May 1, 2011
Second Sunday of Easter
Divine Mercy Sunday
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
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. Acts 2:44-45
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. 1 Peter 1:8-9
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." John 20:26-29
Piety
Love is what God is all about. We are surrounded by the love of God. There are more ways than we can ever take into account of God’s love for us sparkling around us in the ordinary of life that we take for granted and rarely appreciate as much as the rose we might slow down enough to smell. Love is God’s gift to us of life and all the ways we are loved by the supports of life we can all too easily take for granted. Friends tell us the truth of God’s special love for us and the Thomas in all of us wants to put our finger into the pie of God’s love to see how it tastes. All too often we have to find proof that our friends love us; we need to see for ourselves how God loves us that we might believe. The words of Christ to Thomas are an incredible challenge. “Blessed are those who have not seen and believe.” Love cannot be earned. It is there waiting for us to accept it in the case of God. His love is perfect because he does not force it on us. We have to accept it in order to have it. Justice is what we deserve. Love is what God offers us without our deserving it. God is love and when we live in God’s love we are completing God’s love.
Study
We look at the early Christian community and see that they share everything. They have it all in common. How we share the richness of God’s love for us is seen in all the ways we put ourselves out for the sake of others without measuring what it is worth to us or what we are getting back for our services. Love is the gift freely given. God loves us so much that he gives us his Son to redeem us from our sinfulness. Christ is the challenge of love. He brings the reality of every sacrifice to fruition in the hope of the resurrection. He takes our love and gives it a divine meaning in the service we offer to one another. The embrace of the cross is for the good and the bad alike. He takes to himself all our imperfections of love that our love might be his love. We live a likeness to God when others do not have to deserve our love. Jesus challenges us to love one another as he loved us. He tells us there is no greater love than to give our lives for the sake of each other.
Action
The resurrection belongs to love. Joy is the visibility of the resurrection in our lives. If we are happy about God’s so great love for us in Christ we need to notify our faces. A good smile is and brings an overflow of the resurrection. Sadness suggests we are fleeing from the resurrection in our own lives. The hurts that come our way for our goodness and love are the claim to fame we will have in heaven. There is no love given in our efforts for the needs of each other that will not redound to our glory in heaven. There is no price too great to be paid to make our love real in the lives of those we care about and help. All that we do out of love works to strengthen the hopes of a better world. The value of the Resurrection is more than fire tried gold. It is the richness of hope that gives life to the resurrection waiting for each of us. The love of God calls us to share the resurrection even before we get there in the truth that wherever there is love, God is there. Christ is our foothold in heaven. Our hands and our feet carry the resurrection wherever they go. When we touch the wounds of love in each other, we are living like Thomas. Christ invites us to live our lives in the hopes of what our love can do to make the resurrection joy part of environment of our world. We must live as an expression of Divine Mercy.
