2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)
(Sunday 8th April 2018)
Easter is a promise to us – (John 20:19-31)
Thomas did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. But he was not alone in this; the other disciples were slow to believe also until they had seen him for themselves. When the women returned from the tomb to say that he was alive, they were not believed. So Thomas isn’t alone in his initial refusal to believe. But he remained steadfast in his refusal when the rest of the Church told him it was true. When Peter, the leader of the Church, told him it was true, Thomas continued to say he refused to believe until it was proven to him. How often do we want God to prove himself to us? How often are we like Thomas and refuse to believe that God could be active in our lives, we want God to account for himself with our standards of approval.
And so a week later Jesus in an act of total humility and in a sure expression of Divine Mercy accepts Thomas’ doubts and gives him the proof he wanted. Jesus in his mercy relieves the struggle that is going on in the heart of St. Thomas. He carries his mercy into the need of Thomas. God’s mercy always soothes our real pains and sufferings; he forgives the sins that we have committed. God journeys with us in our real need for his mercy and gives it to us in the amount that we need. He treats each one of us in an individual way. This act of Divine Mercy on the part of the Risen Lord to Thomas gives this particular Sunday its theological significance as the Sunday of Divine Mercy. Easter Sunday is a day of Divine Majesty but now in his mercy he understands Thomas in the midst of his doubts and weakness and gives him new hope and faith.
This Sunday we celebrate God’s Divine Mercy in meeting us where we are at. But he doesn’t leave us were he meets us he invites us to a deeper, more trusting faith. With the whole Church we pray: “Jesus I trust in you”.