Believe

Happy Easter! 

The celebration of the resurrection of our Lord continues as we journey into the Second Sunday of Easter: Sunday of Divine Mercy and the Third Sunday of Easter. The Mass readings follow the Acts of the Apostles, focusing on the early church; the First Letter of St. John, focusing on the oneness of the church in Christ; and the Gospels of St. John and St. Luke focusing on the appearances of Jesus after the resurrection.

Rich in Mercy (Acts 3:13-19; 4:32-35)

Early church life was a community of believers together with “one heart and one mind.” They served the community in prayer with mind and body by charity and mercy, giving thanks to God for his everlasting goodness, love and mercy. 

The present-day corporal works of mercy were ordinary ways of living to the new Christians, the followers of the Christ, who emulated the same compassion, care, justice and concern as Jesus taught, handed on by the apostles. Indeed, the “way” they followed was the way through the cross to new life in the Resurrection. By the Holy Spirit the leadership of St. Peter turned their eyes and ears to comprehend the magnitude of Christ’s Passion, death and resurrection in light of the fathers of faith, each of whom experienced the power of God’s mercy. Thus, Jesus came namely to “wipe away” sin and return all to God through his mystical body. 

United by Mercy (1 Jn 2:1-5; 5:1-6)

It is the oneness of the faith in Jesus Christ which brings us into the oneness of God and community. St. John’s letter encourages the followers, united by God’s love, to believe, to avoid sin and to do good by keeping the Ten Commandments, a way to know Jesus. When we know Jesus, we know the commandments and hence we avoid sin and remain in right relationship with God and others. Can it be this easy? By keeping the commandments will we truly come to know Jesus and be united with others? 

Yes. The Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2053 states, “following Jesus Christ involves keeping the commandments. The law has not been abolished, but rather man is invited to rediscover it in the person of his master (Jesus) who is its perfect fulfillment.” Again, in paragraph 2074, “Jesus says: ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.’ ” The fruit referred to in this saying is the holiness of a life made fruitful by union with Christ. When we believe in Jesus Christ, partake of his mysteries and keep his commandments, the savior himself comes to love, in us, his father and his brethren, our father and our brethren. His person becomes, through the Spirit, the living and interior rule of our activity. ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.’ ” 

We believe in our Lord Jesus, who, by his resurrection, gives us new life. By his love and mercy we must realize we are so deeply loved by God beyond human comprehension. As a response we strive for holiness every day to do good and avoid evil; to love; to be united; to follow the commands of Christ. St. John reiterates, “But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him.” And is not that what we live for … to be perfected in God? To become saints. 

Peace of mercy (Jn 20:19-31, Lk 24:35-48)

“Peace be with you.” 

Spoken by Jesus to the apostles, the first words of our resurrected Lord is an invitation to peace … calm, ease, quiet, relief, breath, serenity, tranquility, grounded, order … peace. Yes, there is a storm, yet Jesus offers peace. Peace of mind. Peace of trust. Peace of security. Peace of love. Peace of hope. Peace of faith. Peace of truth. Peace of mercy. It is by his very act of dying to self that we will rise in his merciful peace, life united to God the father and in the Holy Spirit. 

Mission of mercy (Jn 20:19-31)

It is this invitation to peace where the apostles, frightened and fearful, witness Jesus resurrected as he breathes on them the Holy Spirit.  Immediately following, Jesus ordains them to his mission of mercy  the forgiveness of sins. All but one were present: St. Thomas. Where was he? We do not know. But we do know he did not believe their testimony of an encounter with the risen Lord and insisted on physical evidence to touch. How many times do we proclaim Jesus as resurrected only to be met with a demand of physical proof, to see so as to believe?

God’s abundant mercy grants St. Thomas to not only see, but to touch Jesus’ hands and side. Stop for a moment and ponder this passage, “‘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” (Jn 20:24-29). Imagine yourself placing your finger in the nail-marks on Jesus’ hands and where the spear pierced his side? What is this like? We will, God willing, see the same upon our death. What will this be like?

Resurrection catechesis (Lk 24:35-48)

The most amazing movement of Jesus’ days on earth after the resurrection and before his ascension is that he continued to catechize, to teach, to form, to echo the faith into the apostles and early disciples in order to equip them for mission. St. Luke’s Gospel in Chapter 24, verse 35, picks up at the end of the “Road to Emmaus.” Having run back to Jerusalem after walking and learning from Jesus, whom they did not recognize on their journey, “the two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” Suddenly Jesus appears in their midst, startling and terrifying them. Can you imagine?  Yet, Jesus knew their hearts and questions. He assured them it was him, flesh and all, able to eat. Again, peace in the midst of the angst. 

Then (here it comes), “he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them ‘thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things” (Lk 24:45-48). What a Scripture study! Imagine Jesus, resurrected, teaching how his life fulfilled sacred Scripture, covenants and all that the prophets spoke of. To have been there must have been an awakening for all. 

But wait, we have this awakening! We have the ability to understand the Scriptures! For we too have the breath of God in us, with us, around us. We have the power of the Holy Spirit in us (baptism), with us (confirmation), around us. We have Jesus, resurrected, in us (Eucharist/body, blood, soul divinity), with us (baptism), around us (community) thus the ability to comprehend most of what God truly desires in order for us to know, to love and to serve him. To bear witness of this truth. THE TRUTH. But we must believe him. Believe it. Live it. Fight for it. Behold it. Die for it. For by his life, love, mercy, cross, passion and resurrection we receive Jesus’ peace. And we, as missionary disciples, are called to proclaim, to testify, to live and to die in God’s bountiful, merciful, peace. JMJ

St. Joseph, merciful protector of the Savior of the world, pray for us.