Divine Mercy Sunday
12 Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon’s portico. 13 None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them. 14 Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them. 15Thus they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them. 16 A large number of people from the towns in the vicinity of Jerusalem also gathered, bringing the sick and those disturbed by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.
P S A L M - Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
R: Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.
2 Let the house of Israel say, “His mercy endures forever.” 3 Let the house of Aaron say, “His mercy endures forever.” 4Let those who fear the Lord say, “His mercy endures forever.” (R) 13 I was hard pressed and was falling, but the Lord helped me. 14 My strength and my courage is the Lord, and he has been my savior. 15 The joyful shout of victory in the tents of the just: (R) 22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 By the Lord has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes. 24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it. (R)
2ND READING - Revelation 1:9-11, 12-13, 17-19
9 I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus. 10 I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet,11 which said, “Write on a scroll what you see.” 12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands 13and in the midst of the lampstands an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest. 17 When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, 18 the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld. 19 Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards.”
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord; blessed are they who have not seen me, but still believe!
John 20:19-31
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The Disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” 24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands andput my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”26 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.” 27 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.” 28 Thomas answered and saidto him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
SABBATH
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A STORY ABOUT FAITH
The Risen Lord awakens the faith of the frightened disciples. Then He invites Thomas to a deeper faith in Him. And at the end, the evangelist mentions that these stories were written down so that we may have faith. Thomas could not believe what his comrades were telling him. He insisted on empirical evidence. In a way, he was like the modern man today who insists on facts, scientific analysis and proof. We can easily identify with Thomas. We, too, fear reality crashing down around us and we can bear only so much disorientation. When the Lord invites him to get the proof he wanted, Thomas decides not to explain or defend himself, but simply to surrender. He is asked to believe that his Master is risen, and he rises to the occasion to confess even more — that his Master is not just Lord, but God. Thomas had overcome fear, uncertainty and doubt, and had reached the state of profound faith. Faith has this sort of power because it is a supernatural gift. It was the Spirit Jesus breathed on the disciples that Easter afternoon and empowered them to believe and become themselves ambassadors of faith. Without that same Spirit, Thomas was powerless to believe. But once the breath of the Risen Lord touched him, Thomas experienced the joy of faith and assumed his God-appointed task to be one of the foundation stones of the Church. Lack of faith brings sadness, while faith is a source of great joy. To have faith is to have wings that make one soar high above the corruption, dishonesty and lies in our society and the negative news in the media. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What makes you doubt? What shakes your faith? Lord, often my faith is shaken, and often I doubt. Breathe on me, Lord, Your powerful Spirit that I may never waver in the face of the uncertainties I encounter in life. St. John Baptist de la Salle, priest, pray for us. |
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