Reflection for April 3, 2016: Second Sunday of Easter, or Divine Mercy Sunday

Readings for today:

Acts 5:12-16

Psalm 118:2-4,13-15,22-24

Revelation 1:9-11a,12-13,17-19

John 20:19-31

Seeing is believing. In this day and age, this saying is especially true.  An all too common occurrence when a person tells a story about an exciting event, is for another person to exclaim “pics or it didn’t happen!” People want proof- firm evidence that the event did in fact take place. Only then will they believe the story.

            But sometimes, even seeing is not enough- this was often true of the Disciples when Jesus appeared to them after the Resurrection. Mary Magdalene did not recognize Jesus in the garden until he called her by name. The Disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize him until he broke bread with them. St. Matthew’s Gospel states that when the 11 disciples saw Jesus, they “worshiped, but they doubted.” Even St. Luke paints a drastically different picture of the events that we read in today’s Gospel. St. Luke’s account states that the disciples “were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” Even after all of this, the Disciples were still “incredulous for joy and amazed.” In the Bible, when someone is amazed, that means that they don’t get it- they don’t understand what is going on. Or perhaps they were still unable, or perhaps unwilling to believe that he was risen.

So what about Thomas in today’s Gospel? “Doubting Thomas” as he is often called, gets a bad rap for not believing in the Resurrection after the others had seen the Risen Lord. But Thomas no doubt knew how violent of a death crucifixion was. He, like the other disciples, would have found it very difficult to believe that a person who had suffered such a violent death could be alive again. He wants to touch Jesus, to see that he is real, just as the others have. Can we blame him for this, knowing from St. Luke’s account that the other Disciples too were slow to believe that Jesus had risen, even when he was standing right in front of them?

Thomas’ reaction to seeing the Risen Lord is what makes him different from all the rest. for him, seeing IS enough- he has no need to touch the wounds of Christ, but instead exclaims “My Lord and my God!” giving us the strongest profession of Faith in Christ out of any of the Disciples. Thomas is the only one who recognizes Christ as God- a powerful confession that hearkens back to the prologue of John’s Gospel

What then are we to make of Jesus’ response to Thomas? “blessed are those who have not seen, and still believe,” it may seem that Jesus is downplaying Thomas’ faith, or rebuking him since he did not believe the testimony of others. But given the fact that all of the Disciples struggled to believe when they first saw the risen Lord, there may be a deeper message here.  Jesus could very well be reminding the disciples that those to whom they will go out and preach will not be able to see the Risen Lord as they have seen him. Their challenge then, is to be able to lead people to belief in the Risen Lord, and give them the faith that does not need sight to believe that He is Risen from the dead. These people will be blessed by accepting the testimony of the first witnesses to the Resurrection, who have seen the Risen Lord.

We, the Followers of Christ 2000 years after the Resurrection, are both the recipients of this blessing, and challenged by it, just as the disciples were.  We may not be able to see Jesus’ physical body, but we can still make Thomas’ profession of Faith our own every time we encounter the Risen Lord in the Eucharist. And just as the Disciples were sent to preach to all nations, we too are called to bring the message of the Risen Lord to others, and to help lead them to Faith.

These encounters with the Risen Lord are also encounters with God’s mercy. On this Sunday of Divine Mercy, and especially as we continue to celebrate the Holy Jubilee Year of Mercy, we continue to be mindful of this “mercy which endures forever.” This is the same mercy that the disciples encountered when Jesus came to them with the greeting of “Peace be with you.” This is the mercy that we encounter in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which Jesus institutes in today’s Gospel when he breathed the Holy Spirit onto his disciples. We are called to trust in this mercy, and to remember the words of Pope Francis, which remind us time and time again that God never tires of forgiving us. May we never tire of seeking this mercy, and have the courage to ask forgiveness for our sins. As we continue this Easter Season, we give thanks to God for his great mercy, and we continue to celebrate his victory over sin and death. We pray that our faith may be strengthened, so that we are able to see the Risen Lord with eyes of faith, so that we too may be able to exclaim with Thomas- “My Lord, and my God!”