Sunday Gospel
Reflections
April 27,
2025 Cycle C
(Sunday of
Divine Mercy)
JN 20:19-31
Doubting Thomas
by Fr. Jack Peterson
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We are blessed with 50
days to joyfully
celebrate the beauty and power of the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the
dead and seek the grace to believe more deeply in this central
mystery of our
faith.
The Easter season
challenges us to
encounter the risen Lord in our present day and receive a new
outpouring of the
Holy Spirit. These graces lead to the transformation of our
lives and give
profound meaning to our earthly journey. Lord Jesus, thank you
for dying and
rising for us.
“The disciples rejoiced
when they saw
the Lord.” (Jn 20:20) They had spent three days mourning the
death of Jesus,
the Messiah and Son of the living God. The images of his Passion
and death,
either witnessed or recounted to them, were turning over and
over in their
minds. The sudden turn of events that led to his Crucifixion,
even though they
were predicted, came as an earthquake to Our Lord’s closest
collaborators. The
three days of silence as he lay in the tomb must have felt like
a slow death to
each of them.
But then Easter Sunday
came. Jesus
rises from the dead, enters the upper room where they were
hiding, stands in
their midst, and shows them his hands and his side. The one who
loved them
without condition, spoke with such wisdom and authority, healed
with such power
and forgave with such generosity was truly alive. He came and
sought them out
as they were hiding in fear. He harbored no sign of resentment
or anger for
their lack of faith and courage during his Passion. Jesus
extends the gift of
his peace, so desperately needed at this moment. Their joy must
have been
explosive.
The second Sunday of
Easter manifests
anew the patience of our savior. The apostle Thomas was
conspicuously absent on
Easter Sunday night when Jesus first appeared to his disciples.
Jesus is indeed
the Good Shepherd, always seeking out the sheep who has strayed
from the flock.
He does not give up on Thomas or us. He endures our weakness,
our stubbornness
and our lack of faith. He is full of second chances.
Jesus patiently waits a
week until
Thomas returns to the upper room when he appears to them once
again. He
immediately approaches Thomas and invites him to see and touch
his wounds,
which remind the world of the truth of his Passion while at the
same time bear
witness to his Resurrection — his wounds are healed. Our
precious Lord’s
patience and kindness lead Thomas to pronounce one of the most
clear and
definitive testimonies of Jesus’ identity: “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus, please
be patient with me.
The second Sunday of
Easter is also
Divine Mercy Sunday. We tend to focus on God’s mercy during the
Lenten season and
move on to other aspects of our faith during the Easter season.
The truth is,
we stand at every moment of our lives in need of God’s
bottomless mercy.
Conversion is a lifelong
process and
demands our attention all along that journey. The many graces
that flow out of
Easter — peace, joy, newness of life, an ever deeper
understanding of our faith
and a courageous zeal for spreading our faith — flow from the
grace of God’s
mercy, including the ongoing healing of our broken human nature.
Saints model for us the
need to go
regularly before the Lord on our knees, repent of our sins, and
ask anew for
the grace required to turn from our sins and live in an
ever-deeper union with
God. St. Faustina Kowalska, at the beckoning of Our Lord
himself, became a
spectacular promoter of divine mercy. She received from Our Lord
a series of
private revelations that she recounted in her diary, and which
have beckoned so
many to draw near to Jesus’ wounded heart to be immersed in his
mercy.
On one occasion, Jesus
said to her:
“Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls
I grant even
more grace than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest
sinner if he makes
an appeal to My compassion.” (Diary, 1146) Christ is calling
upon the whole
world to place great trust in him: “The graces of My mercy are
drawn by means
of one vessel only, and that is — trust. The more a soul trusts,
the more it
will receive.”
Heavenly Father, may the
blessings
flowing from your son’s Resurrection transform my life and help
me to become a
brand new creation in Christ. Lord Jesus, may I place all my
trust in you and
never fail to turn to you for the overwhelming gift of your
Divine Mercy. Holy
Spirit, set my heart on fire that I may boldly bring the Good
News of Jesus
into our broken and hurting world with my words and actions.
Amen.