DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY

Dear Parishioners, 

On this Second Sunday of Easter, the Gospel tells of what happened on the evening of the Resurrection day when Jesus stood among the ten Apostles gathered in the room where they had eaten the Last Supper three nights before. Remember – there were only ten Apostles on this occasion since Judas killed himself and Thomas was not present for some reason. Jesus unexpectedly walks through locked doors and greets His dear Apostles with “Peace be with you!” After initial surprise and possible shock, they rejoice with their risen Master, Rabbi, Teacher, and Lord. The Risen Jesus represents and literally embodies new life and a new beginning for Him, for His Apostles, and for all who commit themselves to following Him. Jesus emphasizes peace first and foremost in His first appearance to the Apostles, as well as in His second visit to the Upper Room one week later when the Apostle Thomas is present. Jesus tells Thomas to stop disbelieving and start believing in His Resurrection, and Jesus gives much encouragement, actually a blessing, to those people who believe in His Resurrection even though they do not see Him in person as the Apostles have actually seen Him. To fully believe in the Resurrection without ever seeing the Risen Christ is really having true faith, with true faith defined as belief in that which we cannot experience with our five senses. The Last Supper, His arrest, His mock trial, His scourging and being crowned with thorns, His crucifixion, burial, and Resurrection all happened so quickly, yet Jesus knew the time frame and had prepared His Apostles and disciples as best He could for these events. He was as patient as He could be with them and is as patient with us as well in our faith journeys. Jesus calls us each Easter to new life and a new beginning, yet we can begin a new life and a new beginning spiritually at anytime we want, with the faith that we have been given through our Baptism and the Eucharist. With His Resurrection, Jesus’ Passion was over, never to be experienced by Him again, and He wants us to begin that new life in Him, and this can happen over and over again as we need it. We can’t forget His Passion and Death – we commemorate it yearly in Holy Week, but we don’t stop there at the tomb. We use the empty tomb as our beginning, because through our Baptism and the Eucharist we have new life in Jesus. The Apostles and disciples of Jesus didn’t keep going back to the hill of Calvary and the empty tomb in the nearby garden after Jesus’ Resurrection. These were places of death and stagnation. They, then, and us, today, are called to the mountain of the Ascension and the Upper Room of Pentecost – places of new life and not of death. Alleluia!