Cycle A - Year I:  

16 April 2023: Second Sunday of Easter 

(Liturgical Color: White)

Readings:

First Reading:        Acts 2:42-47

Second Reading:   1 Peter 1:3-9

Gospel:  Please Read  John 20:19-31 

"As the Father has sent me, so I send you!"

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

It's time for Jesus to meet His followers. The Gospel narrative today tells us that the risen Jesus meets His closest friends for the first time after they had all abandoned Him in His hour of need.  It must have been a moment they were all dreading. Yet, Jesus' first words, twice over, were, "Peace be with you!" No rebuke, nor reproach, just Peace! And then Jesus showed them His wounds, the unmistakable signs of His passion and death.   

Part of the Gospel story is about the doubting Thomas, who refused to believe about the risen Lord. His famous passage "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) So the next time that Jesus appeared to the disciples Thomas was with them and he came to believe when the risen Jesus showed him and allowed him to touch His wounds.

Today, let us focus our reflection, not so much on the unbelieving Thomas, but the impact of the risen Jesus on the rest of the disciples and the mission that our Lord wants them to do.

After offering the disciples the gift of peace, Jesus tells them "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." (Jn 20:21)   Then He breathes on them the Holy Spirit.

As we progress into the season of Eastertide, it is now our turn to go where the risen Jesus sends us, confident of His presence and power. We can either do our mission of proclaiming the Good News in the comfort of our homes, or in mission as we now share the good news that love is stronger than death. And wherever Jesus sends us we have the assurance of His Spirit of presence and peace.

Just as the risen Lord penetrates the disciples' defenses, overcomes their fears and brings them the joy of forgiveness and peace, let us also ask our risen Lord Jesus Christ to liberate us from whatever prevents us from "having life and having it in its fullness".

Today's liturgy assures us that God's mercy precedes our sins because of the saving work of our Lord Jesus. All we need to do is repent and ask God's forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The second Sunday of Easter is also Divine Mercy Sunday, promoted by Sister Faustina Kowalska. Let us claim our share of God's 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!