20240407 THE RISEN LORD WITH THE MARKS OF HIS CRUCIFIXION IS THE HEIGHT OF THE MERCIFUL LOVE OF GOD
07 April 2024, 2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy)
First reading | Acts 4:32-35 © |
The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul
The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in common.
The apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and they were all given great respect.
None of their members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses would sell them, and bring the money from them, to present it to the apostles; it was then distributed to any members who might be in need.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 117(118):2-4,15-18,22-24 © |
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
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.
The Lord’s right hand has triumphed;
his right hand raised me up.
I shall not die, I shall live
and recount his deeds.
I was punished, I was punished by the Lord,
but not doomed to die.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
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.
Second reading | 1 John 5:1-6 © |
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has already overcome the world
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ
has been begotten by God;
and whoever loves the Father that begot him
loves the child whom he begets.
We can be sure that we love God’s children
if we love God himself and do what he has commanded us;
this is what loving God is –
keeping his commandments;
and his commandments are not difficult,
because anyone who has been begotten by God
has already overcome the world;
this is the victory over the world –
our faith.
Who can overcome the world?
Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God:
Jesus Christ who came by water and blood,
not with water only,
but with water and blood;
with the Spirit as another witness –
since the Spirit is the truth.
Sequence |
Victimae Paschali Laudes
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
offer sacrifice and praise.
The sheep are ransomed by the Lamb;
and Christ, the undefiled,
hath sinners to his Father reconciled.
Death with life contended:
combat strangely ended!
Life’s own Champion, slain,
yet lives to reign.
Tell us, Mary:
say what thou didst see
upon the way.
The tomb the Living did enclose;
I saw Christ’s glory as he rose!
The angels there attesting;
shroud with grave-clothes resting.
Christ, my hope, has risen:
he goes before you into Galilee.
That Christ is truly risen
from the dead we know.
Victorious king, thy mercy show!
Gospel Acclamation | Jn20:29 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus said: ‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 20:19-31 © |
Eight days later, Jesus came again and stood among them
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.
THE RISEN LORD WITH THE MARKS OF HIS CRUCIFIXION IS THE HEIGHT OF THE MERCIFUL LOVE OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 4:32-35; 1 JOHN 5:1-6; JOHN 20:19-31]
Our life is one of mistakes, regrets and tragedy. The apostles and disciples of our Lord who lived through the tragic events that happened to their master on Good Friday must have been so traumatized seeing how Jesus was scourged and put to death. But it was not just that Jesus was unjustly put to death, it was also their betrayal of their master whom they earlier so vehemently vouched to defend even unto death. All of them fled when Jesus was arrested. When they saw how their master suffered a cruel death, in their sadness, guilt and disillusionment, they forgot all the prophecies that our Lord spoke to them with regard to His passion, death and resurrection. Convinced that His death was the end of all their hopes for liberation and for the establishment of God’s kingdom which Jesus proclaimed, they locked themselves in the upper room for fear of the Jews. But in truth, it was their inner fear, of shame, of regret, of despair that paralyzed them.
But did not God show His mercy in the death of Jesus? He had already demonstrated His mercy by His passion on the cross, forgiving His enemies and praying for them. However, the cross might demonstrate the mercy and magnanimity of their master in accepting an innocent death and even in forgiving His enemies. It was hard for the disciples to accept how unjust suffering can change the world. On the contrary, it only served to show that evil triumphed over justice and truth. Most of all, the death of Jesus did not serve His claims of being the Messiah, or the servant of God, or His implicit claims of being the Son of God. It could mean that Jesus was just a good man but a misguided martyr who thought He was the Son of God. His mission was a failure. The Kingdom of God was not established. His death seemed to confirm the mockery of His enemies when they said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.'” (Mt 27:42f)
This explains why the cross is not enough to bring healing and life to those who are suffering. In fact, the cross by itself does not speak of God’s justice. It does not help us to tolerate innocent suffering. On the contrary, the cross alone has caused many people to doubt not just the love of God but even the existence of God. How could evil and hatred triumph in the world? Where is there true justice in this world? If evil prevails, why should we not retaliate and take things into our own hands, especially when God cannot do anything or He might not even exist. There is no reason to be good or to love. Everyone is for himself or herself. When that happens, humanity will destroy itself, for that is what the Devil wants. He came to bring division and disorder.
The resurrection of our Lord is the answer to God’s mercy and justice. The cross without the resurrection only speaks of love but without power. But with the resurrection, the cross speaks of love and power. The cross and the resurrection together is the event of God’s love and mercy. God, by raising Jesus from the dead, established the truth of all that Jesus taught and did. By raising Him from the dead, God the Father endorsed the truth that Jesus was not a criminal as He was charged, nor was He a liar to the claims He made, but that He was truly the spokesman of God. He is the Messiah and the Son of God.
Today, we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday because the Risen Lord appeared to His disciples assuring them that His death was not the end of everything, as the disciples thought. Rather, it was a new beginning of the mission of the Church. Together with that assurance that He is alive, He also wanted to assure His apostles that they were forgiven. It was something that the disciples needed to hear from Him personally and explicitly. Hearing what others have encountered in Christ is very different from hearing for ourselves. So, the Lord appeared to the apostles and assured them of forgiveness. Twice, He said to them, “Peace be with you.”
Their peace came not only because of the Lord’s words of assurance but because the Lord “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.'” Jesus came back from the dead and appeared to His disciples bearing the marks of His crucified body. Indeed, seeing the Risen Lord in His crucified body was the ultimate healing of their fears because in the Risen Lord, they saw Jesus as God and man. As the Lord, He was risen and His body transcended space and time. As man, His risen body bore the marks of the crucifixion. In the Risen Lord, the disciples knew that evil, hatred and death had been overcome. In His crucified body, they were reminded of His love, forgiveness and His mercy for them. The faith of Thomas was almost dead and snuffed out by the scandal of the death of His master. He could not believe in a God of justice and mercy. But by seeing the wounds of the Risen Lord, and touching His wounds, he came to understand that Christ heals us by His wounds.
Indeed, St Thomas renewed his profession of faith in Christ when upon seeing the Risen Lord with the marks of His crucifixion, he confessed, “My Lord and my God!” However, it is through the incredulity of St Thomas that we learnt how the wounds of our Lord can heal us of our scepticism and unbelief. When St Thomas was not with the apostles in the first appearance of our Lord, he refused to believe when the rest of the apostles told him that “We have seen the Lord.” Instead, he said, “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.” (Jn 20:25) By posing this challenge, Thomas sought to help us purify our false concepts of a God who saves us without being actively involved in the act of rescuing us. On the contrary, by demanding to see the marks of the Crucified Christ, Thomas leads us to discover the true face of God, which is revealed in Christ who bears the wounds of a broken humanity.
By showing us His wounds, Jesus reinforced the continuity between the Risen body and the earthly body. Jesus is truly risen from the dead but He is very much in touch with us all who are suffering still. The Lord, in revealing to Thomas, also reveals to us that He is one with us in our suffering even as the Risen Lord. He feels close to us and is identified with our pain and suffering. His resurrection does not mean that we do not have to suffer anymore. Rather, His resurrection gives us the courage, the hope and the strength to continue overcoming hatred with forgiveness, selfishness with love, death with life. It will be through our suffering, especially innocent, vicarious and selfless suffering that will transform the hearts and minds of wicked, selfish and sinful people. God saves us by suffering with us and in us.
Indeed, His wounds help us to know that this God loves us and is not far away from our suffering. He heals us by taking upon Himself our wounds and pain, suffering unjustly for our sake. Through His innocent suffering, He heals our wounds by showing us how we must also accept our sufferings as well, especially when we do not deserve them. “Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.” (1 Pt 2:22) How often our relationship with each other is broken because of selfishness, injustice, hatred and violence. We are called to heal these relationships by seeing the wounds of those who suffer because of our sins. We must heal their wounds by the glorious wounds of our Lord, which is to feel with them. From identifying with them, we must seek to right the wrongs, seek justice and perform acts of mercy and compassion.
Like the early Christians, we must “testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power.” How? By believing in mutual and self-sacrificing love for each other. That was how “The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in common.” The Christians shared their resources with each other. They cared for the poorer members of their communities. As we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, we hold on to the fact that the death and resurrection of Christ is the event of the invincible love of God.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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