“My Lord and my God!”

Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday 

Collect 

God of everlasting mercy, who in the very recurrence of the paschal feast kindle the faith of the people you have made your own, increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed, that all may grasp and rightly understand in what font they have been washed, by whose Spirit they have been reborn, by whose Blood they have been redeemed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

First Reading
Acts 5:12-16

More than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them.

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles

Many signs and wonders were done among the people
   at the hands of the apostles.
They were all together in Solomon’s portico.
None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them.
Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord,
   great numbers of men and women, were added to them.
Thus they even carried the sick out into the streets
   and laid them on cots and mats
   so that when Peter came by,
   at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them.
A large number of people from the towns
   in the vicinity of Jerusalem also gathered,
   bringing the sick and those disturbed by unclean spirits,
   and they were all cured.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24

R. :

℟. (1) Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

Let the house of Israel say,
   “His mercy endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
   “His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the LORD  say,
   “His mercy endures forever.”

℟. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

I was hard pressed and was falling,
   but the LORD helped me.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
   and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
   in the tents of the just:

℟. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

The stone which the builders rejected
   has become the cornerstone,
By the LORD has this been done;
   it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD had made;
   let us be glad and rejoice in it.

℟. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

Second Reading
Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19

I was dead, but now I am alive and live for ever and ever.

A reading from the Book of Revelation

I, John, your brother, who share with you
   the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus,
   found myself on the island called Patmos
   because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus.
I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day
   and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet, which said,
   “Write on a scroll what you see”
Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me,
   and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands
   and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man,
   wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest.
When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead.
He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid.
I am the first and the last, the one who lives.
Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever.
I hold the keys to death and the netherworld.
Write down, therefore, what you have seen,
   and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards.

The word of the Lord.

Acclamation before the Gospel
Jn 20:29

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord;
blessed are they who have not seen me, but still believe!
℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Jn 20:19-31

Eight days later, Jesus came and stood in their midst.

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

On the evening of that first day of the week,
   when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
   for fear of the Jews,
   Jesus came and stood in their midst
   and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
   “Receive the holy Spirit.
 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
   and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
   was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But he said to them,
   “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
   and put my finger into the nailmarks
   and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Now a week later his disciples were again inside
   and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
   and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
   and bring your hand and put it into my side,
   and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples
   that are not written in this book.
But these are written that you may come to believe
   that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,
  and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:

The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Reflection 

On this Second Sunday in Lent, God’s Word gives us a message of joy and courage: the joy of the Risen Christ and the courage that comes from the Divine Mercy of the Father whose “name is Mercy.” 

This passage describes two events that take place within one week, both in the cenacle—the day Jesus rose from the dead and the following Sunday. In His first appearance to His disciples, “on the first day of the week,” Jesus entered the cenacle with His glorified body and stood amongst the disciples, even though they were behind closed doors for fear of the Jews. 

“Peace be with you!”—Shalom, a word that implies health and well-being. While saying this, Jesus showed them His hands and His side to prove that it was He, as though He was indicating to them, “I AM He who you saw crucified.” With the peace He gives, Jesus communicates forgiveness to His disciples for their transgressions during His passion. 

The disciples rejoice at Jesus’ presence. Then, Jesus entrusts to them His mission and gives them His Spirit: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” The mandate that the Father gave to His Son is now passed on to the disciples—the missionary mandate that we all fulfil through our Christian witness and good works. He breathed the Holy Spirit on them, the power that the disciples and we also need to carry out our commission. With the gift of the Holy Spirit, the forgiveness of sins was also given. That is why this Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday: because this was the occasion when Jesus gave us the Sacrament of Reconciliation to reconcile ourselves with God and with the community. 

Thomas was not with the other disciples when Jesus appeared. Thomas was a practical person and a realist; he placed personal experience as the sole condition for his faith. He believed only what he could verify. People will do anything to build their faith on their personal experience. Human experience becomes a condition for faith that comes from God, from the divine. When we reason in this way, we realise that we are trusting in our capabilities rather than in God. 

During his second appearance, Jesus invited Thomas, who was now present, to approach Him and validate the truth as he desired. Jesus is respectful towards people and their intelligence in their pursuit for truth and righteousness. With this appearance, Jesus reinforces His disciple’s testimony to Thomas. He proves that He has truly risen from the dead. This was the same Jesus that Thomas knew so intimately before. Through his declaration, Thomas takes a greater leap forward than just simply believing that Jesus is alive; he declares Jesus to be Lord and God. Jesus accepts Thomas’ declaration while praising the faith of those who believe the word preached to them and calls them blessed because they believe without seeing. 

Prayer 

Lord, we also need this gift of faith, because through our distractions and preoccupations, we do not recognise what is truly happening on the Altar during the consecration. During this Paschal Season, allow us to experience the joy of Your presence in our faith. Allow us to be joyful in the gift of Your peace. As You did for Thomas, allow us to see Your open wounds, so that we may see Your love for us. Allow us also, like Thomas, to declare, “my Lord and my God!” 

 

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