Cycle B - Year II:  

8 April 2018: Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) 

(Liturgical Color: White)

Readings:

First Reading:        Acts 4:32-35

Second Reading:  1 John 5:1-6

Gospel:Please Read  John 20:19-31

Believe in your heart!

Do you remember this famous quote from Helen Keller: "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt by the heart."? Helen Keller is a well-known American author who was blind.

Indeed, there are realities in our world that can only be felt by the heart. But others also say that "to see is to believe."

Let us reflect on these interesting quotes to connect us to the Gospel passage for the second Sunday of Easter.

We recall that on Easter Sunday the universal Church proclaimed the Lord is risen! But in those times, He has yet to appear to the disciples who kept themselves locked up in a room after Jesus's death for fear of the Jews.

As the story goes, Simon Peter, John and Mary of Magdala, who were the first to witness the empty tomb, told the rest of the disciples that there was no dead body of Jesus in the tomb where they laid Him, but the burial cloths were there. Perhaps, the disciples were thinking that if indeed Jesus is risen, all the more the disciples were afraid because they realized that they were cowardly during the passion and death of their Master.

And so it happened, "when the doors were locked, where the disciples were", the risen Lord appears for the first time to the disciples and greets them, "Peace be with you."

Now, take note that the Lord's first words to the disciples are a declaration of forgiveness, peace and mercy, even before they could even ask for forgiveness for their unfaithfulness and cowardice.

But one of the original twelve disciples, Thomas was his name, was not with them when the risen Lord first appeared to the group. So the next time Thomas was with the group, the rest of the disciples shared their experience with the risen Christ, but Thomas refused to believe and said, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." (Jn 20:25)

A week passed, and the risen Lord appeared again, and Thomas was with the disciple this time. Then Jesus allowed him to put his finger in Jesus' wounds, and Thomas saw and believed. Jesus said to Thomas, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not see and have believed. (Jn 20:29)

What then is the message of the Gospel narratives for us today?

Well, we, too, are often fearful to face the risen Lord in our lives. Because we feel like the doubting Thomas in the Gospel -- our faith is not strong enough to withstand suffering, trials and evils in our world. That is why, like Thomas, we demand clear signs of Jesus' victory over death and sin. Or perhaps we spend so much time focusing on our sins and failures, and not enough on God's mercy and compassion.

This Sunday's liturgy assures us that God's mercy precedes our sins, precisely because of the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ. This means that we are forgiven long before we even think of committing sins. But we must repent and ask for forgiveness. God only awaits for us to claim the mercy already prepared for us through the saving work of Jesus Christ.

In the Holy Eucharist at Mass, let us pray that like Thomas may the risen Christ open our eyes to the power of the Resurrection, and transform our doubts and fear into confident faith and boundless joy.

As a parting thought, do you ever wonder why the Lord Jesus Christ keep His wounds in His glorified body?  Could He not just wipe out all the marks of His passion and suffering in His glorified body, since He is God?

Some great theologians have the following answers:

(a)  The wounds are there because they proclaim the glory and victory of Christ.

(b)  The wounds of our Lord also serve to confirm the disciples in their faith and hope in the resurrection, and so gave them the courage to suffer for our Lord, as they in fact suffered for Him.

(c)  And the five wounds of Jesus are there so that He may constantly present them to the Father in heaven in supplication in our behalf, when we fall back to sin.

Finally, the second Sunday of Easter is also Divine Mercy Sunday, promoted by Sister Faustina Kowalska. Let us, therefore, claim our own share of God's divine mercy as we face, with confidence in divine goodness, whatever difficulties we encounter in our worldly journey to the Father's house.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!