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Dear Parish Family,
The Second Sunday of Easter is "Divine Mercy Sunday". Our Gospel (John 20: 19-31) recounted two the Post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ to his disciples. Jesus appears to his disciples, coming through locked doors and says "Peace be with you" breathing upon them the Holy Spirit and communicating His authority to forgive sins. The next week Jesus appears again and asks Thomas to put his hand into his side to verify that he is real and that he is the same person who was killed by crucifixion. The Gospels tell an incredible story. A virginal conception. Miraculous healings. Even people coming back from the dead. How are we to know that it’s not all just a fanciful fabrication? But in the story told by the apostles, virtually all of them look real bad. During Jesus public ministry they repeatedly fail to “get it.” In fact Jesus wears himself out trying to hammer the truth through their thick skulls. After witnessing three years of miracles, one of them betrays Jesus and the leader of the group denies him. All but one run away when he’s crucified, and no one believes Mary Magdalene when she brings them the news of his resurrection.
But the episode recounted in John 20:19-31 takes the cake. In justice, Jesus could have just said “enough.” Thomas had already seen so much. Acts 1 tells us that Judas was replaced by Matthias. This ungrateful skeptic could easily have been replaced as well. But Jesus does not deal with us by virtue of strict justice. God forbid! No, he comes to us in mercy, giving us what we do not deserve. And that’s how he dealt with this doubter. Thomas can’t be said to come to true “faith” in the resurrection through all this. Because faith is about believing what you can’t see. Walking by faith means NOT walking by sight. In heaven, we’ll see God face to face, so “faith” will be no more. Blessed, says Jesus, are those who have not seen, and yet believe.
But Thomas does come to faith in something else that he can’t quite see. He saw Lazarus, the son of the widow of Nain plus the daughter of Jairus, all raised from the dead. Thomas now looks at yet another risen human being before him and says what he did not say to the prior three: “My Lord and My God.” Thomas here professes what can only be seen by the eye of faith. The resurrection of Jesus is not just a marvel for Ripley’s Believe it or Not. Jesus is not just some first century Houdini. No, his resurrection is a sign that he is the Messiah, the King, the Eternal God, come in the flesh. This is the highest expression of faith in the entire Bible.
Tradition and historical evidence bear out that Thomas travelled farthest and established the Christian communities in South India, where to this day there is a vibrant Christian Church. Thomas´s response in his encounter with the Risen Lord, "My Lord and My God" reveals the heart of prayer as a call to adoration and communion with God. It has become the exclamation for millions, when faced with the Mystery of Mysteries, the Holy Eucharist at the elevation during Mass. I suggest that Thomas was not a doubter, rather he was a believer. And he is a model for all of us at every Eucharist which is the Feast of Mercy.
Fr. Tom Kunnel C.O.