What is the role of the parish priest on Divine Mercy Sunday?
A.The essential celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday consists in the celebration of the liturgy of the Second Sunday of Easter under its proper (now official) title, according to the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments: namely, “Divine Mercy Sunday.” During the Mass, the homily should focus on the scriptural readings of the day. The readings focus on “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy gave us a new birth” (I Pt 1:3), and on the risen Savior who breathed on His disciples and bestowed on them the gift of the Holy Spirit: “Whose sins you forgive they are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (Jn 20: 20-23). The Responsorial repeatedly calls us to praise and thank the Lord, “for His mercy endures forever” (Ps 118: 2-4).
