Homily:
2nd Sunday of Easter (Sunday of Divine Mercy) – Cycle A
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 prominent themes of our Lenten journey, that of an encounter with
Christ, and of how that theme continues in the Lord’s resurrection and in the
life of the Church.
Today,
in our Gospel reading, we encounter 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 that we explored in Lent,
we can see how even this was part of God’s plan to reveal himself and to
strengthen the faith of his believers.
Let’s
take a moment to remember the three encounters with Christ on which we
reflected as we passed through the heart of Lent. 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 Thomas’ encounter with Christ more deeply. ///
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 encountered 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, since his blindness prevented him from any work by which he
could make a living. Jesus heals him and
quickly he becomes a witness to Jesus before the Pharisees. When Jesus later reveals himself fully to him,
he bows in adoration of him. In John’s 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 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.” 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 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 encounters
on which we reflected during Lent: an encounter with Christ leads to testimony,
and testimony leads to faith. ///
Friends,
last week I reminded us that we are witnesses of the resurrection of Christ,
and that, as witnesses, we are bound to give testimony to what we have seen and
heard. As we continue to bask in the joy
of celebrating Christ’s resurrection, and as we reflect again on the power of
the kerygma—the testimony—of those who encountered Christ, let us take courage
in our own call to be witnesses of Christ to those around us—both individually
and collectively—so that many others might come to faith in Jesus and have life
in his name.
As
I said during Lent, this is our work, and it is a joyful work. May the joy of the Resurrection and the grace
of this Eucharist continue to strengthen us for this holy work.
Given in Spanish at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish:
Carmel, IN
April 16th, 2023
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