(Homily for
2nd Sunday of Easter Year C)
Divine Mercy
Sunday
If the last Sunday, Easter Day
underlined the mystery of the Resurrection, this present one is more of the
human response to the mystery of Christ’s Resurrection and his
Absence-Presence. The “apparitions” or rather appearances of the Resurrected
Christ to his apostles and disciples are not mere apparitions, but they are
encounters, meetings with the person of the Risen Lord, because “apparition”
tends to limit the event to an appearance of a ghost. But it is the concept of “encounter” that depicts very well the realism
of the Resurrection Event. And having established the credibility of this
realism, he sends his apostles out.
As we read in the Gospel, Apostle Thomas is probably the paradigm of
every man: a passage from incredulity to faith in the Risen Christ, from
the search of evidence to the joyful profession of faith. In the first reading,
the community of Jerusalem proclaims her faith in the Risen Lord, when they
reunite every Sunday to listen to the teachings of the apostles and to
celebrate in fraternal communion the breaking of the Bread, the sign of the mystery of Christ’s Death
and Resurrection. In the second reading, the risen Lord presents himself as
the Living One, the Alpha and the Omega; the Living One appears to his
disciples and offered them the gift of peace, entrusted the mission and
breathed the Spirit on them (Gospel). The Living One continues to perform signs
and miracles in the midst of his people through the apostles (first reading), He lives!
In the Gospel (Jn. 20:19-31) of today we are presented with the account of the
two appearances of the risen Lord: first, to the disciples on Easter evening,
and second to Thomas a week later, and the latter is peculiar to St. John. In this episode the purpose of the
appearances of the Risen Lord is now seen as a way of establishing his
identity. Prior to this, the earlier tradition presented the Risen Lord
from a more spiritual dimension, here instead, we see an emphasis on the
physical reality of the risen One, and
this preserves the truth, the realism and the identity of the crucified – risen
Christ. St. John underlines with
vigor that Christ who appears and who is in the midst of his disciples is a
living and real Being, the same Jesus
that was nailed on the Cross, for this he shows the hands and the
side, those are the signs of martyrdom (v.20).
He equally underlined the different ways of manifestation of Jesus before and
after the Resurrection. There is a profound difference: He enters now
unexpectedly, even when the doors are locked. Indeed, this Gospel periscope is
replete with many themes, ranging from apparitions of the risen Lord, faith of
the apostles, to the gifts of the Risen Lord to his people.
However, the episode of the Gospel is
equally situated in the context of a Christian community. Let us take into
consideration the two great gifts that the Risen Christ brought to the first
Christian community, of the apostles reunited in the cenacle: Jesus gave them the gift of peace
“Peace be with you”. Peace biblically embraces all the divine promises: grace,
blessing, divine benevolence, interior serenity and salvation. Secondly, he gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit.
“He breathed on them and said: receive the Holy Spirit”. Upon this, he gave
them a mandate as well: “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if
you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained” (Jn. 20:23). The Holy Spirit
was given to the first Christian community and to the entire church,
specifically for the remission of sins, and for the regeneration of men in the
life of grace. Having received this Gift are we regenerated?
Thomas
wanted to see him in his presence before he would believe in his absence.
After his appearance he disappeared. Every time he was recognized off he was.
In fact, in a way the Easter story is much more a story of his disappearances,
than of his appearances. Indeed, it was as if he wanted to tell them something,
to tell them: Now up to you, even though
I am alive, but I will be absent, so it is up to you, little wonder he breathed
on them and gave them the Holy Spirit. Anyone who has the Christ experience
must have a change or transformation of life. And the attitude of Jesus towards Thomas the unbelieving apostle, reflects
greatly God’s faithfulness and mercy, who condescended to accept the
incredulity of man, in order to bring him to an unwavering faith, to a solid
and definitive faith: “My Lord and My God”. This has become an uninterrupted
confession of faith of the Church in the Resurrection of Christ.
The
evangelist wants to present Jesus to the Church in the new existential
condition of the Risen, as the one to whom “every power in heaven and
earth” (Mt.28:18) has been given to,
and he transmits this power to his Church, the first is to forgive sins and
second, the proclamation of the Lordship of Christ, and this is truly the real
meaning of Easter, “It was for this purpose that Christ both died and came to
life again: so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living” (Rm. 14:9). In order to express their
certainty in the presence of Jesus, the first disciples of Jesus, were using
the title Lord, in Greek Kyrios, Jesus is the Lord, this was the oldest and simplest form of the
profession of faith of the Christians, “if you declare with your mouth that
Jesus is Lord, and if you believe with your heart that god raised him from the
dead, you will be saved” (Rm.10:9). The Lordship of Jesus is founded on his
resurrection, and he continues to reign. And it is the Holy Spirit that
empowers us to make this proclamation of faith, for “nobody is able to say,
Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit” (1Cor.
12:3).
The
episode of today’s gospel relative to the two apparitions of the Risen Christ
teaches us also the importance of faith in our relationship with Christ. In
fact, Thomas that was not present in the first appearances, did not believe the
testimony of the other apostles. He wanted to see Him personally, touch Him, he
wanted to have a direct personal experience with Him. And he was satisfied when
Jesus appeared the second time, after eight days. This time, Thomas was present, but Jesus does not applaud the
unbelieving apostle, rather He says: “You believe because you can see me.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (Jn.20:29). As such, we should not ask for the tangible
demonstration or sensible experience, as Thomas did, rather the grace to grow in a pure and genuine faith. To believe entails confiding and entrusting
oneself to Christ and the testimony of the apostles: a faith that wants to
see, touch, and experience is not a true faith, but distrust and diffidence to
Christ and the first witnesses: the apostles. The Risen Lord declared blessedness
for those who believe without seeing, and it does not mean that they
(believers) will be immune to sufferings and trials.
Indeed, the Resurrection of Jesus becomes the Yes of God to His Son Jesus
Christ, Redeemer of every man. The Resurrection of Jesus is a motive of joy
for us, because as St. Peter opined “Blessed be God the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us a new birth into a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1Pt. 1:3). God is faithful, for this
He did not abandon the life of His Son to death. May the Risen Lord fortify our little faith in Him and give us joy in
times of affliction!
The first reading (Acts 5:12-16) from the Acts of the
Apostles reveals the power of the risen Christ at work in the Christian
community. The power of the risen Christ
is manifested in the signs and wonders that were accomplished by through the
apostles. Even though, no mention was made of any preaching at this
passage, however, it is obvious that there cannot be signs and wonders without
the proclamation of the word. Again, it was recorded that more than ever, new
converts were added into an already existing community. The phrase “were added” denotes an action of God, it is a
reverential passive indicating that it was God who added them.
The second reading (Rev. 1:9-11a.12-13.17-19) presents the
opening vision of the book of Revelation, in which John; the visionary sees the risen Christ and receives the messages for
the seven churches. Some biblical scholars have maintained that this vision is
a continuation of the resurrection appearances, however, the fact remains that
the language of vision is used in the episodes of the original appearances (cf. 1Cor.15:3-8), in verse 8 St. Paul asserts that the
apparition he had on his way to Damascus is the last of the apparitions. But
visions of the risen Christ still continues, in fact Paul himself had a later
vision of the risen Christ (cf. 2Cor.
12:1-4). Above all, the underlining factor
is that the resurrection appearances were revelations that formed the Church
and gave rise to her mission in the world. On the other hand, the
subsequent visions, for instance in 2Cor.
12:1-4 and this passage are continuations of what was begun at Easter. The
overriding message of this passage is Christ’s revelation of himself as alive!
The
climax of this proclamation, Jesus himself is presented in his heavenly royal
majesty, in his vision, John said “I turned round to see who was speaking
to me, and when I turned I saw seven golden lamp stands, and in the middle of
them, one like a Son of man, dressed in a long robe tied at the waist with a
belt of gold” (Rev. 1:12-13), and He was proclaiming in first person: Do
not be afraid; it is I, the First and the Last; I am the Living One, I was dead
and look, I am alive for ever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of
Hades” (Rev. 1:17b-18). The message
for the recognition of the Lordship of Christ is addressed to us today, little
wonder the following words were addressed to John, thus: “I heard a loud voice
behind me, like the sound of a trumpet, saying, write down in a book all that
you see and send it to the seven churches” (Rev.
1:10b-11a).
And today being Divine Mercy Sunday we are called to celebrate God's Mercy, for the
whole world is enveloped in and by the mercy of God. Indeed, it behooves us
today to affirm and reaffirm that Mercy is the most eloquent attribute of God.
Mercy is the interpretative key to all the Mysteries of God and to all the
Events of our Lord Jesus. For instance:
The creation of man is a sign
of God's merciful love.
The incarnation of Jesus is
purely a manifestation of the Divine Mercy.
The signs and miracles
performed by Jesus are equally splendid manifestation of God's mercy.
The Passion and Death of our
Lord Jesus Christ are maximum expressions of Divine Mercy.
The Resurrection doubtlessly
is also an ultimate manifestation of God's mercy.
In fact, as Pope Francis would say, Mercy is another name of God. And as we
celebrate His Mercy today, let us take to heart the invitation of Jesus:
"Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate" (Lk.6:36). As such, we are called to be
objects and subjects of God's mercy. As daily recipients of God's mercy, we are
called to be merciful to others. May God continue to show us his mercy
especially in our world today, torn apart by the presages of war, violence and
hatred. May the freshness of his mercy (Lam.
3:22-23) heal us and heal our world.
Jesus I trust in You!
Jesus I trust in You!!
Jesus I trust in You!!!
(Fr. Vitus M. C. Unegbu, SC)
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