DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY - April 24, 2022
“Pray, hope, and don't worry.”
~Padre Pio
TODAY'S READINGS
Second Sunday of Easter
Sunday of Divine Mercy
Lectionary: 45
Reading I
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.
Responsorial Psalm
R (1) Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.
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.”
R Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.
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:
R Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.
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.
R Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.
Reading II
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.”
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord;
blessed are those who have not seen me, but still believe!
R. Alleluia
Gospel
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.
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How well do we live the Easter experience in our daily lives? We are an Easter people, because we know and celebrate that Jesus has risen from the dead. And yet, we're not always shouting, "Hallelujah!" We don't always feel like celebrating -- not in our worship nor outside the church where our joy could influence people toward faith in Jesus.
It's hard to feel like the Good Friday experience of carrying our crosses has really ended.
This Sunday's second reading describes what the Easter experience is supposed to feel like: We should rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy. But how does that happen?
The attitude of joy does not come from reaching the end of our cross-like burdens. Rather, it comes from knowing that Christ's death and resurrection have overcome our crosses, and by uniting ourselves to his life, we are victorious even before we see the battle end.
Furthermore, it comes from knowing that we have the ultimate victory -- eternal life in God's abundant love -- and we know that this gift is "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading" and that it's being safeguarded by the power of God because, by choosing to have faith in Christ, we have accepted the gift in advance.
This joy-from-knowing is the true definition of "hope". Hope isn't wishful thinking. Hope means celebrating what is certainly going to happen before it happens.
Some Catholics say that they're afraid they might lose their salvation because they don't trust themselves to stay close to Jesus always. They're afraid that something will tempt them to turn away from Jesus between now and the hour of death. If you worry about this, let me ask you: During times of suffering, do you reject God or run to him?
Even when we get angry at him, we're actually very close to him. We're angry because we believe in him and trust him and he seems to be disappointing us. This is a normal part of the Christian life: Our faith is purified by our trials.
To embrace life as an Easter people, we must learn to remember that our sufferings are temporary and that someday we will enter into eternal joy. This is what we celebrate even while carrying our crosses.
Today's Prayer
Thank You, Lord, for Your Holy Spirit who enables us to believe in and witness to Your Resurrection without having seen it. Increase my faith so that I willingly take the Good News wherever You want. Amen.
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The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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