FROM SKEPTICISM TO FAITH: THE WORK OF DIVINE MERCY.

April 19 2020: Second Sunday of Easter (or Sunday of Divine Mercy)


A Sicilian proverb says, “Who doesn't approach with disbelief, won't see the face of paradise.” And a Filipino proverb adds, “Mercy resides in God; deeds are in men.”
Man’s life is a continual journey from unbelief to belief, from skepticism to faith. In this journey, we realize that conversion is never the result of personal action, but the work of God’s mercy. We are pilgrims in the merciful love of the Risen Lord. Each one of us has either gone through or still will have to go through that journey. No one has ever got a faith that is without question. Our faith in the Lord matures through hours of doubts. In that sense, we all are Thomas, and St. Thomas will always stand as our ‘Patron Saint’.
Speaking of the faith of the disciples of the Lord, the Catechism affirms, “The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it...” CCC. 1816.
We are today, eight days after the Resurrection. The readings bring us to see the rise of the first Christian community, a community gathered by one faith in the Risen Lord. It is a community of people forgiven and therefore elected, strengthened and sent in a mission, to spread the Good News of the Lord’s Resurrection through their lifestyle and their testimonies.
Eight days have passed, and still, we are rejoicing about the Lord’s Resurrection. Moreover, we are fully immersed today into the blessed wounds of Christ, the wounds of our salvation. Today is the Divine Mercy Sunday. The Risen Lord is in our midst, showing us the wounds, he willingly accepted as the wage of our salvation. This Sunday’s celebration takes a very special coloration when we reflect on that reality of God’s mercy. The mercy of God flows from the pierced heart of Jesus and his wounds, those caused by the nails and the crown of thorns. His wounds are a fountain of healing. Through them, we are given to experience the love of God that forgives our sins, mostly the sin of incredulity. Jesus was nailed on the cross by our sins and for our sins. Therefore, his wounds are the scars left by the impacts of our sins on him. They are the injuries of our struggles, our pains, our imperfections, our thirsts, our lack of love and forgiveness.
One beautiful thing to ponder on is that, though the Lord bore all these ugly wounds because of you and me and on our behalf, he does not accuse us, nor does he judge and condemn us. The Risen Lord is not a vindicator. Instead, his first words while appearing to his disciples are words of peace, comfort and uplifting: “Peace be with you.” This is one great expression of God’s mercy. Let us just reflect on the events of the Lord’s passion. He was left alone, betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter and all the others fled from him, afraid for their own life, except John who got the courage to stand at the foot of the cross. Nevertheless, Christ wishes them peace. He gives them his love, and he goes farther making of them the instruments of peace, love, and mercy: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you… Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Another great expression of God’s mercy is what is shown through the personal experience of Thomas, his encounter with the Risen. It is a kind of encounter we all go through, each one in his way. We all want signs before we will believe. Filled with so much empiricism, we want a tangible experience of all things before we accept it as true: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nails marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
God, however, does not accuse us of our lack of faith. He stills come to our encounter and leads us from doubt to belief. We can reach that genuine faith, confessing the Lord as our God, only if we stay in the community of believers, present in the communal gatherings. Away from the community, we always go to our loss and we miss the opportunities to encounter the Lord. The Lord did not appear to Thomas when he was alone, but he waited that he should be with the community. As Christians, we always need to find our place in the community and be present in it, united with others in prayer and the sharing of material goods.
A community that is gathered by the Risen Lord lives of one heart. In that community, no one lives for himself, but “one for all and all for one”. We speak here of perfect solidarity and concern for others’ needs. In this period of the COVID-19 pandemic, solidarity and togetherness should be our aim; to make ours the needs of our fellow. Our today’s Christian communities are expected to reflect that image of the first community. May we, however, be honest confessing that our churches, our communities are far away from that image. Unity, in many Churches, is a platonic dream, a utopia. Though we profess one faith and partake at the same Eucharistic table, gathered by one Baptism and pretend to be children of the same God Father, we do not truly love each other.
Many are the divisions or causes of division in our Churches. Many are the inequalities, and sadly, we pastors, oftentimes nourish those divisions because they profit us in some ways. The first reading comes as a real challenge for us, to incarnate in our parishes, chapels, and groups and associations that first Christian community. We have been given new birth to a living hope. Let us make it truly visible. That, looking at us living our faith, people may see the Risen Lord living in our midst: unity, mutual love, forgiveness, peace… The mercy of God must be effective in our Churches and also in our houses as basic Christian Communities and domestic Churches.

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