SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
28 APRIL 2019
Beginning
today, we will hear from the Book of Revelation every Sunday during the Easter
Season. Saint John tells us that he has
been exiled by the current powers of the world to the penal island of
Patmos. John’s “crime” is that he has
proclaimed that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. In contrast to the pagan priests who burn
incense to nonexistent gods and to the emperor who has no power to save anyone,
the risen Christ is both priest and king.
In his vision, the risen Christ tells him not to be afraid. When the forces of this world collide with
the Resurrection, the One who holds the keys to death and the netherworld will
prevail.
On the
evening of that first day of the week, the disciples of Jesus are also very
afraid. For three years, they had been
followers of Jesus of Nazareth, accompanying him on his travels, hearing his
teachings, and seeing his miracles. Now
he has been executed by the powers of the world. With him dead, they have no one to lead them
or give them direction. Even though Mary
Magdalene had told them that she had encountered him raised from the dead, they
could not believe. In the darkness of
that evening (which is the eighth day of the week), Jesus breaks through their
locked doors, as God had broken through the darkness and chaos on the first day
of creation. He shows them the evidence
of the work he has done to make a new creation in the stains of his hands and
the absolute love he has poured out from his side. Instead of chiding them for running away at
his darkest hour, he gives them the gift of peace, not just once, but twice. Then, as the mighty wind had blown over the
chaos on the first day of creation, he breathes on them and gives them the gift
of the Holy Spirit on this first day of recreation. With the gift of the Holy Spirit, they become
apostles, witnesses of the resurrection sent to proclaim it boldly. That is exactly what they are doing in that
first reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
On this
final day of the Octave of Easter, we are grateful to Thomas. He helps us to be honest about our fears of living
the Paschal Mystery. Like him, we are
very conscious of the reality of the wounds on the Body of Christ. Like him, we know the pains of
self-sacrificing love in the Lord’s passion.
You parents who bring your children to First Holy Communion understand
that well. You know the wounds of
sacrificing your own well-being for the sake of your children. We know the wounds of Christ when we are
betrayed by close friends. We know the
wounds of Christ when we make sincere efforts to forgive those who have hurt
us. We know the wounds of Christ when we
continue making the sacrifice of permanent commitments.
Even though
we do not experience the risen Christ in the same way that Thomas does, we are
blessed when we connect our wounds and the wounds of the Church with the
wounded hands and feet and side of Jesus Christ. If we can renew our faith in the
resurrection, we can be assured that those wounds can be healed by the
resurrection. When we open ourselves to
Christ’s gift of peace, we can have the same confidence of John, exiled on the
penal island of Patmos. No matter what
the powers of the world might throw against us, we have that peace which the
world cannot give, that peace that connects us with the love of Jesus Christ.
Boys and
girls, when your parents carried you to the waters of Baptism, they promised
that they would teach you how to resist the powers of Satan and to believe in
God. Now you walk on your own two feet
and renew those promises yourself. We
are happy for you that you will be fed for the first time with the Body and
Blood of Jesus Christ. We promise to
support you and your parents. As you
continue to share in the Eucharist, we will help you in the lifelong process of
growing in faith from being followers of Jesus Christ to being apostles: witnesses of the resurrection not afraid to
proclaim its power, as Peter and the others did after Pentecost.
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