2nd Sunday of Easter (Sunday of Divine Mercy)
My dear parishioners,
God is Good!!! All the time!!! And all the time!!! God is Good!!!
The apostle Peter plays a prominent role in the opening chapters of Acts. He has addressed fellow Jews on the feast of Pentecost, cured a man lame from birth, boldly proclaimed the Gospel before the high council, and, in immediately preceding this reading, pronounced judgment on the deceitful Ananias and his wife, Sapphira. In this reading Peter’s service to God is exhibited once again.
According to John’s Gospel, the resurrection of Jesus— as well as his conferring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples—occurred on Easter Sunday. The synoptic Gospels, especially Luke, spread these events out over a 50-day period. Today’s Gospel is from John, and it contains a post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to his disciples, the conferral of the Holy Spirit upon them, and a special event involving Thomas.
Fear transformed into faith. On Easter Sunday night, the disciples have barricaded themselves behind locked doors. They are afraid that what happened to Jesus will now happen to them. Suddenly, Jesus appears in their midst—in spite of the locked doors. His first words to them are a greeting of peace. However, it is only when he shows them his hands and side, verifying it is really Jesus, that their fear subsides, and they rejoice. They believe Jesus is the Risen Lord.
The commissioning with the Holy Spirit. Jesus wastes no time with small talk. He reconfirms his gift of peace and immediately commissions them to carry on the very work he has been doing. As he sends them out, he empowers them by breathing on them the Holy Spirit. This life breath of God also includes the power to forgive and retain sin, the failure to believe that Jesus is the very incarnation of God. This action of Jesus is often referred to as the “Johannine Pentecost” because this is the only place in John’s Gospel where the Spirit is conferred on the disciples, commissioning them to carry on the work of Jesus.
Thomas experiences the Risen Lord. There is a long Christian tradition that portrays Thomas as a person who doubts that Jesus has been raised from the dead. That tradition is largely misinformed. Thomas was not present at Jesus’ initial appearance to the disciples. Those disciples can affirm that Jesus is the Lord because they saw him and could thus confirm that it was really Jesus. Thomas wants the same evidential experience that the other disciples had—that is not doubt. Once Jesus appears to him and Thomas sees what the others saw, he is a pillar of faith. He does not touch Jesus at all. He sees and believes. Faith without evidence is a very rare grace.
Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Aloysius