Second Sunday of Easter (or Divine Mercy Sunday)

 

Catechism Links [1]
 
CCC 448, 641-646: Appearances of the risen Christ
CCC 1084-1089: Sanctifying presence of the risen Christ in the liturgy
CCC 2177-2178, 1342: The Sunday Eucharist
CCC 654-655, 1988: Our new birth in the Resurrection of Christ
CCC 926-984, 1441-1442: “I believe in the forgiveness of sins”
CCC 949-953, 1329, 1342, 2624, 2790: Communion in spiritual goods
 
Information about the Divine Mercy Chaplet

“The Incredulity of St. Thomas”
by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 1602-03

Readings for the Second Sunday of Easter [2]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
 
Readings and Commentary: [4]
 
Reading 1: Acts 2:42-47
 
They devoted themselves
to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life,
to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone,
and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
All who believed were together and had all things in common;
they would sell their property and possessions
and divide them among all according to each one’s need.
Every day they devoted themselves
to meeting together in the temple area
and to breaking bread in their homes.
They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart,
praising God and enjoying favor with all the people.
And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
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Commentary on Acts 2:42-47
 
This selection is the conclusion of St. Luke’s Pentecostal narrative. The Holy Spirit has descended upon the people, and St. Peter has offered his speech declaring Christ risen and explaining the messianic significance of that event. The people have reacted favorably to his words and we find many have been reached. The description of the early Christian community in Jerusalem, the first of three summary passages (along with Acts 4:32-37 and Acts 5:12-16), reflects an idyllic communal life style that is focused on the teaching of the twelve apostles and the Eucharistic liturgy. We note the reference to the continued attendance at the temple indicating that there was no thought of separating the Christian faithful from Judaism.
 
CCC: Acts 2:42-46 2178; Acts 2:42 3, 857, 949, 1329, 1342, 2624; Acts 2:46 584,1329,1342; Acts 2:47 2640
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
 
R. (1) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
 
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
 
I was hard pressed and was falling,
but the Lord helped me.
My strength and my courage is the Lord,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just:
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
 
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the Lord has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day the Lord has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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Commentary on Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
 
Psalm 118 has been in regular use during the Easter season. It is a liturgical song of praise and victory. The messianic imagery is so strong that it has been used for the past three days, reflecting the joy of the Church in Eastertide. This litany of thanksgiving features the cornerstone image that, in addition to Acts 4:1-12, was also used in the Gospel of St. Mark (Mark 12:10) and the first epistle of St. Peter (1 Peter 2:7) and the following Old Testament references: Job 38:6; Isaiah 28:16; Jeremiah 51:26. On Divine Mercy Sunday we begin the selection appropriately with: “His mercy endures forever.”
 
CCC: Ps 118:14 1808; Ps 118:22 587, 756; Ps 118:26 559
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Reading II: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,
kept in heaven for you
who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith,
to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time.
In this you rejoice, although now for a little while
you may have to suffer through various trials,
so that the genuineness of your faith,
more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire,
may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Although you have not seen him you love him;
even though you do not see him now yet believe in him,
you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,
as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
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Commentary on 1 Pt 1:3-9
 
St. Peter writes to early churches of Asia Minor. This letter is thought to have been composed while St. Peter was in Rome, and published to them between 64 and 67 AD, shortly before his martyrdom at the hands of Nero.  He begins this selection with a prayer, thanking God for the grace given in baptism (“gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”). This passage is the beginning of the first section of his letter, dealing primarily with the gift and call of Christ in baptism.
 
Although baptism is not mentioned specifically, we see the allusion to it, first with: “who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope,” and then later with: “you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of faith, the salvation of your souls.”  These gifts of hope and faith, presented in baptism, give Christians their indelible character.
 
CCC: 1 Pt 1:3-9 2627; 1 Pt 1:3 654; 1 Pt 1:7 1031
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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.
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Commentary on 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. (Note: no reference was made to Thomas' absence in Luke 24:36-49, the only other account of this event.)
 
There are a number of very important elements of this version of the story. First, the Lord’s greeting is “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. He also 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."
 
CCC: Jn 20:19 575, 643, 645, 659; Jn 20:20 645; Jn 20:21-23 1087, 1120, 1441; Jn 20:21 730, 858; Jn 20:22-23 976, 1485; Jn 20:22 730, 788, 1287; Jn 20:23 1461, 2839; Jn 20:24-27 644; Jn 20:26 645, 659; Jn 20:27 645; Jn 20:28 448; Jn 20:30 514; Jn 20:31 442, 514
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Reflection:
 
I will make a confession to you – at least to those of who do not know me personally – I am a science fiction fan, have been since I was about 12 years old when my best friend gave me one of the works of Robert Heinlein to read.  Because I’ve read a lot and seen a large number of films of that genre, when I start looking for analogies, I frequently latch on to examples from that segment of literature.  In the case of the lesson taught by the story of Jesus coming to the locked room I’d like to use a recent film called the Fifth Element which starred Bruce Willis and Chris Rock.
 
The plot element upon which I draw, however, did not involve either of these two actors.  For those of you not familiar with the movie it involves an ancient defensive weapon left to protect earth from the ultimate evil.  This weapon was kept in one of the pyramids of Giza until it was newly discovered by archeologists in the early 1900’s and was moved off-planet until needed.  A brotherhood of priests (not Catholic) was left in charge of the site on earth, and promised the weapon would be returned 500 years in the future when the great evil was scheduled to return.
 
The problem came to a head when (through a series of improbable adventures) the weapon was returned in the nick of time, but the secret of its use had not been faithfully passed down, and the priest alive at the time of its need did not know how to use the force to save mankind.
 
Now some of you, I’m sure, are wondering where in the world this is going.  Well, let’s look at the Gospel story.  An amazing thing happens.  The savior that we saw die on the Cross on Good Friday appears in a locked room, twice, to an incredulous group of frightened disciples.   He shows them his hands and feet.  He has Thomas, who was not with them the first Sunday, on the second Sunday (that’s today) place his fingers into his hands and side.
 
In spite of their doubts and fears, the disciples are now convinced.  Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ.  He is the Messiah spoken of in the law and predicted by the prophets.  He is the cornerstone of God’s revelation.  And what does he ask his friends?  What does he invite them to do?  It’s a very simple statement: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you." He sends them into the world with the faith and knowledge he gave them by displaying his gloriously risen body.
 
These few did as the Lord instructed.  They went out into the world, always passing on the same instruction to their followers: as the Lord sent us, so we send you.  In all but one instance they died for that message.  Their followers did the same and so on, and so on, for fifty generations. 
 
The message has made progress, and the message has been rejected, in various turns of history.  With the onset of the current age, many people reject the truth of the locked room.  They reject the possibility of Christ crucified and risen.  They say: What difference does it make? And: Why should we believe such fairy tales?
 
Into this storm of secular disbelief, we, today’s disciples are sent.  The question we must ask is, are we like the old priest from the Fifth Element?  Do we remember the secret of the “locked room,” and the glory of God that blazed in that space?  Is our faith in Christ and in his continued presence here with us strong enough to face a disbelieving world that would rather pursue its dreams of self-serving pleasure?
 
The secret of the locked room is this: Jesus of Nazareth died a human death on the cross.  He did so in order that his sacrifice might atone for the sins of all mankind, that we might be reconciled to our merciful Father.  To show that death had been defeated, he returned to his disciples.  He did not return in the human body he had worn in life.  Such a body could never have passed through the walls of the locked room.  No, he returned in a resurrected and glorified body, a body that had substance, in a reality we cannot understand.  It is the body he offered to St. Thomas our patron. 
 
“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.”
 
It is the essence of that glorified and risen body he presents to us in the form of bread and wine at our Eucharistic feast.  And like Thomas, he invites us to believe as we hear: “The Body of Christ” and, “The Blood of Christ.”
 
Today we are once again witnesses to God’s ultimate revelation.  In an act of Divine Mercy, he shows us the living presence in the Eucharist as he enters this locked room and shows himself to us in his gloriously risen body, present in the form of bread and wine.  He comes to us two thousand years later and bids us to believe in God’s mercy.  He asks us, like he asked those first friends of his, to go into the world and through their words and actions, proclaim the kingdom of God.
 
Are you ready?  Do you remember the secret?  Can you do as the Lord asks?  With the strength of the Holy Spirit we pray our answer to all these questions is “Yes!”
 
Pax

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[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
^[2] The picture used today is “The Incredulity of St. Thomas” by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 1602-03.
^[3] S.S. Commemoratio
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.