2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) - 6 April, 2013
Acts 5:12-16; Rev: 1:9-11, 12-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31
Emperor Napoleon was moved by a mother's plea for pardon for her soldier son.
However, the emperor said that since it was the man’s second major offense, justice
demanded death. "I do not ask for justice," implored the mother, "I plead for mercy."
"But," said the emperor, "he does not deserve mercy." "Sir," cried the mother, "it
would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for." The compassion
and clarity of the mother's logic prompted Napoleon to respond, "Well, then, I will
have mercy." The Second Sunday of the Easter season invites us to reflect on God’s
infinite love and mercy for His people, as detailed in the Bible and as lived and
taught by Jesus, and to practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The
readings for this Sunday are about mercy, trust and the forgiveness of sins. The
opening prayer addresses the Father as "God of everlasting Mercy." In the Psalm, we
repeat several times, "His mercy endures forever" (Ps 118). Besides mentioning the
word, our readings illustrate mercy in action. How does God reveal His mercy? He
does so, first and foremost, by sending His only-begotten Son to become our Savior
and Lord by his suffering, death and resurrection. Divine mercy is given to us in
the celebration of the sacraments. The first reading explains how the Risen Lord
continued to show His Divine Mercy to the sick through the healing and preaching ministry
of His Apostles in the early Church. The Apostles’ faith enabled them to minister
to the people, giving them the Lord’s healing love through “signs and wonders.” The
Book of Revelation was written to comfort and bolster the faith of the persecuted
Christians by reassuring them of the presence of the merciful Lord in their lives.
The second reading, taken from this book, encourages Christians to fight fear with
faith, and trepidation about the future with trust and hope. In today’s gospel, as
we recall Jesus’ appearance to the disciples on that first Easter evening, we are
vividly reminded of the Sacrament of Reconciliation – the power to forgive sins which
Our Lord gave to his apostles -- "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose
sins you retain are retained" (Jn 20-23). Today’s gospel also emphasizes the importance
of faith in the all-pervading presence of the Risen Lord of Mercy. To believe without
having seen is every later Christian’s experience. We are invited to receive liberation
from doubts and hesitation by surrendering our lives to the risen Lord of mercy.
Let us ask God our Father to open our hearts so that we may receive his Mercy in the
form of His Holy Spirit. In the first reading Luke, the author of Acts, describes
the life-style and activities of our earliest ancestors in the Christian faith, holding
up for us, as it were, a model of what the Church is called to become. The passage
explains how the Risen Lord continued to show His divine Mercy to the sick through
the healing and preaching ministry of His Apostles in the early Church. The Apostles’
faith enabled them to minister to the people, giving them the Lord’s healing love
through the “signs and wonders” that Jesus had promised would accompany their work.
Following the model of service set forth by Jesus, they healed the sick by wielding
God’s power over disease and unclean spirits. "People even came crowding in from the
towns round about Jerusalem, bringing with them their sick and those tormented by
unclean spirits - and all of them were cured." These cures illustrate how the power
of the Resurrection can work miracles, even through ordinary people. We know that
this power of the Resurrection still operates today because we have seen how a friendly
smile, a gentle touch or a willingness to forgive can heal a broken spirit, and how
the challenging words of a parent, a teacher or a friend can quicken the mind and
heart. The second reading is taken from the Book of Revelation. In this book,
John describes an extraordinary experience he had while living in banishment in the
penal colony on the island of Patmos. He wrote this book to comfort and bolster the
faith of the persecuted Christians by reassuring them of the presence of the merciful
Lord in their lives. Here we read about the vision of the resurrected Christ in glory,
revealing to John messages for the Christian communities. The usefulness of the Book
of Revelation to us Christians is not so much in its symbolic language as in the comfort
and strength we receive from solidarity with other Christians in distress. We, who
are privileged to anticipate the victory of Christ through the sacraments and especially
in the Eucharist, are also encouraged to fight fear with faith, and trepidation about
the future with trust and hope. "He touched me with his right hand and said, 'Do
not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, the One Who lives. Once I was dead, but
now I am alive forever and ever.'" The book coveys the message that we are called
to live out in our lives in such a way that, through us, others may be able to exclaim,
“We have seen the Lord!” The first part of today’s gospel (verses 19-23), describes
how Jesus entrusted to His Apostles His mission of preaching the “good news” of God’s
love, mercy, forgiveness and salvation. This portion of the reading teaches us that
Jesus uses the Church as the earthly means of continuing His mission. It also teaches
us that the Church needs Jesus as its source of power and authority, and that it becomes
Christ’s true messenger only when it perfectly loves and obeys Him. The risen Lord
gives the Apostles the authority to remit sins in his name. He gives the Apostles
the power of God’s mercy for the sinner, the gift of forgiving sins from God’s treasury
of mercy. For centuries in the liturgy, the Church has proclaimed the mercy of God
through the Word of God and the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. The text
also reminds us that the clearest way of expressing our belief in the presence of
the risen Jesus among us is through our own forgiveness of others. We can’t form
a lasting Christian community without such forgiveness. Unless we forgive others,
our celebration of the Eucharist is just an exercise of liturgical rubrics. The
second part of the gospel (verses 24-29) presents the fearless apostle St. Thomas,
in his uncompromising honesty, demanding a personal vision of, and physical contact
with, the risen Jesus as a condition for his belief. Thomas had not been with the
disciples when Jesus first appeared to them. As a result, he refused to believe.
This should serve as a warning to us. It is difficult for us to believe when we do
not strengthen ourselves with the fellowship of other believers. When the Lord appeared
to Thomas later, He said: “Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed.”
Thomas was able to overcome his doubts by seeing the risen Jesus. Modern Christians,
who are no longer able to "see" Jesus with their eyes, must believe what they hear.
That is why Paul reminds us that "faith comes from hearing" (Rom 10:17). The
unique profession of faith: Thomas, the “doubting Apostle” makes the great profession
of faith, “My Lord and my God.” Here the most outrageous doubter of the resurrection
of Jesus utters the greatest confession of belief in the Lord who rose from the dead.
This declaration by the “doubting Apostle” in today’s gospel is very significant for
two reasons. 1) It is the foundation of our Christian faith. Our faith is based
on the divinity of Jesus as proved by His miracles, especially by the supreme miracle
of His resurrection from the dead. Thomas’ profession of faith is the strongest evidence
we have of the resurrection of Jesus. 2) Thomas’ faith culminated in his self-surrender
to Jesus, his heroic missionary expedition to India in A.D. 52, his fearless preaching,
and the powerful testimony given by his martyrdom in A.D. 72.
Life messages:
1) Let us accept God's invitation to celebrate and practice mercy: One way the Church
celebrates God’s mercy throughout the year is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Finding time for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is another good way to receive
Divine Mercy. The Gospel command, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,"
demands that we show mercy to our fellow human beings always and everywhere. We radiate
God's mercy to others by our actions, our words, and our prayers. It is mainly through
the corporal and spiritual works of mercy that we practice mercy in our daily lives
and become eligible for God’s merciful judgment. 2) Let us ask God for the Faith
that culminates in self-surrender to God and leads us to serve those we encounter
with love. Living faith enables us to see the risen Lord in everyone and gives us
the willingness to render to each one our loving service (“Faith without good works
is dead” James 2:17). It was this faith in the Lord and obedience to His missionary
command that prompted St. Thomas to travel to India to preach the gospel among the
Hindus, establish seven Christian communities (known later as “St. Thomas Christians”),
and eventually suffer martyrdom. The Fathers of the Church prescribe the following
traditional means to grow in the living and dynamic faith of St. Thomas the Apostle.
a) We must come to know Jesus personally and intimately by our daily and meditative
reading of the Bible. b) We must strengthen our faith by the power of the Holy Spirit
through our personal and community prayer. c) We must share in the divine life of
Jesus by frequenting the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist. Blessed
Mother Teresa presents it this way: “If we pray, we will believe; if we believe, we
will love; if we love, we will serve. Only then we put our love of God into action.”
3) We need to meet the challenge for a transparent Christian life -- "I will
not believe unless I see." This "seeing" is what others demand of us. They ask
that we reflect Jesus, the Risen Lord in our lives by our selfless love, unconditional
forgiveness and humble service. The integrity of our lives bears a fundamental witness
to others, who want to see the Risen Lord alive and active, working in our lives.
Christ’s mercy shines forth from us whenever we reach out to the poor, the needy and
the marginalized, as Blessed Mother Teresa did. His mercy shines forth as we remain
open to those who struggle in faith, as did the Apostle Thomas in today’s Gospel.
We should be able to appreciate the presence of Jesus, crucified and raised, in our
own suffering and in our suffering brothers and sisters, thus recognizing the glorified
wounds of the Risen Lord in the suffering of others. 4) Like St. Thomas, let
us use our skepticism to help us grow in faith. It is our genuine doubts about the
doctrines of our religion that encourage us to study these doctrines more closely
and thus to grow in our faith. This will naturally lead us to a personal encounter
with Jesus through our prayer, study of the Word of God, and frequenting of the sacraments.
However, we must never forget the fact that our faith is not our own doing, but is
a gift from God. Hence, we need to augment our faith every day by prayer so that
we may join St. Thomas in his proclamation: “My Lord and my God."
5) Let us
have the courage of our Christian convictions to share our faith as St. Thomas did.
We are not to keep the gift of faith locked in our hearts, but to share it with our
children, our families and our neighbors, always remembering the words of Pope John
XXIII: “Every believer in this world must become a spark of Christ’s light.” (Adapted
from Fr. Tony Kadavil's homilies)