11/04/2010 - 2 SUNDAY EASTER SEASON- C
Divine Mercy
1Reading Act 5,12-16 Psalm 117 2Reading Rev 1,9-11.12-13.17.19 Gospel Jn 20,19-31
"Holy Father, keep them in your name those whom you have given me, that they
may be one, even as we are one". When the disciples of Jesus are kept in the
name of the Father, hence they are one, as Jesus is one with the Father. That's
why Jesus prays: his wish is that his own be "one like us". Further on
he shall say the motivation why he desires this oneness. Meanwhile we see that to
be one we need to be kept in the name of the Father: when our love of the Father
is true and consistent, we really love one another and we are united. We won't be
able to give from ourselves the unity amongst us, to build it, neither with our
efforts nor with our virtues, less with our talking or discussions. Jesus himself
asked it to the Father as his gift, and showed to his disciples the way to arrive,
that is, to remain in the name of the Father. There is no greater joy than to live
in unity with those who love Jesus! To stay in the heart of the Father protect us
from all temptations of division that challenge us all the time. Often it's enough
a word, an expression, something different than our likes, to push us to accuse
our brothers, to ignore them, to separate ourselves from them, to think that they
are rejecting us. Let us remember that we have a Father, that my Father is also
the Father of the brother who I judge and look down at, helps me to look at him
from another angle, to appreciate his faith more than his capacities, to see the
love by which my Father loves him. How could God love me if I don't have the patience
with his sons? How can God be at my side if I'm not at the side of his children
to help them and accompany them? Jesus, in his prayer, suggests to the Father even
how our oneness is to be: "like us". Jesus and the Father love each other
by expressing their love in the full trust they have in one another, and this trust
is the continuous listening of the one to the other. Jesus trust so much the Father
that he refuses to think of his own needs because "the Father knows what we
need" and "man does not live on bread alone, but upon every word that
comes from the mouth of God". The Father obeys Jesus to the point that he realizes
what Jesus says: he even brings Lazarus out of the tomb where was already for four
days. And Jesus obeys to the Father to death, and death on a cross to fulfill his
will, which for saw the death of the Just for the salvation of sinners.
The proclamation of God's Word today, opens with the image of the first Church:
the believers in Jesus Christ live together, pray together, enjoy listening still
to the words of the Lord from the apostle's mouth, and these continue to do what
he did, bending down on the sufferings of the sick and the possessed.
The Church continues to manifest God's mercy, who is merciful in many ways and in
all situations of man's life: those of both body and soul's health, those of interpersonal
relationships and those in relation with God. He wants to heal us from sicknesses
and from sin, which generates the great sufferings in life.
The Gospel helps us to contemplate him still in his first manifestation as risen,
to the disciples gathered in fear and sadness. Here he gives them joy, fills them
with his Spirit, gives them the most beautiful mission for all times: that is to
forgive the sins of men.
The strong message that is given to us today, eight days after the victory over
death, is another victory, that over the unbelief of the disciples. Thomas wanted
tangible proofs to justify his belief. Here comes the mercy of Jesus: he gives him
all, even to touch him and see him. But the Lord in his mercy, advise to the 'difficult'
apostle not to ask again his demands. The blessedness is not for those who see and
touch with their hand, but to those who believe without seeing. The one to believe
without seeing is humble, exactly like what Jesus wants his disciples to be. The
act of faith of Thomas is true, and is presented to us to keep as an example. He
says to Jesus: "My Lord and my God!" Therefore he recognize Jesus as worthy
to be adorn and given total obedience, as the one who is our point of reference
for our lives, that is our God. Even John in the Book of Revelation presents him
so. In a vision the apostle sees the Lord, in his day, "the day of the Lord":
he sees him wearing the priestly robes and around him the seven golden candle sticks,
of which only God is worthy. He proclaims words that only God can say: "I am
the First and the Last, and the Living. I was dead, but now I live for ever and
I have the keys of death and of the underworld". We turn to him today and every
day: he is close to us with his mercy!