Newsletter 2nd Sunday of Easter (Year A) 12th April, 2026

Newsletter 2nd Sunday of Easter (Year A) 12th April, 2026.pdf

Download PDF • 650KB

In the Gospel today Jesus institutes, the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession).

Jesus appears to His Apostles – after His crucifixion.

The Apostles are in a room – the doors and windows are locked – but Jesus appears in the room.

Then Jesus breathed on the Apostles.  The fact that Jesus ‘breathed’ on the Apostles is very significant.

There are only a few times recorded in the Bible, where God breathed (and Jesus, is of course, God).

The first time God breathed was when He created the world. (The first day).

The second time was when He created Adam (the first human).  For God to breathe is for God to perform one of His greatest acts.

The breath of God is called Ruah in Hebrew, meaning not only God’s Breath but God’s Life – or God Himself.

After Jesus breathed on the Apostles, He said:

“Receive the Holy Spirit, if you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven.”

From these actions of Jesus, the Apostles knew they had been given the authority or Grace to forgive sins.

This Gift has been handed down by the Apostles and to the Priests today.

When a priest is ordained, the bishop prays to God that he may receive what we call ‘the faculty to forgive sins.’

Therefore, when anyone leaves the Confession booth, we are perfectly certain that all our sins are forgiven because Christ said to the Apostles, “Those sins you forgive they are forgiven.”

However, there are two conditions:

1.       Genuine sorrow/contrition for all your sins.

2.       Firm desire not to sin again. (The Church knows that we will sin again, but we must have a strong desire not to).

How often should we go to confession?

We only need to go if our sin is mortal.

If we have venial sins, we can confess directly to God; we don’t need the Grace of the Sacrament.  However, the Church recommends we go to the Sacrament at least once a month.

Our Mother, for example, when she appeared at Fatima in 1917, asked for the First Saturday Devotion which requires monthly attendance at the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

In the Sacrament, not only is sin forgiven, but we also receive Sanctifying Grace which gives us a Grace to overcome sin and to rise to the highest virtue.

One physical healing or miracle that happened as a result of the Sacrament of Reconciliation:

At the beginning of May 2010, an Italian family from Naples arrived at Medjugorje on a pilgrimage in a state of profound distress: their five-year-old daughter was almost completely deaf since birth, and their eight-year-old son, Antonio, suffered from epilepsy. His seizures were several times a week.  The next day the father, Vittorio, shared the grievous situation with the group leader.  The leader simply said: “Go to confession!”  Vittorio had been living a life of sin and had not been to confession for many years.  Vittorio decided to go and make a good confession.  To the astonishment of everyone, following confession, his son Antonio (who knew nothing about that confession) stopped his convulsions right away.  Since then, he hasn’t had a single one!  As for his 5-year-old sister, she began to talk, speaking intelligent words for the first time.

This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday.  Today, the 2nd Sunday of Easter is called ‘Divine Mercy Sunday.’

In 1938 a Polish nun died; her name was St Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament (She was canonized in the year 2000).  She received many revelations or messages from Jesus about His greatest attribute, divine mercy.  She records everything in a diary (‘Divine Mercy in My Soul’).  This book is recommended for anyone who wants to grow in holiness.

In all, there were 14 revelations concerning the desired feast in St Faustina’s Diary.  The most comprehensive revelation can be found in diary entry 699: “My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy.  I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, especially for poor sinners.  On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open.  I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy.  The soul that will go to confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of the sins and punishments.

Let no soul fear to draw near to Me even though its sins are scarlet.

The feast of mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness.  It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter.”

Pope St John Paul II commenting on the revelations to St Faustina wrote:

“It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church will be called Divine Mercy Sunday.”

Confession our sin is forgiven but the effects of the sin (the damage caused by the sin) still need to be paid for.

Every sin has negative effects on all creation, like the sin of the Fall.  The person who causes the negative effect has to pay for the damage. 

If we don’t pay for the damage in this life, we may need to pay for it in the next life – purgatory.  We pay for the damage by living a life of virtue and a life of penance, As Our Lord taught us by His life.

On this day, the temporal punishment, purgatory, is remitted or removed.

In order to receive the indulgence, two conditions have to be fulfilled:

Condition 1: “Be in a state of Grace”.  In other words, have no unconfessed mortal sins.  It is recommended that we go to confession within a month before Divine Mercy Sunday because we have to be in a state of Grace when we receive Holy Communion.

Condition 2: Receive Holy Communion on the day of the feast (Sunday) or at the Saturday vigil.

St John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, just after receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Holy Communion at the Saturday Vigil Mass of Divine Mercy Sunday.  Therefore, he would have gone straight to heaven.