By Suzette Yap Saunders
Pastoral Council Member
2008-2011

Gospel of John 20:19-31

The First Reading, from the Acts of the Apostles tells us about the early journeys of the Apostles and their healing ministry. At this time some of them are still afraid, and they were still going thru hardship and misunderstanding, while telling the story, the message and the vision of Jesus. Those who are already believers, give them support and encouragement to persevere in their journey. At this time they became totally transformed, and Jesus worked many signs and miracle through them. So, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, the apostles went forward and preach the word of God, healing the sick and unclean spirit and their followers increased in numbers.

The Second Reading from the Book of Revelation shows the vision of John. John sees the picture of the end time, with a new heaven and a new earth. Jesus told him that He holds the key to salvation, and that He is alive forever. He is the sign of Joy, every tear will be wiped away and all sadness is erased. A new heaven and a new earth are prepared by Jesus for His love for us is so great. He is the one who is resurrected and will be there for ever.

The Gospel of John this week tells us that after Jesus’ crucifixion the disciples were still uncertain of his message. They lost hope, were filled with fear, and locked themselves in a room. Without entering through the door, Jesus appeared before them with a greeting of peace and a mission to spread the Good News and to love one another as he has loved us. The disciple, Thomas, was not in the room. When he learned of Jesus' visit, he would not believe it. But about a week later, Jesus appeared in a similar way and Thomas was with the others. Jesus invited Thomas to touch the wounds in his hands and side. Thomas knew immediately that it was Jesus and believed in him.

The first part of the Gospel Jesus gave us a new commandment, “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” And he adds, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” The Easter season is a celebration of a new life, of how Jesus was raised from the dead for us. It is God’s love that is full of kindness, compassion, slow to anger and rich in mercy. And in this new commandment, Jesus is asking us to love like this, a love of service, with no partiality, love ourselves and our neighbors like we love ourselves. The love of Jesus is a precious gift but it also needs to be shown to be Christian, it needs to be demonstrated to be known as his disciples.

And then Jesus after giving them peace gives them the Holy Spirit. It is also the breath of the Spirit, the Spirit of the Father and of the Son and he calls them to share by saying: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Together with the gift of the Spirit is the mission, to forgive and to build a new community. He tells them: “For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.” It is a simple mission but also a call to build the kingdom of heaven here on earth. Their task is to reconcile all with God, with their brothers and sisters .They are called upon to build a new family.

The second part of the Gospel tells the story of Thomas, one of the disciples and his first meeting with Jesus. Like us Thomas is human, complete with all his shortcomings and good qualities, and Jesus must know these with his disciples when he chose them. His disbelief of the risen Christ is a natural human reaction to a person who just witnessed the crucifixion of his master. He held back, maybe because he does not want to be disappointed again. Although he was with Jesus all this time and heard Jesus speak of his resurrection, he probably did not grasp the meaning of it.

Even with his disbelief, Jesus did not reprimand him, yet he said “Blessed are those who have not seen and believe” to Thomas who saw and he believed without placing his hands into Jesus, his faith was complete. This has been our faith of not seeing and yet believing. Those words apply to all of us. We have not seen Jesus and yet have believed. Jesus accepts our faith as he did of Thomas and Thomas becomes a witness to the reality of the resurrection.

In this Divine Mercy Sunday, let us remember what it is to be a follower of Christ. Let us remember to love one another and to strengthen our faith in Jesus.