20190428
DOUBTING
GOD’S MERCY IS THE CAUSE OF OUR UNBELIEF
28 APRIL, 2019,
2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
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First reading
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Acts 5:12-16 ©
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The numbers of men and women who came to
believe in the Lord increased steadily
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The faithful all used to meet by common
consent in the Portico of Solomon. No one else ever dared to join them, but the
people were loud in their praise and the numbers of men and women who came to
believe in the Lord increased steadily. So many signs and wonders were worked
among the people at the hands of the apostles that the sick were even taken out
into the streets and laid on beds and sleeping-mats in the hope that at least
the shadow of Peter might fall across some of them as he went past. People even
came crowding in from the towns round about Jerusalem, bringing with them their
sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all of them were cured.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 117(118):2-4,22-27 ©
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Give thanks to the Lord
for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia.
Let the sons of Israel say:
‘His love has no end.’
Let the sons of Aaron say:
‘His love has no end.’
Let those who fear the Lord say:
‘His love has no end.’
Give thanks to the Lord
for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the corner stone.
This is the work of the Lord,
a marvel in our eyes.
This day was made by the Lord;
we rejoice and are glad.
Give thanks to the Lord
for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia.
O Lord, grant us salvation;
O Lord, grant success.
Blessed in the name of the Lord
is he who comes.
We bless you from the house of the Lord;
the Lord God is our light.
Give thanks to the Lord
for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia.
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Second reading
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Apocalypse
1:9-13,17-19 ©
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I was dead, and now I am to live for
ever and ever
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My name is John, and through our union in
Jesus I am your brother and share your sufferings, your kingdom, and all you
endure. I was on the island of Patmos for having preached God’s word and
witnessed for Jesus; it was the Lord’s day and the Spirit possessed me, and I
heard a voice behind me, shouting like a trumpet, ‘Write down all that you see
in a book.’ I turned round to see who had spoken to me, and when I turned I saw
seven golden lamp-stands and, surrounded by them, a figure like a Son of man,
dressed in a long robe tied at the waist with a golden girdle.
When
I saw him, I fell in a dead faint at his feet, but he touched me with his right
hand and said, ‘Do not be afraid; it is I, the First and the Last; I am the
Living One, I was dead and now I am to live for ever and ever, and I hold the
keys of death and of the underworld. Now write down all that you see of present
happenings and things that are still to come.’
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn20:29
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus said: ‘You believe because you can
see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet
believe.’
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 20:19-31 ©
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Eight days later, Jesus came again and
stood among them
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In the evening of that same day, the first
day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace
be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled
with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.
‘As the Father sent me,
so am I sending you.’
After saying this he breathed on them and
said:
‘Receive the Holy Spirit.
For those whose sins you forgive,
they are forgiven;
for those whose sins you retain,
they are retained.’
Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of
the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We
have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made
in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can
put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples
were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but
Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke
to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand;
put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and
my God!’ Jesus said to him:
‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet
believe.’
There were many other signs that Jesus
worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. These are
recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that believing this you may have life through his name.
DOUBTING GOD’S
MERCY IS THE CAUSE OF OUR UNBELIEF
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Acts 5:12-16; Ps 118:2-4, 22-27; Apocalypse 1:9-13.17-19; John 20:19-31]
Why do people give up
faith in God? Why are there a
growing number of people choosing secularism and humanism? The answer is
simple because God is removed from the lives of our people. With
secularism and secularization, the presence of the Sacred is no longer seen and
felt in society. In the name of religious harmony, we have removed all
religious symbols and sacred presence in many public places. People are
no longer reminded of God’s presence except when they go to church once a week.
As a result of
secularization, people can no longer experience the mercy and love of
God. God’s
love and mercy is reduced to a doctrine or a superstitious hope. So, when
they encounter the suffering of the innocent, especially through natural
disasters or the sins of their fellowmen, they become more convinced than ever
that there is no God since He does nothing to save the lives of the innocent
and remove their suffering. Sometimes we feel that God is not with us in
our struggles in daily life, whether in our studies, job, career, relationships
or family life. At times, we suffer from illnesses which have no
cure. We wonder why God seems to answer the prayers of others but not
ours. Most of all, many give up on God when their loved ones are taken
away, especially when they die a sudden and tragic death. We feel that
this God is cruel, indifferent and helpless God.
When God becomes
redundant and offers little help to our daily struggles in life, there is no
reason to depend on Him. Today,
if one is a believer, he is frowned upon as a fanatic, superstitious, lacking
intelligence and naïve. That is why it is fashionable to tell
people we are free thinkers, agnostics or humanists. In other words, we
do not rely on anyone but ourselves. We can find our own solutions.
Through the new gods of science and technology, all the sufferings of this
world can be eliminated. Hence, there is no god because we are gods
imbued with intellectual power to change the world and transform our lives.
Indeed, many are living
behind closed doors like the apostles in today’s gospel. We read that “in the evening of
that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room
where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews.” This happened again
“eight days later the disciples were in the house and Thomas was with them. The
doors were closed.” Our doors are closed to the presence of God in our
lives. This is because we live in fear, like the apostles, of our future
and our lives. We are under the bondage of guilt, self-hatred and
resentment against those who have hurt us. This was the case of the
apostles whose faith in God was shattered because of the death of their
master. Above all, they lived in guilt, unable to forgive themselves for their
betrayal.
For this reason, Jesus
knew that the only way to open closed doors is not through preaching or
reprimanding but through mercy. Consequently, the Risen Lord’s first
appearance to the group of disciples was to assure them of His forgiveness. “He said to them, ‘Peace be with
you,’ and showed them his hands and his side.” Peace is the gift of
salvation from our sins. There is peace when we are reconciled with God,
knowing that our sins are forgiven. Indeed, many Catholics have no peace
in their hearts even though they are coming to church Sunday after Sunday
because they have not made their peace with God. They have not come to
the Sacrament of Reconciliation and so they cannot hear the words of Jesus
saying to them as He did to His disciples, “Peace be with you.” Receiving
God’s forgiveness is the first step to opening the hearts of believers.
Secondly, Jesus showed
the divine mercy of God by showing them “his hands and side.” The suffering and death of Jesus is a
concrete reminder to the apostles and to all of us that Jesus had gone through
all the sufferings we are going through. There is no pain, whether of
rejection, betrayal, slander, ingratitude, humiliation, mockery or physical
suffering that He has not borne with us. His wounds demonstrate how much
God has identified with us in our suffering due to sin and ignorance.
Jesus suffered death in a tragic and most cruel and shameful way so that no one
can say that God does not understand innocent suffering and the pain of death.
Thirdly, Jesus showed
God’s mercy not just by His vicarious death but more importantly by His
resurrection. The
disciples would have great difficulty forgiving themselves even if the Lord had
forgiven them, if not for their knowing that a greater good had come out of
their denial and betrayal of Him. His death has led to a greater and most
undeniable proof of God’s love and mercy by His resurrection. What was
thought to be foolish and a scandal for Jesus to die turned out to be, as St
Paul says, the wisdom and power of God. (cf 1 Cor 1:22-25) Indeed, when we
know that those whom we have betrayed or hurt have not succumbed to our sins
but transcended them and used them as stepping stones for growth, we feel
liberated and able to forgive ourselves since the outcome is not negative but
actually for the greater good of the person. In other words, when we see
the grace of God in disgrace, we cannot but thank God for His marvelous works
and plans. As St Paul says, “In all things God works for the good of those
who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)
The outcome of
encountering the presence of God’s love and mercy in Jesus is joy.
Indeed, peace and joy are essential components of what it means to be saved by
God. Joy
and peace is the outcome of reconciliation, forgiveness and liberation.
We read that “the disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord.”
Yet this joy is not
complete until they pass on the peace and forgiveness, the mercy of God they
have received to others. This
was why immediately after greeting them with the gift of peace, Jesus
reiterated again saying, “‘Peace be with you. ‘As the Father sent me, so am I
sending you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy
Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose
sins you retain, they are retained.'” It is not enough to receive mercy
and forgiveness from God but also to render that forgiveness and mercy to
others. Unless we forgive and show God’s mercy to others, we cannot
experience full joy and peace as we are holding our hearts back from the double
joy of passing the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness to others. Full healing
and forgiveness demand that we receive God’s forgiveness and pass it on to
others. This is what we always pray in the Lord’s Prayer when we say,
“Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sinned against us.”
Besides forgiving those
who have hurt us, we are sent out by the Lord to heal as well. This was what the apostles did in
the first reading. We read that “So many signs and wonders were worked
among the people at the hands of the apostles that the sick were even taken out
into the streets and laid on beds and sleeping-mats in the hope that at least
the shadow of Peter might fall across some of them as he went past. People even
came crowding in from the towns round about Jerusalem, bringing with them their
sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all of them were cured.”
This is why the Church is not just about teaching the right doctrines or being
engaged in the ministry of preaching. Rather, the power of God is shown
best through the ministry of healing through prayer, preaching and the
sacraments, especially the Eucharist, reconciliation and anointing of the
sick. Included, of course, are the accompanying works of charity and
compassion for the sick, the poor, the suffering, the abandoned and the
marginalized. The work of Jesus and our ministry remains the same, which
is to proclaim the Good News to the poor.
Indeed, it was through
the healing miracles worked through the apostles that people not only heard
about God’s mercy and love in Jesus but they experienced for themselves the
power of God’s mercy and love in their lives. The miracles of the apostles were a
reminder of the works of God during the Exodus, when God delivered the people
from their sins, misery and bondage. God continues to work this way today
as well. A Church without power to transform lives, to give hope and
bring healing is not the Church of Christ.
Ultimately, in all that
we say or do, we must lead people to come to encounter Jesus’ presence and
therefore able to say with St Thomas, “My Lord and my God!” Although St Thomas took some time
to believe in the Lord, the moment he saw Him, his faith leapt beyond that of
the other disciples because he could go beyond the mere act of seeing to
professing faith in Jesus as God. Having seen the wounds of the crucified
Lord, he was able to make the link between death and life. As St John
wrote, “Do not be afraid; it is I, the First and the Last; I am the Living One.
I was dead and now I am to live for ever and ever, and I hold the keys of death
and of the underworld.” Indeed, at the end of the gospel John wrote,
“There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they
are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life
through his name.”
Consequently,
encountering the divine mercy of God is the only way to overcome secularism,
humanism and atheism. Only
those who have encountered Him can say, “My Lord and my God!” Knowing
that He is with us, like St John, we can suffer with Him or we know that
suffering and even death is not the end but a prelude to fullness of life and
love. Hence, with the psalmist, we can say, “Give thanks to the Lord for he
is good, for his love has no end.” Let us think of those moments when we
encountered His divine mercy and love and give thanks to Him. In
this way, we also become His messengers of divine mercy and love.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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