Peace be with you

Second Sunday of Easter, Year A

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 2:42-47

All who believed were together and had all things in common.

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles

They devoted themselves
   to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life,
   to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone,
   and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
All who believed were together and had all things in common;
   they would sell their property and possessions
   and divide them among all according to each one’s need.
Every day they devoted themselves
   to meeting together in the temple area
  and to breaking bread in their homes.
They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart,
   praising God and enjoying favor with all the people.
And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

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 has 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
1 Pt 1:3-9

God has given us new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Peter

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
   who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope
   through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
   to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,
   kept in heaven for you
   who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith,
   to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time.
In this you rejoice, although now for a little while
   you may have to suffer through various trials,
   so that the genuineness of your faith,
   more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire,
   may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor
   at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Although you have not seen him you love him;
   even though you do not see him now yet believe in him,
   you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,
   as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

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 Christ, 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

I don’t know whether you feel it too, but I often find myself asking the Lord, like Thomas, to wait for me another week—to come again for me the following Sunday. I make this request because at times in life I find myself like Thomas: closed in on myself, burdened by my problems and my pain, lost in my thoughts, even detached from those around me so that I fail to notice anyone else’s needs; perhaps I am even unable to pray. I become so distracted and confused that it is as if I do not know that the Lord has risen from the dead. And, like Thomas, I remain outside the joy of the Good News of the Resurrection and do not experience the joy that the disciples felt when they met the Lord.

I think that all of us, at one time or another, find ourselves like Thomas. Fortunately, the Lord comes again for us and continues to come to us each time—not to rebuke us or scold us; not to say, “Why do you never learn? Why do you not believe at once each time? Why do you not trust me?” Instead, like Thomas, with great patience he shows us his wounds again—signs of his suffering, but also of his humanity—and invites us to place our hands upon them.

And the best part of the story is that, in the encounter with the living Christ, everything in us that is death, everything that is pain, everything that is shadow, our sorrow … these bitter experiences which in some way shut us in on ourselves are not ignored. Rather, in the meeting of our wounds with Christ’s wounds, they become the place where we experience love and healing (or at least begin to experience healing). There, in the wounds, lies the secret. May we have the courage to put our finger on our wounds and allow them to be touched by the light that flows from his wounds, for only in this way do we come to recognise Jesus and experience him in our lives as our Lord and our God. If we continue to run away from our wounds, they will remain there and continue to fester and trouble us.

Perhaps Jesus, like Thomas, will have to wait for us and come again for us. It does not matter. The Lord comes. That is what he does for us every Sunday, every day, in the Eucharist. But, like Thomas, we must not remain cut off on our own; rather, we must remain connected to the community, for it is there that the encounter takes place. It is together, as a community, that we experience the saving grace of the Lord. It is through the community that he comes to meet us and seek us out.

Prayer

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you continue to wait for me each time. Grant that you may find me ready to let my wounds meet yours and to experience the joy of the Resurrection within the Church, this community of the wounded—yet wounded who are saved and who believe in the power of the One who has saved them. Amen.

 

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