The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today remind us of the strength we receive from the Spirit as we encounter the love and mercy of Christ in the reality of our journey.
Mercy and Strength
In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles many are healed.
* [5:12–16] This, the third summary portraying the Jerusalem community, underscores the Twelve as its bulwark, especially because of their charismatic power to heal the sick; cf. Acts 2:42–47; 4:32–37.1
Psalm 118 is a Song of Victory.
* [118:22] The stone the builders rejected: a proverb: what is insignificant to human beings has become great through divine election. The “stone” may originally have meant the foundation stone or capstone of the Temple. The New Testament interpreted the verse as referring to the death and resurrection of Christ (Mt 21:42; Acts 4:11; cf. Is 28:16 and Rom 9:33; 1 Pt 2:7).2
The reading from the Book of Revelation shares a vision of Christ.
* [1:9–20] In this first vision, the seer is commanded to write what he sees to the seven churches (Rev 1:9–11). He sees Christ in glory, whom he depicts in stock apocalyptic imagery (Rev 1:12–16), and hears him describe himself in terms meant to encourage Christians by emphasizing his victory over death (Rev 1:17–20).3
In the Gospel of John, Jesus appears to the Disciples and Thomas.
* [20:19–29] The appearances to the disciples, without or with Thomas (cf. Jn 11:16; 14:5), have rough parallels in the other gospels only for Jn 20:19–23; cf. Lk 24:36–39; Mk 16:14–18. * [20:19] The disciples: by implication from Jn 20:24 this means ten of the Twelve, presumably in Jerusalem. Peace be with you: although this could be an ordinary greeting, John intends here to echo Jn 14:27. The theme of rejoicing in Jn 20:20 echoes Jn 16:22.4
Eileen Burke-Sullivan comments that the Second Week of Easter challenges us to discover the fullness of God’s Mercy – the victory of God’s forgiveness over every possible harm or sin that humans can engage – except presumably the refusal of humans to accept God’s mercy. God will invite, challenge, lure and even seduce us into a relationship but never coerce us. But for those who respond to the power of God’s seduction there is no sin so terrible it can’t be overcome by mercy.
Finally, we hear the wonderful story of Jesus’ mercy to the twin who doubts the truth of the apostolic witness. He must see for himself the Jesus he knew and loved. Jesus gently comes to him and shows himself – his wounds, his new life – and Thomas believes. In so many ways, Thomas is the twin of each of us – the part of ourselves that does not want to believe the witness of brothers and sisters who have allowed the Good News to become their deepest truth. Today is the day to throw ourselves on the mercy of Jesus and ask for the grace of belief and freedom from our sin and potential death. God’s mercy is for each one and for all – we become agents to that as Peter, the mystic John and now Thomas, who show us that through the very broken human tendency to sin, and therefore to illness and death, God acts to deliver us with the blessing of Divine Mercy.5
Don Schwager quotes “Touching the Flesh, He Invokes the Word,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"But when Jesus showed Thomas the very places where he had his doubts, Thomas exclaimed, "My Lord and my God." He touched his flesh, he proclaimed his divinity. What did he touch? The body of Christ. Was the body of Christ the divinity of Christ? The divinity of Christ was the Word; the humanity of Christ was soul and flesh. Thomas could not touch the soul, but he could perceive it, because the body that had been dead was moving about alive. But that Word is subject neither to change nor to contact, it neither regresses nor progresses, neither fails nor flourishes, because in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That is what Thomas proclaimed. He touched the flesh, he invoked the Word, because the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." (excerpt from Sermon 145A)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 20:19-31 comments that St. Faustina, called the “Apostle of Divine Mercy,” heard Jesus tell her, “I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart” (Diary, 1588). Isn’t this just what Jesus did for Thomas? And isn’t it just what he wants to do for us?
As you celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday today, spend some time thinking about the ways in which you’ve experienced mercy from God. Let the memory of these experiences fill your heart with greater love for Jesus—who is Mercy incarnate—and draw you to a deeper faith. “Jesus, I trust in you! Thank you for your mercy. Increase my faith.”7
Friar Jude Winkler compares the focus of Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. The author of Revelation, a Jewish Christian, familiar with Scripture, writes, under a pseudonym with Pauline and Johannine themes. Friar Jude notes that the appearance of Jesus to Thomas inaugurates a New Creation Spirit in the Apostles and allows Thomas to make a strong expression of faith.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces the heart of sacramental theology, that our particular and ordinary circumstances are the places where we meet the Universal Christ.
The sacramental principle is this: Begin with a concrete moment of encounter, based in this physical world, and the soul universalizes from there, so that what is true here becomes true everywhere else too. And so the spiritual journey proceeds with ever-greater circles of inclusion into the One Holy Mystery! But it always starts with what many wisely call the “scandal of the particular.” It is there that we must surrender, even if the object itself seems more than a bit unworthy of our awe, trust, or surrender. The purest form of spirituality is to find God in what is right in front of you—the ability to accept what the French Jesuit and mystic Jean Pierre de Caussade (1675–1751) called the sacrament of the present moment. [1]8
Our strength to continue our mission is rooted in the peace and power of the mercy that Jesus brings to our life through the Holy Spirit.
References
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