Cycle B - Year I:  

11 April 2021:  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

"Overcoming our fear!"

During the rough storms in our lives sometimes we look for certain tangible signs to shore up our belief.  Perhaps, this is human nature. But also, it is not always "to see is to believe".  For "the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt by the heart," says the American author Helen Keller.

Let us use these wise words to connect us to the Gospel passage for the second Sunday of Easter, also celebrated as Divine Mercy Sunday.

Recall that just last Easter Sunday the universal Church proclaimed the Lord is risen!  But none of His closest apostles have personally seen the Lord after rising from death.  The disciples kept themselves locked up in a room after Jesus' death for fear of the Jews.

As the Gospel 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 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!."

It is worth noting that the risen Lord's first words to the disciples, "Peace be with you" are a declaration of forgiveness, peace and mercy, even before they could even ask for forgiveness for their unfaithfulness and cowardice.

Now, one of the original twelve disciples, Thomas was his name, was not with them when the risen Christ 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 them and said, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hands into His side, I will not believe." (Jn 20:25)

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

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

We are also often fearful to face the risen Christ in our lives.  Sometimes 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 we demand clear signs of Jesus' victory over death and sin, like the apostle Thomas did.  Or perhaps, we spend so much time focusing on our sins and failures instead on God's mercy and compassion.  So we fear to face the risen Lord in our lives.

This Sunday's liturgy assure 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.  

Let us pray in the Holy Eucharist at Mass that like Thomas may the risen Christ open our eyes to the power of the Resurrection, overcome our fear by transforming our doubts and fear into confident faith and boundless joy of the risen Savior.

Now, some of us may wonder why the risen Lord Jesus Christ keeps His wounds in His glorified body.  Since He is God, could He not just wipe out the marks of His passion and suffering in His glorified body, we may ask?

We found the answers in some great theologians.  They tell us:

(a)  The wounds of our Lord 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 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 Divine Mercy Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!