April 27, 2014
2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)
Gospel John 20:19-31
The Gospel begins with Easter Sunday and ends with the Sunday after Easter. On
Easter Sunday the disciples were still mourning the death of Jesus, and even
though they had heard reports that the tomb was empty and that Jesus is Risen,
this reality was too much for them to accept and they remained in fear hidden
away behind the locked doors of the upper room. This was same upper room where
they had only days earlier celebrated the Passover with Jesus and were probably
already referring to it as the "Last Supper." While Jesus had been buried in a
tomb of rock, the upper room was becoming their tomb.
Jesus enters the room despite the locked doors and stands in their midst. He
greets them with words of peace and it seems that they are overwhelmed by his
presence. When the absent Thomas arrives afterwards, they can't wait to tell
him that Jesus is truly risen and that he had visited them in this upper room.
We are all too familiar with response that resulted with Thomas being forever
known as "doubting Thomas," and sometimes the much more important message of
this Gospel. We are told that a week later they are still in the upper room and
the doors are still locked. This room has truly become their tomb. They are
still in fear and afraid to go out even after the experience of seeing the Risen
Lord. Jesus appears again and takes Thomas on the words he spoke to the rest of
the disciples a week earlier, and invites him to put his hands in the wounds in
his hands and feet. Thomas doesn't have to, he then makes a profession of
faith. It seems that it is only after this visit of Jesus through the locked
doors of the upper room that the disciples were able to leave fear behind and
venture out of the upper room.
The image of the disciples locked in the upper room in fear, as if in a tomb, is
a good image for us to reflect on as we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. Even
though we profess our faith in the Risen Lord who died to take away our sins, we
can look at our lives and wonder if God truly loves us. We can even be in fear
that God doesn't love us and that we are the exception when it comes to the
forgiveness of sins. We can even begin to isolate ourselves from God and His
life-giving presence. This second Sunday of the Easter Celebration is one that
is meant to reinforce in us the reality of the depth of God's love for us. A
love that is far greater than any fault, failing or sin that we have. His mercy
is His gift to us and he is just waiting for us to accept this gift, to unwrap
and allow it to fill us with his mercy, love and peace. During Easter we
celebrate the greatest event in human history, Jesus overcame death, left the
tomb and is Risen Lord. Jesus did this so that we can be spared eternal death
and, at the end of our earthly existence, enter into eternal life. If for
whatever reason we are trying to hide from God behind the locked doors of a
self-imposed tomb, let us welcome the Lord in to receive take away our fears and
fill us with his peace.
Fr. Killian Loch, O.S.B.
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