Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter — Cycle C–2013
FIRST READING Acts of the Apostles 5:12-16
Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon’s portico. None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them. Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them. Thus they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them. A large number of people from the towns in the vicinity of Jerusalem also gathered, bringing the sick and those disturbed by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.
SECOND READING Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19
I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus. I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet, which said, “Write on a scroll what you see.” Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest. When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld. Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards.”
GOSPEL John 20:19-31
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
My sisters and brothers in the Lord,
Mercy Sunday in the Year of Mercy! Surely we must look at each of the three readings today from this privileged point of view: Mercy upon mercy upon mercy.
The Acts of the Apostles shows the sick being brought to the Apostles and especially to Peter so that they might be cured. Even today, where there are rumors of cures and healings at various places in our world, or when a person gains fame as a healer, people begin to flock to such places or people. Why? Because those who are sick want healing. That should never surprise us! What can surprise us is when people do not recognize that they are sick and then look for healing. This is more and more the case in our present age: terrorists, angry people, people seduced by sensuality, people seeking money as their primary value or power, the many addictions of our present age, etc. These are sicknesses and are often not perceived as such by the persons suffering from them.
To receive Mercy, let us call out to the Lord from our own brokenness and ask for Mercy upon mercy upon mercy. To do this, we are invited to see ourselves as we really are in the light of the Resurrection of Jesus.
The second reading today is from the Book of Revelation. This is a vision of John and speaks to the incredible experience that he had in his own being. John bears witness to the transcendent power of God and to the Resurrection of Jesus. John is among the very first to witness to the Resurrection and one of the first to believe completely in the Resurrection. The challenge for us today is the same: believe in that which seems unbelievable at first. Only Mercy can help us.
Today’s Gospel is also from John and is about the Apostle Thomas, who does not want to believe. Jesus comes right to Thomas and looks Thomas straight in the eyes and then asks: are you willing to believe now? So often our own experiences need to be interpreted in the light of our faith. If we keep our faith separate and insist on physical verification of everything, we won’t believe. Instead, we are called to believe the witness of others and then, in the light of that witness, sometimes we meet the Lord face to face. Ah, the glory of such an encounter! Yet how much more is the faith of one who has not had that encounter and still believes! Always it is God’s mercy, over and over it is mercy.
On this Sunday of Divine Mercy in the Year of Divine Mercy, let us ask our Lord to show us His Mercy so that we may believe! In whatever we are lacking, may the Lord’s Mercy fill our emptiness and draw us to deeper faith.
Your brother in the Lord,
Abbot Philip