Acts 2:42-47
Ps 118:2-3, 13-15, 22-24
1 Pt 1:3-9
Jn 20:19-31
The Second Sunday of Easter, has been known as Divine Mercy Sunday
since its formal promulgation by St. John Paul, II on 5 May 2000, five days after he canonized St. Faustina Kowalska. The juxtaposition of this feast and the readings for the Second Sunday of Easter is fortuitous. Faith, Love, and Divine Mercy, are all included.
When preaching on these readings it is tempting to focus on Thomas, or Doubting Thomas as he is colloquially known. But to do so would miss the deeper meaning of these readings and their interrelationship. Today’s readings are not about doubt. They are about faith. Faith is not the opposite of doubt. Mature faith must always contend with doubt throughout life, sometimes more and sometimes not so much. Faith cannot mature without struggling with doubt.
The first reading describes the earliest coming together of the Church. “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life,
to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.” That is what we do at Mass: communal hearing of the Gospel and recitation of prayers as we prepare for the Eucharistic Banquet at which we receive the True Body and Blood of our Lord. Note the description of that earliest congregation, “They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God.” We are to imitate them in that.
The second reading shines a bit of light on the Gospel: “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.” Peter’s letter describes a joy
that is the same as that described in the first reading, a joy that is nourished and sustained by participation in this our Eucharistic feast.
It is reasonable to suspect that in the period between the apostles telling Thomas
that Jesus had appeared to them and Jesus' actual appearance when he was present, Thomas continued to love the Jesus with whom he had cast his lot. Just as is true of the love we maintain for a deceased parent or friend, Thomas' love for Jesus did not die on the cross but it was difficult for him to believe, to have faith, that He had risen from the dead.
Periodically we must ask ourselves, what is faith? The definition of faith in the Letter to the Hebrews is unsurpassed, “Now faith is the conviction of things not seen.” In his Letter to the Romans Paul reminds us that, “Faith comes from what is heard and what is heard comes by the preaching of Jesus Christ.”
Jesus’ preaching does not come to us exclusively in the oral form as it did in the Sermon on the Mount or the many parables. Jesus’ preaching comes to us in scripture, in the tradition of the Church, and in the reception of the sacraments.
The first two readings are important because they tells us what it means to be a Church, what it means to be a people of faith, and what we can expect. The gospel tells us something different though complementary
A superficial reading of the Gospel's portrayal of Thomas supplies us with a tempting target. Indeed he is too easy a target because Thomas becomes someone against whom we can compare ourselves in a self-righteous way. He can be used to compare and condemn others whose faith we do not feel is adequate. Calling someone 'a doubting Thomas' is generally not a compliment.
This comparison too is usually made from the position of smug self-righteousness.
At the end of the Gospel Jesus asks a question and gives a blessing, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seenand yet believe.” It is worth pondering that in relation to ourselves.
Neither John’s Gospel nor the synoptic gospels were meant to be albums with verbal snapshots of detailed scenes from Jesus' life. The gospels are not a log book that trace Jesus' daily movements or a diary of Jesus’ day-to-day thoughts.
The gospels are not history in the modern sense of the word. Any attempt to read them through the lens of modern historical convention is doomed to failure and perhaps high comedy. We can never interpret the gospels in the light of the modern concepts of history, journalism, and science without frustration and faithlessness. Nor can we interpret them through the lenses
of modern ‘isms’ and ‘ists.’
The last sentence of this Gospel reading puts the nature things into perspective: 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.”
The Gospel proclaims one essential truth, that Jesus of Nazareth, of whom it speaks, is the Lord. Thus, the fullness of Easter joy is contained in Thomas’ faith-filled, startled, and ultimately joyous proclamation: "My Lord and My God."
It is why we too can gaze upon the True Body and Blood of Christ at the consecration in a few minutes and say with Thomas and all the Church,
“My Lord and My God.”
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love is everlasting."
Alleluia, alleluia
____________________________________
The photos are from Ljubljana, Slovenia on Divine Mercy Sunday 2017. The celebration was long, complicated, and involved Mass, exposition, procession, and long long confessional lines. If I spoke Slovenian I'd probably still be sitting there. Hours.
The Mass was presided by the Archbishop of Ljubljana.
No comments:
Post a Comment