Second Sunday of Easter: Divine Mercy Sunday

For Sunday, April 24, 2022

Acts 5:12-16; Revelation1:9-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31

Last week someone asked me if I was a daredevil when I was young. My first reaction was,: Where did this come from? Did I say something in a sermon or in conversation that led to this question? “Well,” I answered, “maybe … sometimes … but not on a regular basis.” A short while afterward I remembered once standing on a cliff as a kid, looking at the water below with my friends. It wasn’t a very long drop, maybe eight or 10 feet … actually it may have been as few as six feet ... but it looked a long way down. Were there rocks under the water? Was the water shallow? What about snakes or water monsters? The first kid jumped and said the water was great … come on down! Well, I didn’t … I was frightened. I took the safest route, walking down the hill to the bottom. I was called a few names, too!

The disciples today are justifiably scared. They have watched the brutal murder of their leader, friend, the actual foretold Messiah. The Jewish religious leaders are hunting them down. So they hide … and lock all the window and doors. Though their hiding place is totally secure, Jesus appears and says, “Peace be with you.” [John 20:19] How did He get in? Then Jesus repeats the Peace greeting, adding, “As the Father has sent Me, so I send you … receive the Holy Spirit.” [John 20:21-22]

Is this unusual? YES! The world around them is not peaceful. And it definitely is not peaceful around us. Enemies want to see the apostles dead. Sunday Homily Helps states it perfectly: “Christ’s mysterious peace evokes something beyond the normal sense of that word.” The apostles have become changed. New life has entered them, yet they are still the same. They have total confidence. God is with them. There is nothing awful to worry about. Death has been ended. Life forever has replaced what they have always feared in the back of their minds. What was lost through sin and death has been restored by Jesus. He has saved us, every one of us. Let us rejoice and live on in His love. How are we to do this? The readings give us some help.

In Acts, Luke begins with, “Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles.” [Acts 5:12] Let us look back at our own lives in a serious vein: What are the signs and wonders in our lives? Did recovery from a serious sickness or one of your loved ones just pop up in your brain? Did the selling of a house, or the ability to buy a house that you never thought possible, appear? Could it have been an actual miracle? A pregnancy, birth, defeating of death? Maybe the appearance of a long-lost family member or friend, who has reappeared with an amazing, life-giving experience? WHAT ARE OUR SIGNS AND WONDERS? HAVE WE EXPRESSED GRATITUDE TO GOD FOR THEM?

John starts out his Gospel, “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked … Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” [John 20:19]  Have you ever reflected on the ‘locked’ doors in your mind … the ‘locked’ doors in your heart … the ‘locked’ doors in your relationships with people you love and hold dear … the closing (locking) of your life to prevent people from getting close to you?  Now think: WHAT AM I WORRIED ABOUT? WHERE AM I INSECURE? It’s very true that we, myself included, do not have the power of Jesus to pass through the locked areas of our lives … but we do have the power of the Spirit to eventually get to the other side healthy … safe … secured … mission accomplished … realizing that God is with us every step of the way and that God is accompanying us to Heaven in love.

The disciples have locked the door, too. They are afraid … terrified might be a more accurate word. They don’t want to be found … by anyone. But JESUS APPEARS … even through the locked doors.  He wants IN … He is always with us. To help us … to embrace us … to love us. AND HE GIVES US THE HOLY SPIRIT to continue to be with us always. Do I place my fear in Jesus’ hands? He wants us to do this so he may lead us to the home He has prepared forever for each of us. What is holding us back? What is holding me back?

So I reflect on:

• Power has been used to abuse and hurt. It also has been used to heal. In Jesus’ divine mercy for the world, there is much healing to be done. I am called to help. Am I replying?
• Am I living expecting God’s power to help me witness to love? Jesus said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Am I eager for the movement of the Holy Spirit in my life? Do I ask for it?
  

Sacred Space 2022 states:

“Here we are shown twice how Jesus breaks into the lives of His friends. Can He break in on me? Where am I in these scenes? Am I hesitant like Thomas? Am I looking for some sign before committing myself to the fact that I am living in a new world, the world of the resurrection?”