My Lord and My God
Jn 20: 19 – 31
Second Sunday of Easter
Introduction
In the gospel today,
Jesus appears to the disciples who are holed up in a room for fear of the Jews.
Jesus appears to them and gives them his peace and his Spirit. This gospel also
recounts how Thomas who at first doubted the accounts about the risen Lord,
believed as he saw for himself the wounds of the risen Lord.
The Gospel
19 When it was evening on that day, the
first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met
were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said,
“Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his
hands and his side. Then 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 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to
them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of
any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin ), one of the
twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other
disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see
the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails
and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were again
in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus
came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then
he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand
and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas
answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have
you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and
yet have come to believe.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in
the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But
these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Reflection
Today’s reading
presents to us a festival of gifts streaming from the risen Jesus. This newness
of life brought about by the resurrection of Jesus brings with it an explosion
of gifts given and poured out so generously by the risen Savior.
The first of these
gifts is the gift joy. Our reading
tells us how the disciples were so overwhelmed by fear that they had to lock
themselves in a room. Eventually, this fear was replaced by joy as they saw the
risen Lord. The risen Lord brings joy that takes away all our fears.
The second gift of
the risen Lord is the gift of peace.
The gift of peace, said twice by Jesus in this reading, is a gift that takes
away all anxieties even in the midst of conflicts and trials. Peace is not the
absence of conflict or pain. It is a gift that makes one remain serene and
tranquil even in the midst of affliction.
The third gift of
Easter is the gift of his Spirit. In
breathing the Spirit upon his disciples, the Lord was creating something new.
When God created the universe, his spirit hovered above the waters to create
something new, something fresh. Similarly, the Lord breathes new life into our
tired and weary spirits to create in us a new spirit.
Then the Lord gives us
the gift of witnessing. As witnesses
of his passion, death and resurrection, Jesus sends his disciples into the
world as his witnesses. Just as the Father sent him, so too does Jesus send us.
To live a life that witnesses to Jesus is truly a gift from God.
The resurrection has brought reconciliation
between God and man. This is why the gift of reconciliation and forgiveness becomes the necessary gift
to all of mankind because through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has
reconciled the world to himself.
Lastly, the risen
Lord gives us the gift of faith; a
faith that is capable of believing even without seeing. For many, just like for
Thomas, to see is to believe. But for Jesus, believing is in fact, seeing; we
see Jesus because we believe; we believe because he has said it.
Celebrating the joy
of Easter during this pandemic, however, seems a little offbeat with the
reality we are in. At this time of great peril, we are like the disciples who
locked themselves up because of fear. For many of us, we are locked up because
of our fear of getting infected by the virus. For many, however, that fear has
evolved into something more basic; the fear of not being able to survive and
provide for the basic necessities of the family. The restrictions on our movement
have brought so much difficulties in getting even the most basic things we need
to live. But things get aggravated as we see many of us not even having the
money to purchase the little that we need. This prompts many not only to worry
about the present but also about the future. The great anxiety that most of us
have becomes a crisis of confidence in ourselves.
This crisis has even prevented
us from getting any access to the most basic health care we need, most specially
for those who have serious medical conditions. Those who die during this time become
very unfortunate; their loved ones couldn’t even say their last goodbyes to
them in person. The list of untold suffering can go on endlessly as we hear and
see them unfolding each day right before our very eyes.
But it is precisely
during these difficult times when the risen Lord appears in our midst, asking
us to believe him. When there seems to be no end in sight to all our sufferings
during this pandemic, the risen Lord breaks into our fearful enclosures and
offers us his peace and reassurance telling us that all will be well.
Like
Thomas who doubted the risen Lord, many of us refuse to believe and accept the
optimistic view that something good will come out of this crisis. For people
like Thomas, concrete proof becomes the basis for faith and hope. But faith is
not like that. Faith is believing in the things we have yet to see; while hope
is believing that things will get better even if they are not at the moment.
For those of us who believe the risen Lord’s message of hope, there is a
basketful of blessings that await us during these hard and difficult times. With
Jesus in our midst, these times will transform us, much in the same way it
transformed a group of fearful disciples locked up inside their sheltered
chamber.
The resurrection of
Jesus brings joy and gladness to our hearts. He pours his gifts abundantly to us and to those who
believe in him despite the crisis. Blessed are we who believe in him! Take courage, the Lord is risen! Halleluiah!
Prayer
Jesus, you are my
Lord and my God. With your resurrection, you bring blessing upon blessing on
those who believe in you. Make us know fully the meaning of your resurrection
so that we may no longer fear death and evil. Increase our faith Jesus so we
may share in the blessedness of those who have not seen you yet believed. Amen.
“ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his
resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his
death…” - Phil 3: 10
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