“Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Seen And Have Believed" by Diane Bayne

“Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Seen And Have Believed" by Diane Bayne

Second Sunday of Easter

(Or Sunday of Divine Mercy)

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.  (Acts 5:15)

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."  (Ps 118:2-4)

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. The hair of his head was as white as white wool or as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame.  His feet were like polished brass refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing water. In his right hand, he held seven stars. A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at its brightest.  (Rev 1:12-15)

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 Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

(John 20:30-31)

Piety

Collect

God of everlasting mercy, who in the very recurrence of the paschal feast kindle the faith of the people you have made your own, increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed, that all may grasp and rightly understand in what font they have been washed, by whose Spirit they have been reborn, by whose Blood they have been redeemed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Study

The readings for today, the Sunday of Divine Mercy, are full to overflowing with references to God’s mercy and love.  In the first reading we hear of the great number of people being added to the first community of believers, a community so in awe of the apostles that they lay their sick on the streets in the hope that just the shadow of Peter may fall on them and cure them. 

The responsorial psalm (PS 118) that follows is an outpouring of thanks to the Lord for saving the House of Israel, restoring their courage in times of distress and, most amazing of all, for making Christ, who was rejected by the builders, the cornerstone, of the entire nation.

With the second reading, we are taken into the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, where the voice of John, the Beloved Disciple, paints for us a picture of Jesus on the Last Day, who identifies Himself as the Savior who was once dead but who is now alive, and who bids John to assume the role of a prophet and to write down what he sees, “what is happening and what will happen afterward.”

Action

At the end of the Gospel for today, we are taken into the confidence of the author of this Gospel as unsolicited, he reveals to us, his readers, his motive for writing about the events mentioned here.  He says that his action in telling the stories of Jesus commissioning the apostles  to forgive sins, and the conversion of Thomas, are solely for the purpose of convincing us, his readers, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, by believing this, we may have life in his name.

The fact that Jesus was able to come through locked doors and confront Thomas is all that the author deems relevant for faith and belief in Him. By this selection of details, the author hopes Thomas’s response, "My Lord and my God!" – will be our own.  So, the wily interception of the author’s action is designed to move us, the readers of this gospel, to a similar action of our own. 

In advance of such an action of ours, Jesus responds with another action all His own:  He utters one of his most consoling blessings for those of us reading this Gospel twenty centuries after it was written: "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

How do these final words of today’s Gospel move us to action?

How blessed are we to have this Sunday dedicated to Divine Mercy!

How blessed are we to have such a Lord, dedicated to Divine Mercy for all of His creation!!