Acts 2:42-47; Ps. 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24; 1 Pt 1:3-9; Jn.20:19-31
Rejoice for his Divine Mercy endures forever! We rejoice and give thanks to the Lord for he is faithful to his promises. Easter is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection raising us from our own death from sin through his Divine Mercy. Jesus loves you so much he came to die on the cross to rescue us from the sins of our fallen nature.
Even when we are prodigal children wasteful of the inheritance of heaven with our time, talent and treasure God is faithful to his divine mercy as a loving father. His divine mercy brings “the salvation of your souls”. For some of us we wander in the desert for years “doing our own thing” until we “hit bottom” and realize we need God in our lives but it does not have to be this way. The good news is that we have only to turn back to him, repent, and believe in his divine mercy. Will Jesus appear to us as he did to the apostles for us to believe? If we seek him with the eyes of faith, we will recognize his presence in our life. We don’t have to wait to hit bottom, we have only to pray to open our minds to his truth and see with the eyes of faith.
The apostle Thomas was not present when the Lord first appeared to the apostles and perhaps Jesus desired to use Thomas to show us how we can be much like Thomas that is until we have our own personal encounter with Jesus. Once Thomas joined them however, he was there not only to see and touch but to receive “the breath” of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit. These apostles are now commissioned by Jesus Christ to go out and preach the good news. Thomas not only became a believer but an evangelizer who ended up in India where he died.
In one of the ancient texts called “The Passing of Mary”, St. Thomas is mentioned as “the only apostle who witnessed the Assumption of Mary” though physically in India “he was transported to her tomb and he saw her bodily assumption into heaven, while her girdle was left behind”. A traditional version of the story includes that the “other apostles doubted Thomas until Mary’s tomb was discovered to be empty with the exception of her girdle” (catholic.org/stthomas). Perhaps someone wanted to show us that the other apostles were no different than Thomas. They needed to see with the eyes of humanity to believe with the eyes of faith. In this way it reminds us that we are more alike than different.
These first apostles established the order in which we would celebrate the good news guided by the Holy Spirit. The communal life became the Mass incorporating all that Jesus had taught them recognizing in the breaking of bread to be Jesus himself “transubstantial” in the bread and wine. This is how Jesus would remain with them most fully present giving them the graces to persevere “though tested by fire” this time willing to die for him. This time because before the resurrection Peter denied him and the others hid in fear but after he appeared to them, breathed on them the power of the Holy Spirit transformed them into warriors for Christ. This is the fullness of his divine mercy coming not only to wash us clean of our sins but to transform us into warriors for Christ.
The breath of Jesus upon the apostles and the fire of the Holy Spirit came with authority to act in the person of Christ “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them and whose sins you retain are retained.” Do we believe? In the world of Christianity many do not believe. Many question why should we have to go to a priest to confess our sins when we can go directly to Jesus?” First it is always good to go directly to Jesus with all our heart, mind and soul. Second the priest is in the person of Christ doing the work of Christ as he was commissioned. The answer to the “why” question is because this is how Jesus commanded it to be so if we ask Jesus “why” we may discover a lesson on humility as the Blessed Mother said at the wedding of Cana, “do whatever he says”. If we have a problem with it take it to Jesus but remain obedient to Jesus.
The Catholic church follows all the commands Jesus gave the apostles and because they are commands. It recognizes in them the work of Jesus himself still present as sacraments. A sacrament is something sacred coming from God. It more than the work of the Church or of priests who act in the person of Christ. It is the work of Jesus himself through his church. The sacraments are God’s work of his divine mercy, the visible signs of his invisible grace coming to heal, forgive, set us free, and make us holy.
Many of other faith denominations are left with baptism as the only sacrament they follow. Meaning everything else is negotiable but not with Christ. The last supper becomes simply a “remembrance” of the past that anyone can do with crackers and juice not sacred. Marriage is still under the law of Moses and a divorce decree is acceptable. The priesthood handed down by Jesus and with him as our high priest during the Last Supper as Holy Orders out the window. Now anyone can pick up a bible and decide they will preach with authority. The altar of sacrifice gone replaced by the stage with focus on the preacher. This is not following the teaching of Christ which he commanded.
No wonders the “church” as an institution is in decline. What are people to believe? More importantly, what do we believe? Do we hold onto all the teaching given to the apostles by Jesus or have we too fallen into being selective and relative to our personal preferences? We live in a culture that holds the freedom to choose as sacred and God himself created mankind with free will. This does not mean that our choices are right before God. God gave us Thomas to see ourselves in him and recognize our need for his divine mercy. When Thomas answers Jesus “My Lord and my God!” he is now professing publicly his faith in the divinity of Jesus and in the resurrection. Thomas becomes obedient to his calling.
To say, “I am a Christian” is to devote ourselves “to the teaching of the apostles…to the breaking of bread and to the prayers”. This is the Mass where we gather to celebrate our “communal life” as believers. Here we receive his Divine Mercy.
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