Today is April 27, Divine Mercy Sunday.
We read at today’s Mass, “Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe'” (Jn 20:27).
Today, the Church celebrates one of the most extraordinary graces of the Easter season: Divine Mercy Sunday. It is a feast rich with meaning — born from the revelations to St. Faustina Kowalska, shaped by the suffering and witness of the 20th century and championed by Pope St. John Paul II, who died on the eve of this very feast in 2005.
In the beautiful designs of God’s providence, we celebrate today the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis — the first millennial saint. Carlo’s deep love for the Eucharist inspired him to create a digital exhibition of Eucharistic miracles, an apostolate aimed at stirring belief in the Real Presence. He once said, “He is truly present, not an invention. He’s there. And if everyone could realize that, how they would run to it … how their lives would change for the better.”
‘Our goal must be the infinite’
In this, Carlo resembles St. Thomas. Just as Thomas longed to see and touch Christ’s wounds to believe, so Carlo labored to show the reality of Christ’s love made present in the Eucharist. His website, seen by thousands around the world, is like an extended hand — inviting others to touch, to see and ultimately to believe.
Carlo once wrote, “Our goal must be the infinite, not the finite. The infinite is our homeland. Heaven has been waiting for us forever.” That’s the truth we proclaim today: Christ’s mercy has unlocked heaven’s door. In his wounds, there is healing. In his presence, there is hope.
So, today, open your hearts anew. Reach out to touch the mercy of Christ. And, like Carlo, become apostles of that mercy for others.
Let us pray,
God of everlasting mercy, who in the very recurrence of the paschal feast kindle the faith of the people you have made your own, increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed, that all may grasp and rightly understand in what font they have been washed, by whose Spirit they have been reborn, by whose Blood they have been redeemed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
