Divine Mercy Sunday
Information on the Divine Mercy Chaplet
Readings for the Second Sunday of Easter[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible at Universalis
Commentary:
Reading 1 Acts 5:12-16
The disciples continue to evangelize the people of Jerusalem in this, the third of St. Luke’s descriptive summaries. We see a continuation of the healing power of their ministry in the name of Jesus and feel belief in the risen Lord grow.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
R. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.
For the third day in a row the litany of thanksgiving in Psalm 118 is used. On Divine Mercy Sunday we begin the selection appropriately with “His mercy endures forevery.”
Reading II Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19
We are given St. John’s first vision from his revelations as he is instructed to write down all he sees for the seven (Lamp Stands) Churches of his time (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea). (We also note that the vision of the Son of Man bares a striking resemblance to St. Faustina’s vision of the risen Lord)
St. John is reassured that the Risen Lord has indeed conquered death and now lives forever at the right hand of the Father. (“Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld”)
Gospel Jn 20:19-31
St. John gives us the picture of the disciples (now Apostles) in hiding immediately following the Lord’s crucifixion. Twice Jesus comes to them once with Thomas absent and then again when he is present.
There are a number of very important elements of this version of the story. First, the Lord’s greeting, “Peace be with you.” While this may have been a simple Shalom, it is more likely intended to emphasize the rejoicing sense of the meeting. Immediately the Lord sends them on their mission, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you." As part of this action we are told the Lord gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to strengthen them and gives them authority to act in his name.
The significance of Thomas’ absence is used as an evangelizing moment. Doubting Thomas is confronted in the second visit by the risen Christ and almost in recompense for his role as disbeliever; he provides the title with which Jesus is understood now as True God as well as True Man – “My Lord and my God.”
The Lord then delivers a beatitude for future generations of Christians; “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."
Reflection:
We celebrated Christ Risen a week ago. Having been given the faith by those who went before us, we knew what came next and rejoiced. Even while we did that, the disciples were trying to sort out what parts of the amazing things Jesus told them were parables and allegory and what parts were literally true (no one had written this story for them to see the bold headings "Parable of the Talents" or some other teaching lesson) and what they should expect. I can imagine John saying; "Holy cow, (it probably translated differently in Aramaic) what if when the Lord talked about wheat falling to the ground and dying, that meant us too?" Or Peter saying; "What did he mean, I am a rock and upon this rock I will build my Church?"
As usual, the women were that bravest. They were the ones who went to the Tomb so that all that should be done for the dead was done. The other disciples were probably asking them not to risk it. To them belongs the first honor of seeing the empty tomb and understanding. They were the ones to hear first the news that was sung by all the choirs of heaven, the same choirs that announced his birth, that "He is risen! He is no longer here. See where they laid him."
And now Jesus comes to his closest friends, still hiding in fear, and says to them; "Peace be with you." At the time Jesus first appeared to the disciples and gave them those words of peace- it must have been necessary to keep them from fleeing the room. He gave them that first gift of peace, the one they most needed. The blocks fell into place as they saw his form - the same as always, yet different. The expressions they had last seen during the pain and sorrow of his horrific passion and death were replaced by a wise and somehow sad countenance they had seen for three years.
He breathed on them and they were at peace. He spoke to them and their fear melted away like wax to be replaced by joy. He was with them again and they were whole.
But we were not there to see the Risen Lord stand and walk and breath. Thomas was us, was he not? He could not believe what his friends told him when he returned. He was probably thinking ("What if they are hysterical?"). After all, they must have been jumping around like wild men, shouting with glee - he is risen, we have seen him, praise God, he is returned to us. If we walked into a room where we had left our closest friends a short time earlier, cowering in fear, and found them jumping around like that what would we have felt?
So he took the wind right out of their sails by saying what was on his mind. "I do not believe you."
That must have been like a bucket of cold water thrown on these rejoicing figures. They probably stopped mid-prance and started trying to get him to understand. "Thomas, he was here. He came to us even though the doors were locked and he stood right here with us. You have to believe."
Again Thomas sobers them with; "I will not believe it until I put my fingers into the nail prints in his hands and my hand into the wound in his side." If they had been my friends in the same situation, they would have just shrugged and gone off to celebrate more among themselves.
For our sake, however, St. Thomas, Doubting Thomas, redeemed himself in spades when the Lord returned and he was there. He was the first to take the leap from; "Jesus our teacher and friend has returned to us as he said." To; "Jesus truly is the Christ, the Son of God." It was Thomas, not Peter and not John, who said to Jesus; "My Lord and my God." It was the doubter who understood for us the true nature of the man who is God and labeled him so for the first time and the rest of time.
It is Thomas we need to be like as we struggle with our faith without seeing. It is Thomas we must emulate in our own on going conversation. It is from our hearts we must respond to him; "My Lord and my God!"
Pax
[1] After 05/07
[2] Two images are presented today. The first, by an unknown artist, is the vision of Christ seen by St. Faustina Kowalska. The second had to be “The Incredulity of St. Thomas” by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 1602-03
Information on the Divine Mercy Chaplet
Readings for the Second Sunday of Easter[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible at Universalis
Commentary:
Reading 1 Acts 5:12-16
The disciples continue to evangelize the people of Jerusalem in this, the third of St. Luke’s descriptive summaries. We see a continuation of the healing power of their ministry in the name of Jesus and feel belief in the risen Lord grow.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
R. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.
For the third day in a row the litany of thanksgiving in Psalm 118 is used. On Divine Mercy Sunday we begin the selection appropriately with “His mercy endures forevery.”
Reading II Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19
We are given St. John’s first vision from his revelations as he is instructed to write down all he sees for the seven (Lamp Stands) Churches of his time (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea). (We also note that the vision of the Son of Man bares a striking resemblance to St. Faustina’s vision of the risen Lord)
St. John is reassured that the Risen Lord has indeed conquered death and now lives forever at the right hand of the Father. (“Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld”)
Gospel Jn 20:19-31
St. John gives us the picture of the disciples (now Apostles) in hiding immediately following the Lord’s crucifixion. Twice Jesus comes to them once with Thomas absent and then again when he is present.
There are a number of very important elements of this version of the story. First, the Lord’s greeting, “Peace be with you.” While this may have been a simple Shalom, it is more likely intended to emphasize the rejoicing sense of the meeting. Immediately the Lord sends them on their mission, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you." As part of this action we are told the Lord gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to strengthen them and gives them authority to act in his name.
The significance of Thomas’ absence is used as an evangelizing moment. Doubting Thomas is confronted in the second visit by the risen Christ and almost in recompense for his role as disbeliever; he provides the title with which Jesus is understood now as True God as well as True Man – “My Lord and my God.”
The Lord then delivers a beatitude for future generations of Christians; “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."
Reflection:
We celebrated Christ Risen a week ago. Having been given the faith by those who went before us, we knew what came next and rejoiced. Even while we did that, the disciples were trying to sort out what parts of the amazing things Jesus told them were parables and allegory and what parts were literally true (no one had written this story for them to see the bold headings "Parable of the Talents" or some other teaching lesson) and what they should expect. I can imagine John saying; "Holy cow, (it probably translated differently in Aramaic) what if when the Lord talked about wheat falling to the ground and dying, that meant us too?" Or Peter saying; "What did he mean, I am a rock and upon this rock I will build my Church?"
As usual, the women were that bravest. They were the ones who went to the Tomb so that all that should be done for the dead was done. The other disciples were probably asking them not to risk it. To them belongs the first honor of seeing the empty tomb and understanding. They were the ones to hear first the news that was sung by all the choirs of heaven, the same choirs that announced his birth, that "He is risen! He is no longer here. See where they laid him."
And now Jesus comes to his closest friends, still hiding in fear, and says to them; "Peace be with you." At the time Jesus first appeared to the disciples and gave them those words of peace- it must have been necessary to keep them from fleeing the room. He gave them that first gift of peace, the one they most needed. The blocks fell into place as they saw his form - the same as always, yet different. The expressions they had last seen during the pain and sorrow of his horrific passion and death were replaced by a wise and somehow sad countenance they had seen for three years.
He breathed on them and they were at peace. He spoke to them and their fear melted away like wax to be replaced by joy. He was with them again and they were whole.
But we were not there to see the Risen Lord stand and walk and breath. Thomas was us, was he not? He could not believe what his friends told him when he returned. He was probably thinking ("What if they are hysterical?"). After all, they must have been jumping around like wild men, shouting with glee - he is risen, we have seen him, praise God, he is returned to us. If we walked into a room where we had left our closest friends a short time earlier, cowering in fear, and found them jumping around like that what would we have felt?
So he took the wind right out of their sails by saying what was on his mind. "I do not believe you."
That must have been like a bucket of cold water thrown on these rejoicing figures. They probably stopped mid-prance and started trying to get him to understand. "Thomas, he was here. He came to us even though the doors were locked and he stood right here with us. You have to believe."
Again Thomas sobers them with; "I will not believe it until I put my fingers into the nail prints in his hands and my hand into the wound in his side." If they had been my friends in the same situation, they would have just shrugged and gone off to celebrate more among themselves.
For our sake, however, St. Thomas, Doubting Thomas, redeemed himself in spades when the Lord returned and he was there. He was the first to take the leap from; "Jesus our teacher and friend has returned to us as he said." To; "Jesus truly is the Christ, the Son of God." It was Thomas, not Peter and not John, who said to Jesus; "My Lord and my God." It was the doubter who understood for us the true nature of the man who is God and labeled him so for the first time and the rest of time.
It is Thomas we need to be like as we struggle with our faith without seeing. It is Thomas we must emulate in our own on going conversation. It is from our hearts we must respond to him; "My Lord and my God!"
Pax
[1] After 05/07
[2] Two images are presented today. The first, by an unknown artist, is the vision of Christ seen by St. Faustina Kowalska. The second had to be “The Incredulity of St. Thomas” by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 1602-03
No comments:
Post a Comment