SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
7 APRIL 2024
On the
first day of the week, Mary of Magdala had come to the tomb of Jesus in the
dark. The darkness was not only the
absence of daylight. The darkness
expressed her grief and despair, because she had come to complete the anointing
of his dead body. Later, in the light of
that eighth day of the new creation, she encountered the risen Lord and became
the Apostle to the Apostles. She
announced the news to the Apostles that he had been raised from the dead.
On that
same day, they remain in darkness. In
the darkness of the evening, they lock themselves in a room. Saint John says that they had locked the
doors out of fear of the Jews. They fear
that the authorities might do to them what they did to Jesus. They are also afraid of Jesus. If Mary Magdalene is telling the truth, Jesus
must be angry with them. Most of them
had abandoned him at his darkest hour. Thomas had bragged that he would go to
Bethany to die with Jesus. At the Last
Supper, Peter insisted that he would never deny him. But when one of their own betrayed him and
handed him over to be crucified, most of them had run away.
Just as the
risen Christ had broken through the locked heart of Mary Magdalene, he now
breaks through the locked doors of the place where the Apostles are
hiding. He shows them his hands and his
side. He has been raised from the
dead. It is the same body scarred by the
nails and spear. Instead of scolding
them, his first words are, “Peace be with you.”
He speaks these words of forgiveness and mercy again and breathes the Holy
Spirit on them.” He tells them to give
that same mercy to others. We receive
that gift of mercy every time we encounter the Lord in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation.
Saint John
does not tell us why Thomas is not with them.
More than likely, his heart is troubled.
Perhaps his intense grief is made worse by the guilt of what he had
bragged about before going to the tomb of Lazarus. In being separated from the community of
believers, he remains in the darkness of unbelief and grief. On the next Sunday, united with the
community, he makes the most profound expression of faith when he sees the
wounds: “My Lord and my God.” In response, Jesus proclaims that those who
have not seen as he has seen will be blessed.
Jesus is
talking about us! We have not
encountered the physical body of the risen Lord as those first disciples had
done. But, we trust that they were
telling the truth. Their encounter with the
risen Lord profoundly changed their lives.
In response, they gave their gifts of mercy and forgiveness to others,
even to those who persecuted them and took their lives from them.
In the Acts
of the Apostles, Saint Luke describes the community of faith formed by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. They are
of one heart and mind. They share their
possessions with one another, especially with those who were needy. During this Easter Season, we will hear from
the Acts of the Apostles as our first reading.
We will hear about how they cooperated with the Holy Spirit. We will hear how they failed.
As we reflect
on their witness, we can reflect on our own community of faith. Our community is formed by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we cooperate
with the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we fail. Like Thomas, we can bring our darkness and
fears to our encounter with the risen Lord when we come to Mass. We can bring our wounds. We can acknowledge our doubts. We need to understand that facing our doubts
and wounds can be a way of coming to a deeper faith, as Thomas did. But we must not make the same mistake that he
did. We cannot separate ourselves from
this faith community, with all our successes and failures. Alone and isolated, we are vulnerable. Gathered here as a community, we can allow
the Holy Spirit to breathe courage when we have locked our hearts and minds to
the presence of the risen Lord.
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