Blood and Water, Baptism and Eucharist

Homily of H.E., Most Rev. Charles John Brown, D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines

April 12, 2026 | Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)

National Shrine and Parish of the Divine Mercy, Marilao, Bulacan

“O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in you!”

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

For me, as your Apostolic Nuncio, it gives me a lot of Easter joy to be with you on this Divine Mercy Sunday, here at the National Shrine and Parish of the Divine Mercy in Marilao, Bulacan, in the Diocese of Malolos. I greet in a very special way your beloved Bishop, His Excellency, the Most Rev. Dennis C. Villarojo, Bishop of Malolos. I greet also His Excellency, the Most Rev. Gilbert A. Garcera, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), and Archbishop of Lipa; His Excellency, the Most Rev. Deogracias S. Iñiguez, Jr., Bishop-Emeritus of Kalookan; the Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Romulo M. Perez; the Rector, Rev. Fr. Alvin P. Pila; the Hermana Mayor, Sis. Divine Mangahas and her family; all of you devotees of Divine Mercy gathered here on this beautiful day, this Divine Mercy Sunday—a day of extraordinary grace and blessing for each and every one of us, to be here in this holy place, praying, adoring God for the Gift of Jesus:

It was back in the year 2000 that Pope and now Saint John Paul II canonized Saint Faustina Kowalska, and he declared, back in the year 2000 that the Second Sunday of Easter, this Sunday, would be Divine Mercy Sunday. He, of course, John Paul II, left this earth on the vigil, the day before Divine Mercy, Sunday, 21 years ago in 2005. So, today is a day filled with spiritual significance for all of us.

We think of those words, [of] that prayer, “O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in you!”

Our Gospel (John 20:19-31) this afternoon, focuses our attention on the wounds of Jesus, on His hands and His side, especially for us as devotees of Divine Mercy, we look at the side of Jesus; and we see how Thomas, who was filled with doubt, who didn't believe that Jesus had really risen from the dead. Then comes, touches the wounds of Jesus, in the hands of Jesus, the side of Jesus, and then comes to believe; and says, “My Lord and my God!”

This idea of the side of Jesus. It's at the origin, the holy side of Jesus, of the devotion to Divine Mercy. We see above the altar, in this beautiful image of Divine Mercy, this image that first appeared to Saint Faustina on the 22nd of February 1931, in Płock, Poland, where she saw this image of the side of Jesus. The Heart of Jesus opened, and the rays of red and white coming from the side, from the heart of the Lord. That image that she saw miraculously in 1931 was then painted in 1934 in Vilnius, which is now part of Lithuania. It forms the origin, really, of our devotion to the Divine Mercy,  the open side of Jesus. “O Blood and Water, coming from the side of Jesus, in the heart of Jesus, I trust in You.”

Blood and Water, Baptism and Eucharist

When we look at the side of Jesus and we contemplate the rays that are red and white, we see an image of the Sacraments of the Church. We see in the white an image of water, an image of baptism, a symbol of baptism. That brothers and sisters, is how God's mercy first arrives at us, when we are little babies and are baptized. We are baptized into the heart of Jesus. Those white rays symbolize the waters of baptism. The red symbolizes the blood—the blood, which is the Eucharist. So, we see water, Baptism, blood, and Eucharist.

Then we begin to remember what we celebrated on Good Friday. All of us, hopefully, were at church at Good Friday, listening to the Gospel of Saint John. We heard how the Roman soldier came to the crucified body of Jesus, and thrust a spear, we can say, a lance, into the heart of Jesus, and came out blood and water (John 19:34), the red and the white.

That's the origin of the Sacraments of the Church; where we see even a deeper mystery when we look at the side of Jesus, not only do we see the merciful sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. (Let me just say in parentheses to everyone, remember to baptize Your babies. It's so important. Everyone needs to be baptized to receive supernatural life. I see many babies here present. If they're not baptized already, have them baptized as soon as possible.) Baptism is the origin of the sacramental life. The Eucharist is the fulfillment of that life in us. 

Good Friday and First Friday

We see this amazing correspondence between Jesus on the Cross: His side opened with the sword or the lance of the soldier, the blood and water coming out on that Good Friday. If we are attentive, we think about another Friday, the first Friday. If you went to Mass, also on the Easter Vigil, you heard the account of the creation of the universe (Genesis 1:1—2:2). How God first said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. If you were paying attention, you heard that on the sixth day, God created the human race, man and woman: Adam and Eve on the sixth day. What is the sixth day? It's Friday. Friday is the sixth day. Saturday is the seventh day. Sunday is the first day.

So, on the first Friday, in the Garden of Eden, the first Adam, our father, by human nature, fell into a deep sleep. From his side, right? Was taken from his rib, the first woman, Eve, our mother, according to human nature. All of us are descended from Adam and Eve.

I can say, also in parentheses, that that's not only a theological doctrinal truth, it's even a scientific truth. You ask scientists, we are all descended from one woman. They don't call her Eve, they have other words for her, but we're all descended from one woman, Eve, taken from the side of the first father, Adam.

Then we go to the second Friday, Good Friday, and we see the new Adam on the Cross, asleep in death, His side is opened, blood and water come out. The sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. Together, that represents the Church.

So, we see an amazing correspondence on the first Friday: Eve comes from the side of Adam, our mother, according to our human nature. On the second Friday, Good Friday, which we just celebrated a week ago, the new Eve comes from the side of the new Adam. Who is the new Eve? She is the Church. The Church is the bride of Christ; and all of us who are baptized are children, we can say, of Eve, but also children of the spouse of Jesus, children of the Church, sons and daughters of the Church. We are born again in the Church.

In fact, the baptismal font, the font, the baptismal basin in which we're baptized, is oftentimes described as “the womb of the Church”, giving birth to us spiritually. So, we are alive in the Church, she is our mother, our Holy Mother, the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church. She has given birth to us on the Cross. We are born with her from the side of Jesus, the new Adam.

So, we have that amazing correspondence: nature—all of us have human nature, but also grace, the life of grace, which is in us because of the Sacraments, which changes us, which enlightens us, which gives us joy, which makes us go through this world into the life of the world to come. So, we have this amazing correspondence: the mystery of life. Eve, our mother according to human nature, the Church our mother according to grace.

On the Facebook page of the shrine here, this morning, they put a beautiful prayer, which I saw as I was preparing myself this morning for Mass. It says this, and it kind of sums up everything that I'm trying to communicate to you this afternoon. It says this, and I encourage you to look at the Facebook page of the Divine Mercy Shrine here in Marilao, and read this prayer. Here's the way it goes.

God of mercy, you wash away our sins in water, you give us new birth in the Spirit, and redeem us in the blood of Christ. As we celebrate Christ's resurrection, increase our awareness of these blessings, and renew your gift of life within us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

That's what I want us to do this afternoon, to celebrate Christ's resurrection on this Second Sunday of Easter, and to increase our awareness, our understanding of these blessings. So that the life of God in us will be renewed. It will be flourishing in us. It will be filling us with joy, with happiness, with Easter rejoicing.

So, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, for me, as a representative of Pope Leo XIV, our beloved Holy Father in Rome, I greet each and every one of you on this Divine Mercy Sunday. I am sure that this is a moment of grace and blessing for all of you. Grace and blessing, because you've come here today for this Holy Mass. We receive Holy Communion, which is symbolized by the red rays coming from the side of Jesus, the open side of Jesus. I ask you, as you receive Holy Communion today, pray for Pope Leo, our beloved Holy Father in Rome. Pray for his intentions. Pray for your bishop. Pray for the Church.

May God bless each and every one of you. Happy Easter and Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

Transcribed by Joel V. Ocampo

Photos by DZRV 846