Friends,
today we have gathered to celebrate the conclusion of the great Octave of
Easter. Throughout these eight days, we
have been celebrating the fulfillment of our salvation in the resurrection of
our Lord Jesus Christ. At the same time,
we have been rejoicing in the renewal that the Lord has worked in us through
our Lenten disciplines and the renewal of our baptismal promises on Easter
Sunday. Today, as we draw this Octave
celebration to a close, we are invited to celebrate the mercy of God—that is,
the Divine Mercy—that has made all of this possible. In doing so, the liturgy reminds us of one of
the most important characteristics of the Divine Mercy: that is, that it involves
a loving encounter with Christ.
Today,
in our Gospel reading, we meet once again this great story of Jesus’ appearance
to the disciples on the day of resurrection.
In John’s Gospel, the detail that “Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not
with them when Jesus came” is included.
We heard again the familiar story that, when the others told Thomas that
they had seen the Risen Lord, Thomas refused to believe that Jesus had risen
and declared that, unless he see Jesus for himself, he would not believe. We, of course, have hindsight and so can be
quick to deride Thomas for his lack of initial belief. However, if we look at this from the
perspective of the theme of encounter with Christ, we can see how even this was
part of God’s plan to reveal himself and to strengthen the faith of his
believers.
In
fact, throughout John’s Gospel, the theme of a merciful encounter with Christ is
prominent. Jesus’ encounters with the
Samaritan woman at the well, the blind man in Jerusalem, and with Martha and
Mary after the death of their brother Lazarus were all opportunities for Jesus
to reveal himself more completely and to strengthen the faith of his
believers. Let’s take a brief look at
them again so that they might help us to understand more deeply Thomas’
encounter with Christ. ///
The
Samaritan woman, who was avoiding the townspeople because of the shame she felt
for her multiple failed marriages, unexpectedly encountered Christ, who
revealed himself to her. She, in turn,
converted and became a great witness to the people of her town: the very people
she had been trying to avoid! The
woman’s shame for her multiple failed marriages, as painful as it was to her,
became the means by which she had a merciful encounter with Christ and thus
became a witness to him, inspiring faith in the hundreds of townspeople who
came to Jesus because of her.
The
man born blind suffered many years in his blindness and was reduced to begging
for sustenance. When he is encountered
by Jesus, Jesus heals him and quickly the man becomes a witness to Jesus before
the Pharisees. When, in another encounter,
Jesus later reveals himself fully to him, he bows in adoration of him. In the Gospel, we do not hear more about what
happened to this man, but surely he continued to tell others his story: “I was
blind and now I see. Jesus the Nazorean
encountered me and healed me. He is the
Christ, the one sent by God.”
Martha
and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, sent word to Jesus that their brother, Jesus’
friend, was deathly ill so that he might come and heal him. Jesus delayed, however, and Lazarus
died. When he arrived, both Martha and
Mary said, “Lord, if you had been here, our brother would not have died.” In this encounter, Jesus assured them that,
if they had faith, they would see their brother rise. They believe, and Jesus reveals himself more
profoundly when he shows himself not only to have power to prevent death, but
also to reverse death completely. This
encounter with Christ and his power, the Scriptures tell us, led many of the Jews
to believe in him. Again, the Scriptures
do not tell us this, but certainly these persons witnessed to what they had
seen and heard before many others.
And
so we come to Thomas and his initial incredulity in the resurrection. Jesus, in his perfect knowledge, knew that
Thomas would not be with the other disciples when he appeared to them that day,
and that Thomas would be incredulous when they told him. Nonetheless, he allowed it. And why?
So that, through his merciful encounter with Thomas eight days later, he
might reveal himself more fully and strengthen the faith of all believers. ///
As
with the other encounters, Jesus uses this encounter to reveal his unfathomable
Divine Mercy. In this case, his merciful
condescension to Thomas in his doubts becomes a rallying point of faith for all
who encounter questions within themselves.
“Put your finger here and see my hands,” Jesus says to Thomas, “and
bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas, as we know, expresses his
belief. Then Jesus says something even
more merciful: “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are
those who have not seen and have believed.”
Thomas,
of course, would go on to be a great Apostle, sharing this story of his encounter
with Christ and his mercy everywhere he went.
Moreover, the disciples of the early Church would find great strength
from the testimony of these words of Jesus: “Blessed are those who have not
seen and have believed.” All of this
showing the same thing that we saw in the three other encounters from John’s Gospel:
that an encounter with Christ leads to testimony, and testimony leads to faith.
///
Friends,
these are exactly the kinds of encounters with the Divine Mercy that await us
in the sacrament of reconciliation. Whether
you are shameful because of your sins, lost and unable to see clearly so as to
find your way, hurt and reluctant to believe, or full of doubt because you have
not yet seen, the sacrament of Reconciliation is the place where you can encounter
Jesus, the fount of Divine Mercy, to free you from your shame, to open your eyes
to see, to be healed and so believe, and to remove all doubt. Fr. Bennett is in the confessional right now and
so if you are feeling moved to seek an encounter with Jesus in the sacrament—to
confess what is on your heart—please feel free to go now to the confessional or
throughout the rest of the Mass. Jesus awaits
to encounter you. ///
In
spring of 2003, I was in a bad place, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I was dissatisfied with my job, I just had an
ugly breakup with my girlfriend of nearly three years, and I was feeling quite lost
in regards to faith. I took a chance to attend
a parish mission and there had a personal encounter with Jesus, really present in
the Blessed Sacrament. The next night I made
a confession for the first time in over twelve years. That merciful encounter with Jesus in his sacramental
presence and in the sacrament, changed the course of my life forever as I immediately
started to pray about what God wanted me to do with my life. That led me here, to the priesthood, and now here,
to this parish church on this Sunday, to preach the good news of God’s Divine Mercy
to you. Brothers and sisters, the same merciful
encounter is available to each of you when you go to the sacrament and make yourself
available to be encountered by him. ///
Whether
you do so today or sometime in the future, let us all give thanks in this Mass for
the fact that this encounter is even possible. And as we go forth from here, let us be ready
to share the good news of Divine Mercy with all those around us.
Given at Sacred Heart Parish: Remington, IN – April 27th,
2025
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