By Msgr. Joseph Prior • Posted May 2, 2025

(See the readings for the Third Sunday of Easter)

The photograph was sitting on the desk. Bill entered the office and sat down. He noticed the photograph right away. It was a couple. He thought this must be Steve’s wife. A few minutes later Steve entered and exchanged greetings. Bill said to Steve, “This is a beautiful photograph. Is this your wife?”

As he turned to Steve, Bill could see that Steve was getting filled up. “Yes, that’s my wife.” “Are you OK?” Bill asked. “Yes, sorry about this,” Steve answered.

“There is a story behind that photo. It was 10 years ago. You see, I had been foolish and I’m ashamed to say, unfaithful. When my wife found out, she was heartbroken. I saw in her eyes the pain and hurt I caused. I knew the damage I had done to our relationship and to our family. I immediately apologized, expressed my sorrow and begged for forgiveness.”

He continued, “I did not know what to expect. I knew I did not deserve mercy for there was no excuse for my behavior. Then to my amazement, my wife said, ‘I forgive you.’ That photograph was taken, previously scheduled, the next day. I keep it there as a reminder of how much she loves me, even though I do not deserve it, and how much I love her.”

Mercy is a profound act of love. Jesus often speaks of love and mercy. The two go hand in hand. As we continue to celebrate Easter, we remember that it was his love that led Jesus to accept the cross and offer his life so that we might be forgiven. On the cross, he prays to the Father for mercy: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

An often overlooked line in the passion, after Jesus dies, reads: “Then the veil of the Temple was torn down the middle” (Luke 23:45; cf. Mark 15:38, Matthew 27:51). The significance of this verse deals with mercy and forgiveness. The veil marked the entrance to the Holy of Holies, the most sacred inner chamber of the Temple. It was here that the ark of the covenant had been placed, the top of which is referred to as “the seat of mercy.” It was here once a year the priest would perform a ritual begging for God’s mercy. This was the only time that the veil would be opened. Now that veil is torn in two; the significance being that God’s mercy has now been definitively poured out on humanity. Through Jesus’ death in love, God’s forgiveness is offered and accessible to all and at all times.

The intertwining of love and mercy is recalled in the second part of this Sunday’s Gospel. In the interchange between Jesus and Peter we see, three times, Jesus asking Peter if he loves him: “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” The thrice asked question gives Peter the chance to profess his love and to accept Jesus’ mercy.

The thrice asked question recalls the three denials of Peter just a few days previous. The act of denial cut to the heart of Peter. Overcome with fear, he denied the Lord three times. Peter had been one of Jesus’ closest disciples and friends. Jesus acknowledged him as leader of the twelve. Peter’s earlier profession of faith in Jesus as the “the Christ, the Son of the Living God” was a powerful insight that Jesus saw as divinely revealed. When Jesus predicted Peter’s denial, Peter vigorously rebuked him.

Then there is that shaking scene in Luke’s account. Jesus was present to witness the denial. Luke tells us that, after the third denial, “the Lord turned and looked at Peter; and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times’” (Luke 22:61). The two friends’ eyes met.

Peter now faces his guilt and bears the heavy burden of sorrow and grief. He sees the pain he has caused. Jesus, now risen from the dead, gives Peter the opportunity to profess his love and to accept the mercy of Jesus, in whom love and mercy are one. The healing is complete and Jesus commissions Peter to carry on the mission, again saying three times, “Feed my lambs” and “Tend my sheep.” As the apostles go forth from Jerusalem after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we see Peter boldly proclaim Jesus.

In Sunday’s passage from Acts (the first reading) we see Peter brought before the Sanhedrin by the captain and court officers. He is questioned as to why he is still preaching about Jesus’ death and resurrection when he had been ordered by them to cease.

Peter boldly replies: “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

He professes to all that in Jesus, who died and rose from the dead, we have forgiveness of sin. We see in Peter the profound impact of Jesus’ love and mercy; a love and mercy that has to be proclaimed, shared and imitated.

The second reading from the Book of Revelation proclaims, in wonderful imagery of the heavenly court, Jesus, the lamb who was slain who now lives in glory. All creatures “in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, everything in the universe cry out: ‘To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever.’” We join our voices to this image when we sing in the responsorial psalm, “I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.” We praise Jesus for his love and mercy.

In the story above, Steve’s wife joined in that love and mercy by forgiving her unfaithful husband. That forgiveness gave him a new lease on life. The photo on his desk was a regular reminder of his wife’s gift.

Every time we look at the cross, we are reminded of God’s love and mercy that has been poured out on us. His love and mercy give us the gift of new life. Jesus’ encounter with Peter on that seashore heals the guilt he carried and leads Peter to proclaim. As we continue to celebrate his love and mercy, we pray that we too may love through mercy.

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Msgr. Joseph Prior is pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish, Penndel, and a former professor of Sacred Scripture and rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.