SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

“Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed”

Jn. 20, 19-31

Rev. Alexander Diaz

We are celebrating the Second Sunday of Easter, called “Divine Mercy Sunday”, because it shows the mercy of the Resurrected to one of his apostles that proudly does not believe, just because he has not seeing with his own eyes this miracle. Every single year we read the same reading, precisely because it gets us closer to the mystery of this Sunday.

First it reinforces that Sunday comes from the Lord. The first Easter Sunday is the day of the manifestation of the Resurrected, first to the women, later to the disciples. The first concern the Lord had, was to reunite the disciples after the scandal of the cross. The second Sunday, the first of the week, and this is, today, the Resurrected returns to reunite the disciples to confirm them on their faith.

To confirmed them on their faith was not an easy task, since in order to digest the scandal of the cross, was not simple, neither was it acceptable because of the consequences it entailed, the fear was eminent. The Gospel tells us that “when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews” (Jn. 20,19). Fear is one of the mechanisms that evil uses to bind us and not allow us to grow and be fruitful as true, real Christians.

Jesus came and stood in their midst, and with very simple words, words that will forever mark the lives of all Christians; “Peace be with you” (Jn. 20,19). Peace is the first message of the Resurrected to the eleven, an element that will allow men to transcend and find himself. This is why a Christian that is not a bearer, carrier, an announcer of peace, have not understood Jesus’ project. The Apostles were full of resentment and hate against those who crucified our Lord Jesus to the cross.

Blessed John Paul II (second) told us, the Christians of the third millennium many time, “The Christians, in particular, are called to be guards of peace, in the places where they live and work, in other words, we are asked to watch out so the consciences do not give in to the temptation of selfishness, deceit, lies and violence.

Let us, together, ask God, who is rich in mercy and pardon, to subdue the sentiments of hate in the moods of the populations, to cease the horror of terrorism and lead the steps of the people responsible of the nations thru the path of mutual understanding, solidarity and reconciliation”. Only when the human being is able to find peace within himself, then he will understand what is the real significance of his vocation.

One of the fruits of fear and being afraid, is frustration and rejection, skepticism and unbelief when confronted with new events, this is what happened to Thomas. He was not in the second day of the week when this happened, for this reason he becomes arrogant when faced with the resurrection. Thomas does not believe in God’s great things easily. Thomas is today’s world that asks for proofs and certainties. The world asks for such huge proof, that only God can give it to them thru His Resurrection. We asks God for signs and proofs when in reality, we are a mystery to ourselves and even to others.

Only for God we are not a mystery. God knows what resides in our hearts and knows how to give the correct answer at the right time. God knows of our deaths and resurrections, He knows of our cowardice, greatness and miseries. He knows the mud we are made of. To live as a Christian is to tune in our life to the rhythm of God, only then will life give us answers. To put your fingers in the wounds of Jesus is to enter His interior, to discover His pains and surrender for us. ¿Don’t we live a weak faith, which many times, does not transform us? To go into Jesus interior is to feel like Him.

Our life is full of sins and mistakes that multiply as we get farther and farther from God. It is not estrange then, that in the text of Jesus’ appearance, the reference to the Holy Spirit appears and also the forgiveness of sins. To accept the Holy Spirit is to accept the presence of God in our lives. When a person is with God and in God, sin plays a very small part in his existence.

Thomas asked for vital proof. He needed to see, touch, feel the tangible presence of the supposedly Resurrected. To evangelize is nothing else than to offer others this sensible experience of Jesus. To believe is to see, to touch, to feel Christ.

The crisis of the apostle was more of faith than of reasoning. When we follow the path to the Resurrected, the doubts become less and less each time. Some people suffer internally because their doubts would not allow them to believe in no one, not even in themselves. ¿What does a person without faith needs to feel the presence of the Resurrected? It gives me the impression that he must start at the beginning, go over and over again from Bethlehem to the Cross and the Resurrection Sunday with amazement and respect.

When we put our fingers in the wounds of Christ, it does not causes pain, but Love. Love that changes and converts the heart of anyone who gets close to Him.

Amen!