April 12, 2026
2nd Sunday
Easter
FOCUS: My Lord and my God!
In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II designated the Second Sunday of Easter as the Sunday of Divine Mercy. As we continue to celebrate and give thanks for the Resurrection, we acknowledge that we need the risen Christ; we need his healing and his steadfast mercy.
What's in Your Heart
Joy, hope, and doubt are all part of each person's journey of faith.
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What have been my deepest joys, my greatest moments of hope, my times of greatest doubt? When I gather with my worshipping community, do I sense that all these emotions are present and, in fact, vital to a healthy faith community?
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Who inspires awe in me? Do I pass on a sense of awe to others?
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In what one constructive way could I be a sign of God's peace or offer a sign of peace to others today?
Homily Stories
In The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton’s classic memoir, the writer monk describes his first visit, in April of 1941, to the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky for a retreat.
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Arriving at night, his cab driver knew the drill: Quietly scratch a window and wait for the brother on duty to open the door. Once in, this brother asked Merton, “Have you come here to stay?”
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“Oh, no!” Merton replied. “Oh, no!”
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Following the retreat, Merton returned to his teaching job in New York.
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Eight months later, when Merton came back, on this occasion for good, the same brother greeted him at the door. “He recognized me,” writes Merton, “glanced at the suitcase and said: ‘This time have you come to stay?’
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“‘Yes, Brother, if you’ll pray for me,’ I said.
“Brother nodded, and raised his hand to close the window. ‘That’s what I’ve been doing,’ he said.”
Believing without seeing comes with faithful practice.
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First Reading
Second Reading
Gospel
Quotes
The man of faith who has never experienced doubt is not a man of faith.
—Thomas Merton
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There is nothing that man needs more than Divine Mercy—that love which is benevolent, which is compassionate, which raises man above his weakness to the infinite heights of the holiness of God.
—Saint John Paul II