them to humble souls.