Second Sunday of Easter/ Divine Mercy Sunday

Second Sunday of Easter/ Divine Mercy Sunday April 16, 2023

 Acts 2:42-47;    1 Peter 1:3-9;    John 20:19-31

(Image Courtesy: Google)

Word spread across the countryside about the wise Holy Man who lived in a small house atop the mountain. A man from the village decided to make the long and difficult journey to visit him. When he arrived at the house, he saw an old servant inside greeting him at the door. “I would like to see the wise Holy Man,” he said to the servant. The servant smiled and led him inside. As they walked through the house, the man from the village looked eagerly around the house, anticipating his encounter with the Holy Man. Before he knew it, he had been led to the back door and escorted outside. He stopped and turned to the servant, “But I want to see the Holy Man!” “You already have,” said the old man. “Everyone you may meet in life, even if they appear plain and insignificant… see each of them as a wise Holy Man. If you do this, then whatever problem you brought here today will be solved.”

We are in the Second Sunday of Easter. Shall we call this Sunday of doubt? Doubt is the key of knowledge.  Jesus appears to the disciples and Thomas was not among the eleven. Jesus appears again when Thomas was present. The gospel is about Thomas who doubts that the Lord is raised from the dead. He manifested a lack of trust. And because of his doubt, the term ‘doubting Thomas’ was coined to describe all doubters and skeptics and even pessimists. But it’s good to doubt sometimes because as I have already said, “Doubt is the key of knowledge.” Those who inquire without hesitation learn best.

We can also learn from Thomas about his being doubtful. At least he was honest that he did not understand what was happening. He was just sincere he was not jack-of-all-trade. Unlike us, we show that we know and yet we are not.

Jesus in today’s gospel refers to His friends who were not present, saying: “Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe,” (v. 29). In other words, those who have faith in Him just like us are blessed indeed.

Thomas needed the real proof of the wounds nails on his hands and feet and the wound in Jesus' side to believe in the Risen Lord. Thomas is just opposed to John, the beloved disciple. John saw the empty tomb, saw the linen lying there, he believed. We heard about him on last Sunday. However, the disciples knowing Thomas very well as a man of determination, leave him alone. They did not make any attempt to correct him.  They left him alone to search for himself the truth about Jesus. During the next appearance, Jesus gave them all the gift of peace.  Then he called Thomas forward to him and showed himself.  The reaction of Thomas was the expression of the words of Faith which we repeat so often, "My Lord and my God!"   Jesus called Thomas and asked him to believe in him.  Ironically, too, it is an act of faith not merely for Thomas but for us all. It was not Thomas who was doubtful and without faith.  But Jesus accepted Thomas just as he accepted others.  He was not the one to linger on their failures. He accepted Thomas and his faith and added something more: "Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe."  These words of Jesus indeed apply to us. We have not seen Jesus and yet have believed. Jesus accepts our faith as he did of Thomas. Finally, we are reminded that everything that is in the Gospel is to help us to come to that stage of faith by which we believe "that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God" who shares his life with us.

The resurrected Jesus gave the gift of peace to his disciples. It was his greeting to their troubled and doubtful hearts. In our surroundings today, we are troubled with war and restlessness, hatred and violence, fundamentalism and fanaticism. We also like Thomas doubt the presence of the risen Lord among us. May the peace of the risen Lord fill us and make us hopeful and his true witnesses.

Today we also celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. Let our acclamation be Jesus, I trust in you. Jesus, I trust in your presence around me. Jesus, I trust in your peace that you give me. Jesus, I trust in your unconditional love that you pour out on me.

 

Happy Sunday