April 27, 2025
Second Sunday of Easter
Sunday of Divine Mercy
Lectionary: 45
Reading I
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.
Responsorial Psalm
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.
Reading II
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.”
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord;
blessed are those who have not seen me, but still believe!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042725.cfm
Commentary on Acts
5:12-16; Revelation 1:9-13,17-19; John 20:19-31
On this Divine Mercy Sunday—the first Sunday after the
celebration of Easter—the emphasis is on faith in the presence and power of the
living Jesus in our midst. About Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope John Paul II stated,
It is a time where we are blessed with divine mercy as it
reaches us through the heart of Christ crucified.
The work of Jesus continues
The Risen Jesus now lives on in the community which believes in him. The
Apostles are now endowed with the same powers that Jesus had during his life
here on earth, not in their own name, but in the name of Jesus their Lord. In
today’s First Reading, we are told:
…many signs and wonders were done among the people
through the apostles.
And that:
…more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great
numbers of both men and women…
People came crowding in from the towns round about
Jerusalem, bringing with them their sick and those tormented by unclean
spirits:
…they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid
them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them
as he came by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns around
Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were
all cured.
It is living testimony that Jesus is active and continues
his saving and whole-making work among us, for the disciples do these works in
the name of Jesus their Lord.
The Apostles proclaim the message of Jesus as Saviour and
invite people to join their company. We know that many indeed did come to join
them, but there is a telling phrase in the First Reading that:
None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held
them in high esteem.
Is this already a hint of the counter-witness of the early
Christians when they were already being regarded with suspicion by the
religious and civil authorities and when it was becoming dangerous to be
identified with them? They were a group to be admired—but from a safe distance.
It is yet another sign that the early followers were about to share the same
fate as Jesus himself.
Mixed reactions to be expected
Things have not changed greatly in our own time. For it is through the
Christian community and its witness that people come to know of Jesus and are led
to faith in his message of truth and life. It is a witness that rests on the
shoulders of every single follower of Jesus and we do it not just by explicitly
religious actions, but by the very pattern and impact of our daily lives—an
impact that arouses both positive and negative responses.
The Gospel, however, brings us back to an earlier stage when
the disciples have not yet come to the full realisation that Jesus, whom they
saw crucified, dead and buried, is now alive, that he is risen. As the Gospel opens
we see them huddled together in that room with the doors firmly locked “for
fear of the Jews.” At any moment they dreaded the arrival of the police to
arrest them as accomplices of the dangerous subversive who had been executed on
Golgotha the previous Friday.
Peace instead of fear
And then, all of a sudden, the Jesus they presumed dead is standing among them.
He says in greeting:
Peace be with you.
This can be taken as a blessing, echoing the ordinary Jewish
greeting, Shalom. Or it can be taken as a statement of a fact—Jesus
essentially saying: “With my presence among you there comes deep inner peace.”
This is the same peace that comes when Jesus calms the surrounding storms in
the Gospel stories. They experience an unutterable joy:
Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
“Lord” is the title for the Risen Jesus.
But it is not just to be a happy reunion. There is work to
be done, the work that Jesus began and which they are to continue:
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.
They are being given a mission. The word ‘mission’ comes
from the Latin word ‘to send’ (mittere). All followers of Jesus have a
mission—all are missionaries.
Passing on his Spirit
Then, when he had said this:
…he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy
Spirit.”
In John’s Gospel this is the Pentecost experience, when the
Holy Spirit comes down on the disciples. In Luke’s Acts, Pentecost takes place
50 days after the Resurrection, but for John it takes place on Easter Day. For
us, it makes no difference—the meaning is the same.
What Jesus does is reminiscent of the Creation story when
God ‘breathed’ over the waters and brought life and order into the chaos. He
‘breathed’ again and Adam, the human being made in the image of God, comes into
existence. Now, Jesus ‘breathes’ the Spirit of his Way, of his Truth and of his
Life, making of the disciples (in Paul’s term) “new human beings,” full of the
Spirit of the Father and Jesus.
The meaning of forgiveness
The very empowering authority of Jesus is transferred to them:
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them;
if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.
When they act together in the name of Jesus, they have his
authority. And above all, their task is to ‘forgive sin’, that is, to bring
about a deep reconciliation between people and God and among people themselves,
to make all one in Him:
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called
children of God. (Matt 5:9)
We are not just talking here about “confession,” or the
institution of the sacrament of reconciliation, although its roots can be
traced to here. Forgiving sin is much more than a juridical act of declaring
sins no longer held against someone. It involves the healing of wounds and
division between God and people—and between people as brothers and sisters—in
one family based on truth, love and justice. That is the work of the Kingdom.
That is the work of every Christian community and every member in it.
The doubter
But there is even more to today’s story. Thomas, “one of the twelve,” was not
there on that Easter Sunday. He stands for the sceptic in all of us:
Unless I see…I will not believe.
In the Gospel story, Thomas generally comes across as a bit
of a grump. He likes to criticise, to put objections, to make difficulties, to
call into question. He now wants convincing proof:
Unless I [can]…put my finger in the mark of
the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.
The following Sunday—in fact, the Sunday we are celebrating
today—the doors are again closed. (This is now not out of fear but as an
indication of the way that the Risen Jesus now becomes present.) Again there is
the reassuring greeting of ‘Peace’. Jesus now addresses Thomas directly:
Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your
hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.
Extraordinary confession
There then follows the greatest confession of faith in all of the Gospels when
Thomas says:
My Lord and my God!
Thomas had been invited to touch the wounds, but he does not
seem to have done so. And his cry of recognition is not based only on the
evidence of his senses. He does not say, “Jesus, it’s you!” Rather, he says “My
Lord and my God!” It is, in fact, a profound act of faith in the reality and
identity of the Person standing before him. And that is something he cannot see
only with his physical senses. Only the eyes of faith can lead him to so speak.
Jesus gives a further word of encouragement, though, offered
for those of us who have not had Thomas’ privileged experience:
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to
believe.
Of course, all belief in Jesus involves some element of
seeing, of ‘in-sight’. But we have not had the experience of seeing and knowing
the Jesus of the Public Life—Jesus before his crucifixion.
However, our faith enables us to see him in all the
surroundings of our daily life, especially in those people who are filled with
his Spirit and who bring him into our lives. And we also see and find him in
all the sick, the weak, the oppressed and the poor around us who provide us
with opportunities to know, love and show compassion for Jesus. We are even to
see him in those who are hostile or who do harm to us in the sense that we are
challenged to be Christ for them in our unconditional love and concern for
their well-being.
Breaking down barriers
To see and know Jesus in our lives is, at the same time, to recognise where he
comes to us, as well as to be ready for day-to-day opportunities when we can
bring him into the lives of others. Above all, can we be true to the mission
Jesus gave to his disciples to be makers of reconciliation and to be
peacemakers, breaking down walls of hatred, prejudice and fear? We do this by
living lives of integrity, of love and compassion and of real justice for all.
Each time we do that, Easter is celebrated and Jesus is alive among us.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/ec021/
Sunday,
April 27, 2025
Second Sunday of Easter
Opening Prayer
Father, who on the Lord’s
Day gather your people to celebrate the One who is the First and the Last, the
living One who conquered death, grant us the strength of your Spirit so that,
having broken the chains of evil, calmed our fears and indecisions, we may
render the free service of our obedience and love, to reign in glory with
Christ
LECTIO
A Key to the Reading – John 20: 19-31
We are in the so-called “book of the
resurrection” where we are told, in a not-so- logical sequence, several matters
concerning the risen Christ and the facts that prove it. In the fourth Gospel,
these facts take place in the morning (20: 118) and evening of the first day
after the Saturday and eight days later, in the same place and on the same day
of the week. We are before an event that is the most important in the history
of humanity, an event that challenges us personally. “If Christ has not been
raised then our preaching is useless and your believing it is useless… and you
are still in your sins” (1Cor 15: 14, 17) says Paul the apostle who had not
known Jesus before his resurrection, but who zealously preached him all his
life. Jesus is the sent of the Father. He also sends us. Our willingness to
“go” comes from the depth of the faith we have in the Risen
One. Are we prepared to accept his “mandate” and to give
our lives for his
Kingdom? This passage is
not just about the faith of those who have not seen (the witness of Thomas),
but also about the mission entrusted to the Church by Christ.
A Suggested Division of the Text:
•
John 20: 19-20: appearance to the disciples and
showing of the wounds
•
John 20: 21-23: gift of the Spirit for the
mission
•
John 20: 24-26: special appearance to Thomas
eight days later
•
John 20: 27-29: dialogue with Thomas
•
John 20: 30-31: the aim of the Gospel according
to John
The Text – John 20: 19-31
19 On the evening of that day,
the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for
fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace
be with you." 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his
side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to
them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send
you." 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
24 Now Thomas, one of the
twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other
disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them,
"Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and place my finger in
the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe."
26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with
them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said,
"Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger
here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not
be faithless, but believing." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my
God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen
me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
30 Now Jesus did many other signs
in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but
these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
A Moment of Silence
to allow the Word to enter into our hearts
MEDITATIO
A Few Questions:
•
Who or what drew my interest and wonder in the
reading?
•
Is it possible for someone to profess being
Christian and yet not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus? Is it so important
to believe in the resurrection? What would be different if we stopped at his
teaching and witness of life?
•
What does the gift of the Spirit for the mission
mean to me?
•
How does Jesus‟ mission in
the world continue after the Resurrection? What is the content of the
missionary proclamation?
•
What value has Thomas‟ witness for
me? What are, if any, my doubts concerning the faith? How do I meet them and
still carry on?
•
Am I able to give reasons for my faith? Comment:
•
In the evening of that same day, the first day
of the week: the disciples are living through an extraordinary day. For the
community, at the time of the writing of the fourth Gospel, the day after the
Sabbath is already “the Lord’s Day” (Ap 1: 10), Dies Domini (Sunday) and is more important than the Sabbath was in
the tradition of the Jews.
•
The doors were closed: a detail which shows that
the body of the risen Jesus, even though recognizable, is not subject to the
ordinary laws of human life.
•
Peace be with you: this is not just a wish, but
the actual peace promised to them when they were saddened by his departure (Jn
14: 27; 2Thes 3: 16; Rom 5: 3), the messianic peace, the fulfilment of the
promises made by God, freedom from all fear, victory over sin and death,
reconciliation with God, fruit of his passion, free gift of God. This peace is
repeated three times in this passage as well as in the introduction (20: 19)
further on (20: 26) in the exact same way.
•
He showed them his hands and his side: Jesus
provides evident and tangible proof that he is the one who was crucified. Only
John records the detail of the wound in the side caused by the spear of a Roman
soldier, whereas Luke mentions the wound of the feet (Lk 24: 39). In showing
his wounds, Jesus wants to say that the peace he gives comes from the cross
(2Tim 2: 1-13). They are part of his identity as the risen One (Ap 5: 6).
•
The disciples were filled with joy when they saw
the Lord: This is the same joy expressed by the prophet Isaiah when he
describes the divine banquet (Is 25: 8-9), the eschatological joy foreshadowed
in the farewell speech and that no one can take away (Jn 16: 22; 20: 27). Cfr.
also Lk 24: 39-40; Mt 28: 8; Lk 24: 41.
•
As the Father sent me, so am I sending you:
Jesus is the first missionary, “the apostle and high priest of the faith we
profess” (Ap 3: 1). After the experience of the cross and the resurrection,
Jesus‟ prayer to the Father comes true (Jn 13: 20; 17: 18;
21: 15, 17). This is not a new mission, but the mission of Jesus extended to
those who are his disciples, bound to him like branches are bound to the vine
(15: 9), so also, they are bound to his Church (Mt 28: 18-20; Mk 16: 15-18; Lk
24: 47-49). The eternal Son of God was sent so that “the world might be saved
through him” (Jn 3: 17) and the whole of his earthly existence, fully
identified with the saving will of the Father, is a constant manifestation of
that divine will that all may be saved. He leaves as an inheritance this
historical project to the whole Church and, especially to ordained ministers
within that Church.
•
He breathed on them: this action recalling the
life-giving breath of God on man (Gen 2: 7), does not occur anywhere else in
the New Testament. It marks the beginning of a new creation.
•
Receive the Holy Spirit: after Jesus was
glorified, the Holy Spirit was bestowed (Jn 7: 39). Here the Spirit is
transmitted for a special mission, whereas at Pentecost (Acts 2) the Holy
Spirit comes down on the whole people of God.
•
For those whose sins you forgive they are
forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained: we find the power
to forgive or not forgive sins also in Matthew in a more juridical form (Mt 16:
19; 18: 18). According to the Scribes and Pharisees (Mk 2: 7), and according to
tradition (Is 43: 25), God has the power to forgive sins. Jesus gives this
power (Lk 5: 24) and passes it on to his Church. In our meditation, it is
better not to dwell on this text’s theological development in
church tradition and the consequent theological controversies. In the fourth
Gospel the expression may be taken in a wide sense. Here it is a matter of the
power of forgiving sins in the Church as salvation community and those
especially endowed with this power are those who share in the apostolic charism
by succession and mission. In this general power is included the power to
forgive sins also after baptism, what we call “the sacrament of reconciliation”
expressed in various forms throughout the history of the Church.
•
Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the
Twelve: Thomas is one of the main characters of the fourth Gospel and his
doubting character, easily discouraged, is emphasised (11: 16; 14: 5). “One of
the twelve” is by now a stereotyped expression (6: 71), because in fact they
were only eleven. “Didimus” means “the Twin,” and we could be his “twins”
through our difficulty in believing in Jesus, Son of God who died and rose
again.
•
We have seen the Lord! When Andrew, John and
Philip had found the Messiah, they had already run to announce the news to
others (Jn 1: 41-45). Now there is the official proclamation by eyewitnesses
(Jn 20: 18).
•
Unless I see the holes that the nails made in
his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put
my hand into his side, I refuse to believe: Thomas cannot believe the
eyewitnesses. He wants to experience the event himself. The fourth Gospel is
aware of the difficulty that some may have in believing in the Resurrection (Lk
24; 34-40; Mk 16: 11; 1Cor 15: 5-8), especially those who have not seen the
risen One. Thomas is their (and our) interpreter. He is willing to believe, but
he wants to resolve personally any doubt, for fear of being wrong. Jesus does
not see in Thomas an indifferent sceptic, but a man in search of truth and
satisfies him fully. This is, however, an occasion to express an appreciation
of future believers (verse 29).
•
Put your finger here, look, here are my hands.
Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe! Jesus
repeats the words of Thomas and enters into a dialogue with him. He understands
Thomas’ doubts and wishes to help him. Jesus knows that
Thomas loves him and therefore has compassion for him because Thomas does not
yet enjoy the peace that comes from faith. Jesus helps him to grow in faith. In
order to enter deeper into this theme, see the parallels in: 1Jn 1-2; Ps 78:
38; 103: 13- 14; Rom 5: 20; 1Tim 1: 14-16.
•
My Lord and my God! This is a profession of
faith in the risen One and in his divinity as is also proclaimed in the
beginning of John’s Gospel (1: 1). In the Old
Testament “Lord” and “God” correspond respectively to “Yahweh” and “Elohim” (Ps
35: 23-24; Ap 4: 11). It is the fullest and most direct paschal profession of
faith in the divinity of Jesus. In Jewish circles these terms had greater value
because they applied to Jesus texts concerning God. Jesus does not correct the
words of Thomas as he corrected the words of the Jews who accused him of
wanting to be “equal to God” (Jn 5: 18ff) thus approving the acknowledgement of
his divinity.
•
You believe because you can see me. Happy are
those who have not seen and yet believe! Jesus cannot stand those who look for
signs and miracles in order to believe (Jn 4: 48) and he seems to take Thomas
to task. Here we must remember another passage concerning a more authentic faith,
a “way of perfection” towards a faith to which we must aspire without the
demands of Thomas, a faith received as gift and as an act of trust, like the
exemplary faith of our ancestors (Ap 11) and of Mary (Lk 1: 45). We, who are
two thousand years after the coming of Jesus, are told that, although we have
not seen him, yet we can love him and believing in him we can exult with “an
indescribable and glorious joy” (1Pt 1: 8).
These (signs) are recorded so that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life
through his name. The fourth Gospel, like the other Gospels, does not mean to
write a complete biography of Jesus, but only to show that Jesus was the
Christ, the awaited Messiah, the Liberator, and that he was the Son of God.
Believing in him means that we possess eternal life. If Jesus is not God, then
our faith is in vain!
ORATIO
Psalm 118 (117)
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast
love endures for ever!
Let Israel say,
"His steadfast love endures forever." Let the
house of Aaron say,
"His steadfast love endures
forever." Let those who fear the LORD say, "His steadfast love
endures forever."
I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord
helped me.
The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my
salvation.
Hark, glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous.
The stone which the
builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and
be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech thee, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech thee,
give us success!
CONTEMPLATIO
Closing Prayer
I thank you Jesus, my Lord and my God, that you have loved
me and called me, made me worthy to be your disciple, that you have given me
the Spirit, the One sent to proclaim and witness to your resurrection, to the
mercy of the Father, to salvation and pardon for all men and women in the
world. You truly are the way, the truth and the life, the dawn without a
setting, the sun of justice and peace. Grant that I may dwell in your love,
bound to you like a branch to its vine. Grant me your peace so that I may
overcome my weaknesses, face my doubts and respond to your call and live fully
the mission you entrusted to me, praising you forever. You who live and reign
forever and ever. Amen.
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