4-27-25 Second Sunday of Easter-Divine Mercy Sunday

                                                         

                                                            

             

At this time of year, all around us are the hints of spring and yet there are still enough days of chilly weather to make us, like a doubting-Thomas, wondering if and when Spring will happen.  People have told us that they see definite signs of it but still we may have questions?                                                                                                              James J. Kilpatrick, the late newspaper journalist and thoughtful observer of ordinary wonders, once called this time of year “The Miracle Season of Spring.”  “Of course, these days, wonder and hope can feel like a luxury,” he wrote. We too live in an anxious time, surrounded by fear and uncertainty. Trust feels fragile. Doubt hangs thick in the air.  Some are afraid to turn on the nightly news, fearing what horrible tragic events they may hear about.   Sometimes it seems like doubt abounds regarding our faith and trust in one another, or in our future.  We wonder whether anything solid still holds the world together and can be relied upon.                                                                                           Kilpatrick continued in his comments, “We’re so quick to explain things away these days. Foolishly, we suppose that science can explain everything. With a telescope large enough, a microscope strong enough, or a computer powerful enough, we convince ourselves there are no secrets left—no mysteries that can’t be solved if we peer hard enough into outer space, deep enough into the atom, or fast enough through the data.   Kilpatrick wonders if we’ve “forgotten how to marvel. Forgotten how to look at the hidden life of a worm—or the tender shoot of a green vine curling up from the frozen ground—and see not just the thing itself, but the fingerprints of God.”²  as being still present in our lives.  And yet, we plant seeds and wait for our garden to grow, all the while not knowing entirely how it all happens.¹                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         In the gospel this weekend and last, there was much doubt, questioning, and anxiety going around.  The women had told the apostles that Jesus’ body is not in the tomb, but the apostles, question that report and run to the tomb themselves.  Yes, it is empty, but they are not sure what that means if anything.  Dare they hope again that the impossible is true?                                                                                                                                  In another resurrection account, Jesus meets two disciples on the road to Emmaus and listens to their story of woe, disappointment, and frustration on what has happened to them because of the crucifixion and Jesus’ death.  They are filled with doubt and confusion even though Jesus had told his disciples beforehand what was going to happen to him and what would follow - Resurrection!                                                                Our gospel these two weekends leave us bouncing between the two cognitive and emotional components of doubt and trust.  Doubt is a familiar sensation, that nagging feeling that creeps up on us when we’re faced with uncertainty or tough decisions.3  Trust often can be a more difficult action or emotion to achieve and hold on to at times. So often trusting requires having a personal relationship or experience with someone before we can give that person our trust.                                                                   Thomas and the apostles had a relationship with Jesus but, still they found it difficult to always trust him.  At the last supper Jesus had with his disciples he said to them- “Where I am going you know the way.”  Thomas said to him, seeking more specifics and a clearer direction- “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”  Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father.  From now on you do know him and have seen him.”  (John 14:4-6) to which then apostle Philip states, seeking even more clarification- “show us the Father and that will be enough.”    What Thomas and the others are asking for is trust, built on understanding, knowledge, and surety.  What Jesus is asking of them is a relationship built on faith and trust.  Such faith and trust can only be born out of their full experience of Jesus (i.e., his life, his death, and his resurrection), and finally, such faith and trust can only be born out their own willingness to follow him even when they did not have all the answers.             This Sunday is also Divine Mercy Sunday. It speaks of the great mercy that God has for all of us.  Divine Mercy asks of us, do we too always trust in that mercy that is available to us if, we are but willing to turn to him? Divine Mercy asks of us to turn to Jesus even at those times when our judgements about ourselves and the way we have been living, or the things that are happening to us may seem in complete opposition to the ways of God.  Thomas heard about Jesus appearing to the others on Easter Sunday but refused to believe that such a thing was possible. Perhaps Thomas was so disappointed in the way he had behaved at the time of Jesus’s arrest and crucifixion, that he found it difficult now to forgive himself and to trust not only in the possibility of Jesus’ Resurrection but even more in the possibility of God’s mercy for his abandonment of Jesus.                            For Thomas to accept that Jesus forgave him, he needed to touch Jesus in a personal way (i.e., “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”).                                           Jesus doesn’t punish Thomas for his stubbornness, his doubt, and refusal to believe.  Rather, full of mercy, Jesus makes a special effort to reach out to Thomas and to help Thomas to believe again.  So that Thomas, once again full of faith both in his mind and in his heart, could exclaim with full confidence and trust - “My Lord and My God.”  And then, filled with such a faith, he could have exclaimed with the psalmist the verse in this Sunday’s responsorial psalm- “Let the house of Israel say, “His mercy endures forever…. Let those who fear the Lord say, “His mercy endures forever.” (Psalm 118: 2-4) Eastertide is a 40-day period between Easter and Ascension Sunday that calls to all of us to prayerfully examine where we stand in our relationship with Jesus.  We may desire proof of his forgiveness for us, but what is asked of us is trust in his mercy.  That trust can only be built by patient companionship with the Lord, through prayer, reconciliation, and a reliance on sacraments, especially Eucharist.  Such are the ways that Christ has left to us as the pathways to our relationship with him.  When we are willing to follow such pathways, then, we too will be  empowered through such merciful love to go out to the world like Mary of Magdala did, like the disciples in the upper room did, and finally like Thomas did, and we too can declare in word and in action that- He is risen and His mercy endures forever and ever Amen! Amen!

      1. Sundaysermons.com                                                                                                                                    2. Ibid                                                                                                                                        3.neurolaunch.com/is-doubt-an-emotion/