The Universal Church celebrates Sunday, April 28, 2019, as the Second Sunday of Easter – Year C, the Sunday of Divine Mercy. The readings for this Sunday are about mercy, trust and the forgiveness of sins. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “Rejoice to the full in the glory that is yours, and give thanks to God who called you into his heavenly kingdom, alleluia.”
In the first reading, Saint Luke shows how the risen Christ has given life to the young community of Jerusalem. The Apostles perform many miracles among the people because the power of the Lord is with them. As the community begins to grow, it also has to fight against evil and heal a wounded world. In the second reading, from the Apocalypse, Saint John tells us that the risen and living Christ is the conqueror of death. In a vision, Christ commands him to write down the Revelation on behalf of the persecuted Church. In Saint John’s Gospel, we see Jesus breathing the Spirit onto his disciples and giving them strength and courage for their new divine mission, that of taking his word to the ends of the earth. The doubting Thomas brings the Gospel to its most explicit profession of faith in the Risen Lord when he says: “My Lord and my God.” That is what Jesus is for successive generations of Christians to our own day.
First Reading: Acts of the Apostles 5:12-16.
The faithful all used to meet by common consent in the Portico of Solomon. No one else ever dared to join them, but the people were loud in their praise and the number of men and women who came to believe in the Lord increased steadily. So many signs and wonders were worked among the people at the hands of the apostles that the sick were even taken out into the streets and laid on beds and sleeping-mats in the hope that at least the shadow of Peter might fall across some of them as he went past. People even came crowding in from the towns round about Jerusalem, bringing with them their sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all of them were cured.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
As we said last Sunday, which was Easter Sunday, and it is worth repeating today, the Acts of the Apostles is the fifth Book of the New Testament, written between 70 and 90 AD by Saint Luke, who is one of the synoptic evangelists and the author of the Gospel that bears his name. The Acts of the Apostles recount the early preaching about Jesus Christ, the growth of the early Christian community, and the spread of the Christian message. It covers the period from the Ascension of Christ and the Pentecost, to the visit of Saint Paul to Rome, where he was placed under house arrest.
The early chapters of Acts draw a beautiful picture of the Christian community of Jerusalem as they pray together, practice common ownership of property, and preach together. The author attributes the vitality and activity of Christianity to the Holy Spirit, which plays a prominent part in Acts. Three of the key ideas that run throughout Acts are that Christ fulfills the promises made in the Old Testament, that salvation comes through him, and that the Christian community is the new chosen people of God.
The very composition of Acts focuses attention on the present, and on spreading Christianity “to the ends of the earth”. Thus, Acts is a fairly detailed account of early Christianity in its progress from Jerusalem to Rome.
The passage selected for our meditation, relates the witness of the early Church as directed by the Holy Spirit. Through the great witnesses Peter and Paul, the word goes out from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Jerusalem sees the birth and early years of the Church and its effects on the people of the Holy City. Many of them join the Apostles and their disciples as Peter and the others continue the healing ministry of their Master and, like him, they win the respect and praise of the people.
The lifestyle of the first Christian community stresses the unity that exists among the Apostles and their followers and the good deeds of the community, especially the power of the Apostles to work miracles. With such miracles, the people see that the kingdom of God has indeed come among them. Grace abounds and it is seen in the spiritual conversions and physical healings. Such signs and wonders are not done merely to impress people but to awaken their faith. As the Fathers of the Church say, the Apostles, following in the footsteps of Christ “supported and confirmed his preaching by miracles to arouse the faith of his hearers and give them assurance, not to coerce them” (Vatican II, Dignitatis humanae, 11).
This passage stresses the importance of “being one”, that is, the importance of the solidarity and unity, which are virtues of good Christians and one of the hallmarks of the Church. The Apostles bear witness to the Resurrection not only in words but also in action. Faith without action, one of them, Saint James, was to write later, is dead faith (Jas 2: 26). They are joyful and self-sacrificing, putting all their belonging at the disposal of the community. Harmony and mutual understanding among them reflect the internal and external unity of the Church itself, which derives its life from the Holy Spirit, the source of the nourishment of the life of the Church.
Let us together say this prayer for the Catholic Church, which William Laud left to us: Gracious Father, we pray to you for your holy Catholic Church. Fill it with your truth. Keep it in your peace. Where it is corrupt, reform it. Where it is in error, correct it. Where it is right, defend it. Where it is in want, provide for it. Where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. Alleluia.
Second Reading: Apocalypse 1: 9-13. 17.19.
My name is John, and through our union with Jesus I am your brother and share your sufferings, and all you endure. I was on the Island of Patmos for having preached the God’s word and witnessed for Jesus; it was the Lord’s day and the Spirit possessed me, and I heard a voice behind me, shouting like a trumpet, ‘Write down all that you see in a book.’ I turned round to see who had spoken to me, and when I turned I saw seven golden lamp-stands and, surrounded by them, a figure like a Son of man, dressed in a long robe tied at the waist with a golden girdle. When I saw him, I fell in a dead faint at his feet, but he touched me with his right hand and said, ‘Do not be afraid; it is I, the First and the Last; I am the Living One. I was dead and now I to live for ever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of the underworld. Now write down all that you see of present happenings and things that are still to come.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
The Apocalypse, or the Book of Revelation, is the last book of Sacred Scripture and is the only prophetical book in the New Testament. The Church makes frequent use of it, particularly in the Liturgy, to sing the praises of the risen Lord and the splendor of the heavenly Jerusalem, which symbolizes the Church in the glory of heaven.
Even though it is said to be addressed to the seven churches that are in Asia, it is in fact addressed to the universal Church. It seeks to alert Christians to the grave dangers which threaten faith, while consoling and encouraging those who are suffering tribulation, particularly due to the fierce and long-drawn-out persecution mounted by the Roman Emperor Domitian in which many Christians lost their lives. Christians also suffered persecution from the part of both Jews and pagans. This sort of persecution of Christians was to continue up to the fourth century, when the Emperor Constantine put a stop to Christian persecution and thus enabled the young Church to grow in peace.
In the passage of our meditation, John explains the reason for writing: he has been commanded in a vision to write by his glorious Lord. In Sacred Scripture, God’s messages are frequently communicated to the prophets in the form of visions (Is 6; Ezek 1:4-3:15; Zech 1:7-2:9).
When Saint John reports his vision, he is making known the message given him by the risen Christ. Like other prophets and apostles, John also feels caught up by a divine force. In an ecstasy, he hears the voice of the Lord and describes its power and strength as a trumpet. He addresses the seven churches of Asia which actually stand for the entire universal Church.
In this passage Saint John shows his solidarity with the joy and suffering of Christians of his day. His consoling words come from someone who knows that fidelity to the Gospel calls for self-denial and even martyrdom.
So what lesson do we draw from this passage? It calls on us to intensify our love for Christ. As followers of Christ, we must always be ready to suffer for him. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ makes this clear when he says: “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Mt 5: 11-12).
Let us therefore pray to the Lord to strengthen our faith so we can be prepared to carry our cross behind him wherever we may find ourselves this day. Amen.
Gospel: John 20: 19-31.
In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you,’ and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.’ Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord,’ he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my fingers into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later, the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him: ‘You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’ There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.
V/ The Gospel of the Lord.
R/ Praise to you Lord, Jesus Christ.
Comment
How very beautiful are the readings the Church proposes to us during the Easter season as the Gospels continue to relate to us Christ’s appearances after his resurrection! And how very rich they are in lessons that we can take home and muse over throughout the day!
In today’s Gospel, the disciples are gathered in a locked room. The recent violence that led to the death of their Master, Jesus Christ, has made them very feel very insecure. The society in which they live has become very hostile to them, so they lock themselves in what they hope is a safe house; but they soon discover that all the bolts and locks on the door and windows cannot keep out Christ from coming to them. He suddenly appears to them without any need for the doors to be opened. They are understandably alarmed when they see him and it’s not surprising that they immediately think of a ghost.
He appears to them not only in divine glory but also in human solidarity. He greets them twice using the words of greeting customary among the Jews: “Shalom! Peace be with you”. These friendly words dispel the fear and the shame the Apostles must have been feeling at behaving so disloyally during his passion when they had abandoned him and fled or had, like Peter, denied him when he needed him most. He now recreates the normal atmosphere of intimacy, and breathes on them the Spirit that will give them powers to continue his mission on earth.
He gives the Apostles the power of God’s mercy for the sinner, the gift of forgiving sins from God’s treasury of mercy. For centuries in the liturgy, the Church has proclaimed the mercy of God through the Word of God and the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Spirit that Jesus gives his apostles has been passed on to other people through the ministry of the church. The Church has always understood, and has in fact defined, that by telling his apostles to “receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive are forgiven, and whose sins you retain, are retained,” Jesus Christ conferred the Sacrament of Penance or of Reconciliation on them and on their lawful successors: the pope, bishops and priests. The Sacrament of Penance is the most sublime expression of God’s love and mercy towards men and women. The Lord always awaits us with open arms, as the father in the story of the Prodigal Son. He always waits for us to repent and then he forgives us and restores us to the dignity of being his sons and daughters once more.
Let me not conclude this reflection without touching on the actions of Thomas, or Didymus, the Twin, who is absent from Jesus’ first encounter with his disciples. When the others tell him that they had seen the risen Lord, he expresses skepticism. He will only believe when he sees the wounds on his body and puts his finger into his side. A week later, Thomas makes the most explicit profession of faith in the risen Lord – “My Lord and my God.” Here the most outrageous doubter of the resurrection of Jesus utters the greatest confession of belief in the Lord who rose from the dead. To Saint Gregory the Great, Thomas’ absence was no mere accident. “God arranged that it should happen this way. His clemency acted in this wonderful way through the doubting disciple touching the wound in his Master’s body. In this way, our own wounds of unbelief might be healed. And so the disciple, doubting and touching, was changed into a witness of the truth of the resurrection” (Homilies on the Gospels, 26, 7).
Christians use Thomas’ words “My Lord and My God” as an act of faith in the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Eucharist. Thomas’ doubting moves our Lord to give him special proof that his risen body is quite real. By so doing, he does not only increase the faith of those present but also that of future generations of believers.
Let us pray that the Holy Spirit may come down upon us this day and increase our faith in the risen Lord so that we too may come to believe that he and he alone holds the words of eternal life. Let us pray with Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits): “My Lord and my God, I freely yield all my freedom to you. Take my memory, my intellect and my entire will. You have given me everything I am or have; I give it all back to you to stand under your will alone. Your love and your grace are enough for me; I shall ask for nothing more. I make this prayer through the Risen Christ, our Lord. Amen. Alleluia!”
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