April 12, 2026 Homily: Fr. Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03Last Sunday was Easter and I asked you a
2. 0:06question that required honesty.
3. 0:10Today I'm going to ask you one that
4. 0:12requires courage.
5. 0:15Because if you answer it truthfully,
6. 0:18it might change everything.
7. 0:21Here it is.
8. 0:23What is the one part of your life you
9. 0:26hope stays hidden forever?
10. 0:29That thing you hope that nobody ever
11. 0:32finds out about.
12. 0:35That moment,
13. 0:36that decision, that relationship, that
14. 0:40failure, that huge mistake.
15. 0:44That thing that it if it ever came to
16. 0:46light, you might think it would change
17. 0:49the way people see you.
18. 0:52Now, I want you to hold on to that.
19. 0:56Because that's exactly where the gospel
20. 0:58brings us today.
21. 1:01The disciples are locked in a room
22. 1:04for fear of the authorities
23. 1:07that at any moment that could come and
24. 1:09arrest them.
25. 1:12The doors are shut,
26. 1:14windows closed,
27. 1:16not because they're tired, again,
28. 1:18because they are afraid.
29. 1:21They're ashamed,
30. 1:23confused,
31. 1:25still carrying the weight of what they
32. 1:27did.
33. 1:29They ran.
34. 1:31They abandoned him.
35. 1:33Peter denied him.
36. 1:35And now they're in hiding.
37. 1:38And here's the moment that changes
38. 1:40everything.
39. 1:42Jesus comes anyway.
40. 1:45He doesn't wait for them to get their
41. 1:47act together. He doesn't wait for them
42. 1:49to fix themselves. He doesn't wait for
43. 1:52them to come looking for him.
44. 1:55He walks through a locked door.
45. 1:59And what are his first words?
46. 2:02Not where were you?
47. 2:05Not how could you do this to me?
48. 2:10How could you leave me alone?
49. 2:13He says, "Peace be with you."
50. 2:18That's what divine mercy is all about.
51. 2:23Not that God ignores your sins,
52. 2:27but he walks straight into it.
53. 2:30And refuses to leave you in those sins.
54. 2:36And then he does something even more
55. 2:37shocking.
56. 2:40He shows them his wounds.
57. 2:42The very wounds they they caused.
58. 2:47And he doesn't hide them.
59. 2:49He doesn't erase them. He brings them
60. 2:51forward.
61. 2:55But listen carefully, your wounds do not
62. 2:57disqualify you from God.
63. 3:02They are the very place where God wants
64. 3:04to meet you.
65. 3:07Some of you here today come to mass out
66. 3:10of habit.
67. 3:12Some of you because it's the Easter
68. 3:14season.
69. 3:16And perhaps some of you came because
70. 3:18someone invited you.
71. 3:22But some of you came carrying something.
72. 3:26And you know exactly what that something
73. 3:28is.
74. 3:31That thing you told yourself, "Oh, I'll
75. 3:33I'll deal with it later.
76. 3:36I've gone too far.
77. 3:39God doesn't want anything to do with
78. 3:41me."
79. 3:43Divine Mercy Sunday says that's a lie.
80. 3:47Don't fall into that lie.
81. 3:52Jesus told Saint Faustina Kowalska,
82. 3:56"The greater the sinner, the greater the
83. 3:58right he has to my mercy."
84. 4:02Understand this.
85. 4:05In God's world, the worst sinners are
86. 4:08first in line.
87. 4:12Now, I don't want you to think that
88. 4:13mercy is
89. 4:15pretending sin doesn't matter.
90. 4:18No, mercy is not saying, "It's fine.
91. 4:20Don't worry about it."
92. 4:23Mercy looks at sin honestly.
93. 4:27And then says,
94. 4:29"I love you too much to leave you in
95. 4:32that sin."
96. 4:35And that's why Jesus does something very
97. 4:38concrete in the gospel.
98. 4:41He breathes on them.
99. 4:44And then says, "Whose sins you forgive
100. 4:47are forgiven."
101. 4:50He gives them the power to forgive sins.
102. 4:53Why?
103. 4:55Well, because he knew we wouldn't just
104. 4:58need inspiration.
105. 5:02We would need a real encounter with his
106. 5:04mercy.
107. 5:06Not in our imaginations, not in a nice
108. 5:09story, not in some vague feeling,
109. 5:14but a real sacrament.
110. 5:17Where Christ becomes present.
111. 5:20Where you hear the words spoken through
112. 5:23his church that says, "I absolve you of
113. 5:26your sins."
114. 5:29That's the sacrament of confession.
115. 5:32That's divine mercy made visible and
116. 5:35concrete.
117. 5:38But here's the part nobody wants to talk
118. 5:40about.
119. 5:42We love the idea of mercy.
120. 5:44"Jesus, give me all the mercy you got."
121. 5:48We just don't like to step the step it
122. 5:51requires.
123. 5:53Yes, mercy is free, available to all,
124. 5:57but it's not automatic.
125. 6:00There's one condition.
126. 6:02And it's a simple condition.
127. 6:05It's a hard condition.
128. 6:07That condition is trust.
129. 6:11Not understanding everything.
130. 6:14Not fix everything. Not clean everything
131. 6:17up. Trust.
132. 6:20Those five words, "Jesus, I trust in
133. 6:24you."
134. 6:26We have to really put it in our minds
135. 6:30that that is the bridge. That is the
136. 6:33door that opens up. That's the moment
137. 6:36where everything changes. Because if you
138. 6:39can sit in that locked room your whole
139. 6:42life,
140. 6:43or you can let him in.
141. 6:47Because the reality is that some are
142. 6:49still living behind locked doors.
143. 6:52They go about their business, go about
144. 6:54their daily day, but that door is
145. 6:57locked.
146. 6:59Doors of shame, doors of resentment,
147. 7:03doors of fear.
148. 7:06And you convince yourself, "Well, this
149. 7:08is just who I am.
150. 7:10These are the mistakes that I've made."
151. 7:14No.
152. 7:17That's not who you became.
153. 7:20That's not who you are.
154. 7:22Because the resurrection didn't just
155. 7:24open a tomb, it opened your future.
156. 7:29And it opened the future in the here and
157. 7:30now, in this very moment. Not next week,
158. 7:33not next Sunday, right now.
159. 7:39So, the question is, what door are you
160. 7:41keeping locked?
161. 7:43And are you finally ready to let him
162. 7:46walk through it?
163. 7:48Because he will come.
164. 7:51Not with anger.
165. 7:52Not with disappointment, but with the
166. 7:54exact same words, "Peace be with you."
167. 8:00And if you let him in, not halfway, not
168. 8:02on your terms trying to control
169. 8:04everything, but if you let him in with
170. 8:06honesty,
171. 8:08something in your life will begin to
172. 8:10change.
173. 8:12Not all at once,
174. 8:14but for real.
175. 8:16And it won't just stay inside of you, it
176. 8:19will begin to show.
177. 8:22In the way you speak.
178. 8:25In the way you respond.
179. 8:27In the way you carry yourself.
180. 8:31People will begin to notice that
181. 8:33something is different.
182. 8:36A patience that wasn't there before.
183. 8:39A kindness that doesn't make sense.
184. 8:43A generosity that goes beyond what's
185. 8:45expected.
186. 8:47A way of living that says, "This person
187. 8:50has encountered Christ."
188. 8:53"I want to know that Jesus.
189. 8:56How is it that you have this Jesus? I
190. 8:58want that."
191. 9:01Not just believing in Jesus, but living
192. 9:03in such a way that others can see that
193. 9:05he lives inside of you.
194. 9:10So, don't leave here untouched.
195. 9:13Don't go back to your Monday routine
196. 9:17being ugly and miserable and and talking
197. 9:21in place with people about things that
198. 9:24really should not take place.
199. 9:27Reacting and
200. 9:29behaving in ways that disappoint the
201. 9:31Lord.
202. 9:34Don't walk out the same way you walked
203. 9:36in today.
204. 9:38Let this moment of mercy really truly
205. 9:40change you.
206. 9:44Because the thing you thought
207. 9:46needs to stay hidden
208. 9:48is the exact place where his mercy wants
209. 9:52to find you.
210. 9:54Amen.