Do you think of yourself as a merciful person? I suspect the answer is “Yes…sometimes…it depends.” There is a very natural instinct in us when it comes to mercy – there is a part of us that wants it to be earned. We may not say it out loud, but we feel it: “I’ll forgive… if they’re truly sorry.” “I’ll show mercy… if they prove they’ve changed.” “God will forgive me… once I get my life together.” It is that inner voice that tells us mercy should wait for worthiness. But the Gospel today reveals something very different, something unsettling, and at the same time profoundly hopeful: God’s mercy does not wait for worthiness. God’s mercy creates it.

Consider the disciples in today’s Gospel. This is not a heroic group of believers, full of courage and faith. They ran away and hid. Peter denied Jesus. Except John, none of them was at the crucifixion. All of them abandoned Him. And now, after the Resurrection, they are not boldly proclaiming victory. They are doing something very human. They are locked in a room, afraid. Afraid of the authorities. Afraid of what comes next. Perhaps even afraid of Jesus Himself. Afraid of what He might say to them. And into that room, into that fear, into that failure, that is the very place where Jesus comes.

He does not knock. He does not wait for an invitation. He does not stand outside until they get their act together. He simply appears and says: “Peace be with you.” No reproach. No lecture. No conditions. This is mercy. Mercy that comes before they believe, before they are ready, before they are worthy.

And then there is Thomas, the one who is often reduced to a kind of cautionary tale: “Doubting Thomas.” But in many ways, Thomas is the most honest of all. He says what the others are thinking: “Unless I see… unless I touch… I will not believe.”  What mercy will Jesus show him? Notice what Jesus does not do. He does not say: “Come back when you’re ready to believe.” or “Prove your faith first.” or “Clear up those doubts and get onboard with the others”

A week later, Jesus comes again and offers exactly what Thomas demanded: “Put your finger here… see my hands… bring your hand and put it into my side.” Jesus meets Thomas not at the level of his faith, but at the level of his doubt. This is mercy enacted. Mercy that is not the reward for faith. Mercy that makes faith possible. And in the experience of that Diving Mercy, Thomas responds with one of the greatest confessions in all of Scripture: “My Lord and my God.” It is as though a moment of new birth. Which is exactly what we hear in the second reading from 1 Peter: “By His great mercy, He gave us a new birth…” Faith did not lead to mercy. Mercy led the way to faith and new life. Mercy comes first. Mercy initiates. Mercy creates. Mercy gives birth to something that was not there before.

What will this group of apostles and disciples do with this experience of Mercy? The first reading from Acts of the Apostles tells us: they go on to describe this amazing community of believers who are united, share everything, pray together, and live with joy and simplicity of heart. This is not the result of a group of already perfect people. This is what happens when people who have received mercy begin to live differently. They have been forgiven much and have been restored via their encounter with the Mercy of the Risen Christ – and now, their lives reflect that mercy.

What about us? First of all we need to let go of the notion that we must become worthy before we come to God. How often do we catch ourselves thinking: “I’ll go to confession when I’ve fixed this.” “I’ve got to learn more before I go back to Church” “I’ll return to God when I clear up these doubts and feel stronger in faith.”  You will wait forever if you wait for worthiness. Worthiness is not the precondition of mercy. It is the fruit of mercy. God does not say: “Change, and then I will love you.” He says: “Let me love you and that love will change you.”

And it will change the way we show mercy to others. Here are the instincts of the “old you”: to wait, to measure, and hold back. “They need to prove it first.” or “They haven’t earned forgiveness yet.” In the rebirth of the “new you” you’ll begin to offer mercy when it is needed rather than until it is deserved. You will begin to be merciful not because the other person has already changed but because mercy might be the very thing that allows them to change.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, we are invited to stand in one of two places. Either outside the room, waiting until we are ready or inside the room. Inside the room is to experience that Christ has already entered the room. Christ has already spoken peace and mercy. Christ has already shown his wounds and offered Himself. And so, the question is not whether we are worthy. The question is whether we will receive what He is already giving.

And if we do, if we dare to receive that mercy, then, like Thomas, like the apostles, like the early Church, we may find that something new is born within us:

• A faith we did not manufacture.
• A hope we did not earn.
• A love we did not create.

Because in the end, God’s mercy does not wait for us to believe. God’s mercy is what teaches us how.

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Image credit: GD Arts / iStock 1003676294, download date: April 9, 2026