Second Sunday of Easter

 

Second Reading: A Life of Faith and Love

Those who believe in God and in his risen Son Jesus Christ also love their neighbor. They belong to God’s family, just as we do, even though at times we find them strange relatives.

 

Reading 2: 1 Jn 5:1-6

Beloved:
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God,
and everyone who loves the Father
loves also the one begotten by him.
In this way we know that we love the children of God
when we love God and obey his commandments.
For the love of God is this,
that we keep his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome,
for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world.
And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.
Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ,
not by water alone, but by water and blood.
The Spirit is the one that testifies,
and the Spirit is truth.

 

Alleluia: JN 20:29

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: From Doubt to Faith

For people like us who have not seen the risen Christ, John tells us the story of doubting Thomas who became the believing Thomas.

 

Gospel: Jn 20:19-31

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 nail marks
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.

 

Intercessions

Let us entrust to Christ, our Risen Lord, his Church and the whole world with all people and their needs. Let us say: R/Lord, let your peace be with us.

–   That Christ really may be to all Christians really their Lord and their God whom they follow and trust and love, let us pray to the Lord: R/ Lord, let your peace be with us.

–   That the Lord may gather around his one bread and cup all Christians now divided by both their beliefs and their prejudices; that all Christians may learn from the Lord to share with one another what they have, let us pray to the Lord: R/ Lord, let your peace be with us.

–   That the Lord may bring to us and to all sinners the peace of his forgiveness and new life; that he may give to those whose task it is to be peacemakers and reconcilers the tact, understanding and patience to unify, let us pray to the Lord: R/ Lord, let your peace be with us.

–   That Christ may always be found in his communities great and small, and make them one heart and one mind, let us pray to the Lord: R/ Lord, let your peace be with us.

Lord Jesus, give us eyes to see you, ears to hear you, hearts that understand and love you, for you are our Lord for ever and ever. R/ Amen.

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Our God and Father,
we ask you for food and drink
and you give us your Son.
May no one in our communities go hungry
or feel abandoned in distress,
but may we learn from your Son
to be faithful companions to all who need us.
With our solace and support
may we also give them ourselves,
as Jesus did and still does for us,
he who is our Lord for ever. R/ Amen.

 

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

Every time we celebrate the Eucharist we profess our faith in Jesus, our risen Lord in the acclamation after the consecration. Let us do so consciously and gladly.

Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer

As a community of faith and love
made one heart and one soul by the Spirit
we can pray to the Father of all
the prayer of Jesus our Lord: R/ Our Father...

 

Deliver Us

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and grant to us in our day
the peace and reassurance
which your risen Son brought to his disciples
in their hour of fear and anxiety.
In your mercy keep our faith free
from hesitation and doubt,
as we wait in joyful hope
for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...

 

Invitation to the Sign of Peace

We try to be a community which is of one heart and soul. Let us express this in our greeting of peace.

 

Invitation to Communion

St Paul says:
“The fact that there is one loaf (of bread) means
that, though there are many of us,
we form a single body,
because we all have a share in this one bread.”
This is the body of Christ
who comes to make us his body, his living community. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...

 

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,
we have encountered your Son in faith
in this Eucharistic celebration.
With him by our side,
may we be a deeply believing community
in which love and sharing
are not empty words,
a community which keeps dreaming
that we can find one another
and create a new future together
in Jesus Christ, our risen Lord,
who lives with you and with us for ever. R/ Amen.

 

Blessing

Our task is not easy.
We are utopians, people dreaming great dreams
of being a real community,
of building a new and better world in Christ.
These dreams will never be realized in full
because we are limited, human, weak,
but we can go on trying and growing.
This is the challenge of our faith.
We can do it if Christ is really alive among us.
May God bless you for this task,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

 

Go in the peace of Christ and be one heart and one soul. R/ Thanks be to God.

 

Commentary

We are on the Sunday of the Divine Mercy! Renowned Italian Biblical Scholar, Fr. Fernando Armellini- has a beautiful explanation for the apparition scene of Jesus, as mentioned in the Gospel passage today. Jesus appears before the frightened disciples and greets them Peace! And then shows them his hands and feet. Why hands and feet? We identify a person by looking at his or her face and not at the hands and feet.

Jesus shows his hands and feet as identification marks! What was so unique about his hands and feet? These hands and feet carried the marks of love. His woundedness, his brokenness was his identification marks. The hands - that did good to others, healed the sick, raised the dead and embraced the children – were on display: and he tells the disciples – look at these! It’s me! The disciples had abandoned him, even denied the Master, but the Risen One does not rebuke them, instead gives them his peace. When we present ourselves on the Lord's day with all our weaknesses, we receive no rebuke. The greeting is always peace. "I give you
peace."

Jesus tells Thomas: Look at my hands and touch my wounds; reach out and feel my side. It is not a reproach to Thomas who doubted his resurrection. Jesus fulfils the desire that Thomas had, to touch, to see his hands and his wound that has left his side open. It is the invitation to Thomas to always have his gaze fixed in Jesus’ hands and on his side.

It is exactly the invitation that is made to us on the Lord's day, to contemplate his hands
and his side because if we always have before us what those hands have done, when we leave the Church, during the week, we will always have the mission in mind that the Risen One has given us: show everyone the hands of Jesus through our hands; do the works which Jesus wants to do in the world.

How can we keep our eyes fixed on those hands and that side of the One who has given his body and blood, all his life? We have the answer in the Eucharist, in the Eucharistic bread. There we can touch him, feel him and experience him within us

Today the Gospel invites us to desire for and meet Jesus. Not the Jesus we imagine but with the real Jesus of the Gospels. We are obliged to read them in detail. To commit ourselves to follow him, because he is alive, he is around! To believe in his resurrection means nothing can remain the same in us. We commit ourselves to live as Jesus lived.

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7 April 2024

John 20: 19-31

Divine Mercy

In the Gospel today, we witness the disciples grappling with fear, grief, and doubt after the crucifixion of their beloved Master. They must have gathered in the same upper room where the Last Supper had taken place, but they met in an atmosphere of fear. The Jews who had orchestrated Jesus’ death were relentless in their animosity, and the disciples felt the weight of this hostility. Their own destinies seemed intertwined with that of their Master, and fear gripped their hearts.

Pope Francis, in his reflections on Divine Mercy Sunday, draws our attention to the power of faith and the compassionate response of Jesus. The disciples huddled together, haunted by the memory of the cross. Their internal and external terrors were palpable. But then, Jesus, their Master, came into their midst. Suddenly, terror gave way to hope and joy.

The Gospel mentions Thomas' absence from the group. His courage was unwavering. When Jesus proposed going to Bethany after Lazarus’ illness, Thomas declared, “Let us also go,that we may die with him” (John 11:16). His love for Jesus was fierce, prompting him to willingly face death alongside Christ, even when others hesitated.

Yet, with the crucifixion—Thomas was shattered. It is into this brokenness and helplessness of man, the Risen Christ comes in. He invited Thomas to touch his wounds—and he had only one response - his cry, “My Lord and my God!”

Like Thomas, we all struggle with doubts. Yet, God’s patience remains constant. He walks beside us, explaining the Scriptures, sharing meals, and waiting for our return. When we hit rock bottom, we can still feel His embrace.

In this encounter between doubt and mercy, we find hope. Let us never lose trust in God’s patience and compassion. May the wounded hands of Christ touch our wounds and lead us from brokenness to belief.

 

Divine Mercy - Youtube