By Joannie Watson, Integrated Catholic, April 22, 2022
Joan Watson was born and raised in Lafayette, Indiana, but college and graduate school took her to Virginia, Ohio, and Rome. After graduating from Christendom College with a B.A. in History and Franciscan University with a M.A. in Theology, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee to be part of the explosion of Catholic culture in the middle of the Bible Belt. …
“We place limits on God’s mercy that he does not, whether because we want to see others receive justice or because we feel unworthy of his love.”
In the octave of Easter, the Church simultaneously celebrates the Divine Mercy novena. This wasn’t the idea of the Church, but the request of Jesus. “I desire that the First Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy” (Diary 299). He asked that the feast be preceded by a novena that would grant great graces – “By this novena, I will grant every possible grace to souls” (Diary 796). The Feast of Divine Mercy was purposely linked to Good Friday – the day we call good precisely because of the mercy poured out on us that day – and Easter.
In the midst of this novena, the readings of Mass present to us one of the greatest stories of mercy in Scripture: the life of Peter. We saw his fall during the Passion accounts; this week we see his courageous homily and witness on Pentecost. At the end of the Gospel of John, the evangelist tells us the post-resurrection story of Jesus reconfirming Peter’s mission. Take time to read the stories of Peter’s denial (Luke 22:54-62) and Jesus’ forgiveness (John 21:15-19). …