30.03.2008 - First Sunday after
Easter - year A
First Reading; Acts 2,42-47 Psalm 118 Second Reading; I Peter 1,3-9
Gospel Reading; John 20,19-31
I believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ, only son of the Father! Our faith in God the Father leads us to listen to Jesus! At the transfiguration on the mountain the three disciples who accompanied Jesus heard the words "listen to him"! His miracles are also a clear sign from God, that our faith in the Father can be total and constant when we listen to and trust "he who was sent"! Furthermore, it is through Jesus that we can know God as Father, and thanks to him that we have learned to live as sons and daughters. We use the title "Lord" for him, which was used in the Old Testament for "the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob"! He whom the Father has sent is a special figure for us who shows us in which direction to go in thought, desire and action. He has God's authority, because God himself "tested him and found him worthy" to rise from the dead in glory. Calling him "Lord" we recognise that he has authority in all the universe and we can see that where he is not recognised and where people do not live according to his wisdom, they are not capable of expressing the love and concordance of which they are capable! Since he has God's authority, we offer him our hearts, to love him and to unite with him in considering God our Father! He does not impose his lordship to dominate us and the universe: our freedom is fully respected. It is we who recognise his lordship for we realise that it is the only way to fulfil our lives and to enjoy communion with others! It is our daily task to make sure that to the words "Jesus is the Lord" there is a corresponding behaviour which manifests its truth. If we believe that Jesus is the Lord, we will try to keep in mind his desires and his words, so that from our lives it is possible to recognise the goodness and wisdom of he who guides us, of him to whom we belong, of he whom we serve! To say that the Lord is Jesus also means that we do not recognise human authority as absolute: the first and true authority is that of the only "Lord"!
This Sunday which concludes the octave of Easter has for some years been called
the Sunday of Divine Mercy: we are shown how much Jesus loved the disciple who
was incapable of believing. He could not believe because of his pride. Thomas
could not trust the testimony of ten friends and brothers or the Scriptures
which describe the lives of those who trust in God! Jesus does not abandon him
in his solitude, which generates unhappiness, but goes to meet him. And just
as he goes to meet Thomas, Jesus comes to us in many ways, so that we will not
stop believing in him and fall into the daily temptation of doubting his resurrection
from the dead and, therefore, of his presence and the truth of his Word and
his gift of communion and peace. Jesus allowed Thomas to touch his wounds: to
us he gives peace every time we trust in him and ask forgiveness through his
Church! And this is another reason why we celebrate the divine mercy of God
today: the risen Jesus told his apostles to forgive the sins of men and women.
"Receive the Holy Spirit; those whose sins you forgive, will be forgiven
and those whose sins you do not forgive, will not be forgiven". The mercy
of God towards us is uppermost in Jesus' heart. Soon after his resurrection,
at his first meeting with the apostles, he entrusts them with this divine task:
all those who seek peace of heart, communion with God, the strength to remain
faithful to Jesus and the tasks he gives, will find in their words assurance
of the merciful love of God. Pope Benedict XVI assures us: "In the Sacrament
of the Reconciliation, whatever sin has been committed, if the sinner admits
it in humility and confesses it in trust, he or she will always experience the
joyful peace of God's forgiveness". This Sacrament is a personal meeting
with the risen Jesus and should be lived with the aim of uniting with Jesus,
of choosing to walk with him again, of being guided by his patience and strength.
Whoever does not seek Jesus to offer himself or herself to him will not find
meaning in confessing their sins and will, rather, refuse this interference
in their private lives. Jesus said, "those whose sins you do not forgive
will not be forgiven". It is not a whim, therefore, if a priest does not
forgive sins, but it is because he does not see in those he is confessing the
will to listen to Jesus, to obey him and to return to the path of communion
with the Church, Through his pardon, the Lord reintegrates us into the community
which he himself began together with the disciples and which continues to renew
itself in a life of reciprocal love which gives joy to those who participate
in it. Men and women have an extreme need for community even though it costs
an effort. The first reading describes the early community in Jerusalem, where
Jesus' love was the power behind the love of the members. Our communities are
modelled on that one and we learn with humility and constant joy how to pray
together, be together and to listen to the Word of the apostles!