APRIL 28^th 2013. FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Gospel: John 13:31-35

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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GOSPEL                   John 13:31-35

When Judas had gone Jesus said:

'Now has the Son of Man been glorified, 
and in him God has been glorified.
If God has been glorified in him, 
God will in turn glorify him in himself,
and will glorify him very soon.
'My little children, I shall not be with you much longer. 
I give you a new commandment: 
love one another; 
just as I have loved you, 
you also must love one another.
By this love you have for one another, 
everyone will know that you are my disciples.'

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

The Gospel makes a curious connection between the betrayal of Judas, the glory of God and the new commandment to love one another as Jesus has loved us. What is the connection? The love that Jesus bears for each one of us is the same love that he bore for Judas. We all have a Judas inside us, but Jesus nevertheless loves us completely and unconditionally. It is this love for undeserving people that represents the glory of God. What do we think of when we hear about the glory of God? Splendour? Majesty? Power? The glory of God is his immense and undying love for the very creatures who betray him. Jesus then gives the disciples a new commandment – to love one another as he has loved us. This is very different to the old commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves. The old commandment makes our love for ourselves the model and criterion for the greatest love. The new commandment makes Jesus the model of love. This is what marks the Christian out from everyone else. The Christian is not someone who follows a human code of ethical principles. He is not someone whose behaviour is derived from his own capacities or wonderful powers of evangelisation. The Christian is a disciple, someone who loves in the very same way that he has been loved by his master.

What is the connection between the glory of God and the betrayal of Judas?

Once again, this Sunday’s Gospel is brief, dense, and marvellous in content! Judas leaves the Upper Room and Jesus immediately begins a discourse on glory. “Now has the Son of Man been glorified . . .” What is the connection between the glory of Jesus and Judas? We discover this when we read the full passage and hear Jesus’ description of the kind of love that he bears for us. The passage on love must be read attentively, not carelessly with the presumption that we have heard it all before and know exactly what it means.

            The glory of Jesus is best understood when the behaviour of Jesus is seen in the light of the betrayal of Judas. Jesus has just washed the feet of Judas. He has fed Judas with the bread of the Last Supper. Jesus has given himself totally to the very man who is betraying him. And Jesus is fully aware of what Judas is doing and why he has left the Upper Room. In fact Jesus invites Judas to go ahead and freely pursue his design. He does not try to obstruct Judas from carrying out his plan, because Jesus knows that in the end everything happens in the light of the mysterious plan of God.

            The glory of God must be manifested, and very soon, according to this passage. What is the glory of God? A sensational display of lights, sounds and movement? No. The glory of God is his love for his enemies. This is why the Church is careful to include in Sunday’s Gospel reading the line about Judas leaving the room. God generously loves the man who leads him to the slaughter. And the betrayal is all the more painful because it is done with a kiss, the sign of friendship. Jesus continues to love the one who treats him in such an underhand way, who chillingly sends him to his death for monetary gain. At the Last Supper Jesus declared that one of the disciples would betray him. All replied in turn, “Surely not I, Lord?” This is a question that each of us must ask ourselves because we all have a Judas inside us. We all test the lengths to which the love of God will go for each one of us. All of us make our selfish plans, as Judas did, and we “sell” the very things that belong to God for material gain.

The new commandment of love is strikingly different from the older version

It is in the light of the Lord’s benevolence towards Judas (and to each of us) that Jesus speaks of his glory. Then he gives them a new commandment: “Love one another just as I have loved you”. It is important to distinguish this from the old commandment of love that is found in the Old Testament: “You must love your neighbour as you love yourself”. Jesus is asking us to love each other, not as we love ourselves, but as Jesus loves us. The critical criterion of love is not found in ourselves but in Jesus. When the Passion of Jesus is complete and the disciples have had time to look back on events, they will realize that all of them have abandoned him. They will realize that each one of them, like Judas, has been loved by Jesus despite the fact that they are undeserving of it. Just what exactly is this Easter season that we are celebrating right now? It is the passage from an existence based on our miserable things to the things that are of God; the passage from a life centred on ourselves to a life centred on Him. It is an entry into love and into the glory of God; a state of being in which we forget ourselves and fall in love with the One who has given everything for us. The criterion for love is to love as Jesus loved us. How many people delude themselves into thinking that love derives from their own strength of will! They think that love originates in their own capacities, and that it is based on particular individual characteristics. A “love” that originates in ourselves will never take us beyond ourselves. We will remain trapped in that closed circle of self-interest that does not take us anywhere.  But when someone shatters this closed circle, erupting into our lives and loving us in a way that we would never have imagined, then we too become capable of a greater kind of love. It is Christ who loves in us, once we have been invaded by his love. The Lord does not expect us to be able to do things as he has done them. Ours is a love in response to his. If we stand in a valley and shout aloud, we hear our cry echoing back to us. What is it that returns to us? The sound of our own voice. This is what God does in us. He loves us, and we are like a valley, poor and empty, but that is capable of echoing His love.

The disciples of Jesus are recognizable, not by their wonderful integrity and personal talents, but because they love others as Jesus loved them

“By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples”. The disciples of Jesus are recognized, not by their great personal capacities, nor by the fact that they are wonderful, exceptional people. They are recognized as belonging to him. There is a world of difference here. Being a true disciple of Jesus does not consist in remarkable powers of evangelisation. If we met someone with such remarkable powers, we would be inclined to say, “Wow, what great talent you have for spreading the Gospel!” But this great ability of the other person to spread the Gospel would remain something external to me. If, instead, I see God working in the other person (rather than the other person relying on his own remarkable capacities), then this suddenly becomes extremely relevant to me. Perhaps God can also work in me as he is doing through this other person? The point is that true Christians are distinguished, not by their personal capacities, but by the fact that they are disciples of Jesus, loving each other in the way that He loved them.

When we see people loving each other selflessly and forgiving each other, then we see the Church of Christ manifesting itself. The Church is not a group of people who follow a moral code and make a concerted effort to love each other, or to do good things. Rather, what they are people who have shifted the centre of gravity of their lives away from themselves and their own efforts. They are not preoccupied with the defence of themselves, because their lives have already been defended by Someone else. The things we do in our daily lives (even those of us who are in the clergy) can all be acts that are perfectly praiseworthy and right, and yet be totally self-referential. The true disciple is one whose actions are totally in reference to Christ. True humility is a mark of such action and is a beautiful thing to see. We see it in the Holy Father and it lifts our spirits immediately. We are consoled when we meet people whose centre of reference is in the Lord and who feel no need to defend themselves. It is edifying to see a disciple in action, a person who loves, not because he has gritted his teeth and decided that he is going to make the great effort to love, but because he feels he cannot do other than love in response to the way that he has been loved.

Beautiful liturgies and well-organised parishes are meaningless if we do not manifest the love of Jesus in our daily lives

“Love one another as I have loved you”. At the end of the day, either we are engaged in a life of love, or we are at nothing. If our lives are not based on Christian love, on love that speaks of Christ, on love that makes present the glory of Christ, on love that is directed towards those who do evil towards us and that speak badly of us, on love that is directed towards those who betray us and make us suffer, then our efforts will come to nothing. We can have all the beautiful liturgical celebrations that we like; we can put on great courses of catechesis that attract huge numbers of people; we can have our ecclesial structures and committees organised brilliantly; but all is nothing unless the love of Christ is manifest in us, a love that is not held back even from our enemies. In other religions we often find elements that are worthy of praise. But it is rare to find the exhortation to love one’s enemies. Sadly, it is rare enough to find true love of one’s enemies inside the Church. This is the truly unique mark of Christianity.

APRIL 21^st 2013. FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Gospel: John 10:27-30

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

GOSPEL                   John 10:27-30

Jesus said:

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; 
I know them and they follow me.
I give them eternal life; 
they will never be lost 
and no one will ever steal them from me.
The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone, 
and no one can steal from the Father.
The Father and I are one.'

 The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Don Fabio breaks this Gospel into four principal phrases. “My sheep listen to my voice”. In order to be true disciples of the Lord we must listen to his word and ponder it, as Our Lady did. “I know them”. Jesus knows us in the most intimate and profound sense. When Jesus says that he knows his sheep, he means that he has established a relationship of loving union with his disciples. “They follow me”. Following the Lord is not a matter of obeying moral or religious prescriptions. Christian discipleship is founded on intimacy with the Lord. This intimate relationship leads us to follow his ways naturally. “I give them eternal life”. Once an intimate relationship has been established with Christ, then nothing will ever delete it from our hearts. The eternal has entered into us. It is essential that we too play our parts, as Mary did, in keeping this flame of intimacy at the forefront of our daily lives. We do this by cherishing and reflecting on the love that God has shown us at particular moments in our lives.

A brief Gospel that is full of relevance for our spiritual lives

This brief and simple Gospel reading is packed with meaning. It consists of four principal assertions:

1. My sheep listen to my voice.

2. I know them.

3. They follow me.

4. I give them eternal life.

This passage recalls many elements from the Old Testament. It resonates especially with Psalm 95 which is read every morning at the beginning of the liturgy of the hours to remind the faithful of the true nature of their relationship with God. Let us consider each of the four assertions separately.

“My sheep listen to my voice”

The analogy of the sheep and the shepherd is particularly apt for the relationship between God and us. Sheep are animals that need a shepherd to lead them to water and pasture. They recognize the voice of their shepherd and this fact enables them to live well. In our case, we do not see God, but we are able to listen to his voice. In order to follow the Lord we must exercise the sense of listening, the sensory capacity that is most fundamental for living the faith. Of all the five senses, listening is the one that is most important (for the majority of people) for communication and inter-relationship. If we see a person speaking but are unable to hear his words, then we will have more difficulty in understanding what he wishes to communicate than if we are unable to see him but yet can hear him. Seeing, in fact, carries inherent dangers. In life we are constantly tempted by idolatry. The word “idol” comes from the verb “to see”. We want to see, whereas we are called to listen. The relationship we have with the Lord is mediated to us by the reception of his word. The things we see often remain external to us, but the things we hear can enter into us and touch our hearts. The Scriptures present a beautiful image of Our Lady as the one who listens attentively, welcomes the word, and conserves it in her heart. In Hebrew the verb “to obey” does not exist. Instead the verb “to listen” is used to signify obedience. To listen to someone’s voice means to obey that voice, because true listening involves complete openness to that which the other person is saying.

“I know them”

Listening to the shepherd’s voice is not enough by itself to establish the relationship that Jesus is alluding to. The verb “to know” in Hebrew has a very profound meaning.  To know someone in Hebrew does not mean simply that we recognize them by name, know where they come from and what they do for a living. Neither does it mean to know something in an intellectual way. “To know” in the Hebrew sense means to be on intimate terms with someone. To be known by Jesus means to be in an intimate union with him. It is this which leads us to follow him. Our relationship with Jesus begins when he makes himself intimate with us. He takes the initiative and comes to us to establish this relationship. How wonderful it is to be known by someone! How great it is when someone understands us, when they are patient with us because they know we didn’t mean things to turn out that way, when they refuse to lose their temper with us because they know we didn’t really intend what we said. Love involves understanding and knowledge of this sort. Love is not all about doing things for others, but involves relationship, and this requires going beyond oneself and arriving at the innermost sanctuary of the other, not just at the level of their skin. Knowing someone involves a relationship that is not skin-deep but operates at the level of the heart. Only those who have an intimate relationship with Jesus can appreciate the full significance of Jesus’ statement, “I know them and they follow me”. Jesus knows us even though we do not fully know ourselves. It is Jesus, ultimately, who reveals our true identity to us.

“They follow me”

It is because of this intimate relationship with their shepherd that the sheep wish to follow him and be with him. Christian discipleship is founded on intimacy with the Lord, not on moral prescriptions or obligations. We are not Christians because we agree with what Jesus says. We are Christians because we are known by him, in this intimate sense of “knowing”. Jesus’ word enters into the most personal part of each of us in a way that our relationship with other creatures of flesh and blood does not. The following of Jesus is something that flows naturally from listening to his word and entering into profound relationship with him.

I give them eternal life

Once the relationship with Christ is established in an authentic way, then it is something indelible. It cannot be displaced by anything else. It sometimes happens that we see a change in a person that is of a profound and permanent nature. The change touches the depths of the being of the person. Once the relationship of intimacy with Christ has been established, then we are marked in a permanent and beautiful way. It is important that we ponder on the memory of occasions when we have felt known and visited by the Lord. If we can keep the memory of such moments alive in our hearts, as the Virgin Mary did, then no-one will ever be able to shake us. No other experience will be able to distract us from the beauty and tenderness of the good shepherd, our true Spouse. The Gospel tells us that the sheep “will never be lost”, because the eternal has entered into us through the word of God that we have listened to, and is lived and celebrated in the sacraments. No matter how poor and miserable I am, Jesus has loved me truly. No one can remove this fact that is written on my heart. It is essential that I reflect and learn to rejoice in the reality of being known by the Lord.

“The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone”

To know Jesus is to know the Father, to know that which is greater than everything. Jesus reminds us of this fact because we are constantly fretting about the vulnerability and precariousness of our existence. There is always a certain anxiety lurking in our hearts. To know Jesus, however, is to know the Father, and relative to the greatness of the Father everything else is put into perspective. “No-one can steal from the Father”, Jesus tells us. St Paul writes, “Who can separate us from the love of God?” No power in heaven on earth, death itself, cannot separate us from the one who loves us. The problem is that we make a concerted effort to separate ourselves from the Lord. We become burdened with the brokenness of life, we torture ourselves with needless anxieties, because we do not live our lives with Jesus in the presence of the Father. We are like sheep that stray away from the shepherd, trying to be autonomous, and we end up separating ourselves from the source of life itself. Life is to be in front of the Father, gazing upon his glory, standing in the presence of the One (“The Father and I are one”). The oneness of Jesus and the Father means that there is no confusion in God. It is not that different “words” are issuing from God. It is not that God tells us one thing, and then later says something completely different. When God makes a decision, he does not revoke it. Our God is not a God of chaos, as St Paul tells us. There is complete order in God. He loves us, full stop. This is the nature of the Father as revealed to us in Jesus.

APRIL 14^th 2013. THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

Gospel: John 21: 1-19

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

GOSPEL                   John 21:1-19

Jesus showed himself again to the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberias, and it happened like this: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two more of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said, 'I'm going fishing'. They replied, 'We'll come with you'. They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night.

It was light by now and there stood Jesus on the shore, though the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. Jesus called out, 'Have you caught anything, friends?' And when they answered, 'No', he said, 'Throw the net out to starboard and you'll find something'. So they dropped the net, and there were so many fish that they could not haul it in. The disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord'. At these words 'It is the Lord', Simon Peter, who had practically nothing on, wrapped his cloak round him and jumped into the water. The other disciples came on in the boat, towing the net and the fish; they were only about a hundred yards from land.

As soon as they came ashore they saw that there was some bread there, and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it. Jesus said, 'Bring some of the fish you have just caught'. Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore, full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them; and in spite of there being so many the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, 'Come and have breakfast'. None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, 'Who are you?'; they knew quite well it was the Lord. Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish. This was the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after rising from the dead.

After the meal Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?' He answered, 'Yes Lord, you know I love you'. Jesus said to him, 'Feed my lambs'. A second time he said to him, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' He replied, 'Yes, Lord, you know I love you'. Jesus said to him, 'Look after my sheep'. Then he said to him a third time, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter was upset that he asked him the third time, 'Do you love me?' and said, 'Lord, you know everything; you know I love you'. Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep.

'I tell you most solemnly, when you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go.'

In these words he indicated the kind of death by which Peter would give glory to God. After this he said, 'Follow me'.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Don Fabio tells us that this is NOT a Gospel of two separate parts. Both parts belong inseparably together and they tell the story of the renewed call of Peter. At the beginning of the passage, Peter goes back fishing. He returns to his old ways of doing things, his old profession - a way of life in which he relied totally on himself. But he fails to catch anything. Then Jesus appears, tells Peter what to do, and suddenly Peter catches so many fish that he can hardly draw in the nets. In the second part, Jesus asks Peter three times if he really loves him more than he loves other things. The point is that Peter went back fishing because he was still attached to the “old things”. It is only when we love Jesus above all other things that we become true disciples. When Peter replies “Yes” to the questions that were put to him, Jesus tells Peter that “he will stretch out his hands, and somebody else will put a belt round him and take him where he would rather not go”. This is a clear reference to the Cross. In other words, once we learn to love Jesus above all other things, leaving the old ways behind us, then we become true disciples, capable of embracing the Cross. This Gospel is a reminder to the Church, and to all of us, that we must keep our focus on the risen Lord, and to resist the temptation of falling back into our old ways and reliance on our own capacities.

This is not a Gospel of two parts, but a story that must be read as an integral whole

If we read the long version of the Gospel for this Sunday, then it seems that it is divided into two distinct parts. The first part tells of the miraculous catch of one hundred and fifty three large fish, whilst the second relates the pained profession of love for Jesus on the part of Peter. But the two parts in fact form an integral whole. When the Gospel is read in its entirety, then we see that it recounts the story of a renewed call of Peter, who has decided to return to his old ways. At the end of the Gospel, Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me more than these?" This phrase has always been translated to mean "these others". In other words, the text is interpreted as a call on Peter to love the Lord more than the other disciples love him. But the terms "others" in the original Greek can equally refer to things and not to people. This means that the passage can justifiably be interpreted to represent a call on Peter to love the Lord more than material things. Which interpretation is the correct one? If we argue that the Lord is challenging Peter to love him more than the other disciples do, then this raises a question about how to understand other elements of John's Gospel. Elsewhere in the Gospel, John is the one who is presented as the disciple who has the closest relationship with the Lord. Is Jesus challenging Peter to love him as much as John loves him? Perhaps, but it is also a worthwhile exercise to interpret “these others” as referring to “these other things”. In the text, in fact, we see that Jesus’ enigmatic question follows his request for Peter to bring some of the fish that he has just caught.

Peter goes back fishing. He goes back to the old life he led before meeting Jesus

At the beginning of the passage, Peter goes back fishing. He returns to his old ways. He goes back to the things he used to do before he ever encountered the Lord. He discovers, however, that these old ways are not very productive. He doesn’t manage to catch anything. Jesus appears on the shore, but Peter does not recognize him. This passage is a passage that has the theme of recognition at its core. Through the miraculous catch of fish, and with the help of the beloved disciple (who exclaims, “It is the Lord!”), Peter recognizes Jesus. The beloved disciple is presented as the one who is always one step ahead of Peter, helping him along, as when they arrived at the empty tomb and Peter was allowed by John to enter first. Even at the scene of Peter’s denial of Jesus, it was the beloved disciple who gained access for Peter to the courtyard during Jesus’ trial. Having recognized Jesus, they take the haul of fish on to land and eat with the Lord. At this point Jesus asks, “Do you love me more than these things?” In other words, do you love me more than the boat, the nets, the fish, all of the things you left in order to follow me? You left these things aside to follow me, and now you are returning to your old ways!

Falling back into our old ways is an ever-present danger for each of us

This is a story of rediscovery of the Risen Lord. Peter has experienced the Risen Lord already, but this experience is being drowned out by his return to his old ways. This is an ever-present danger to the Church! The Twenty-First Chapter of John’s Gospel, in fact, offers us a perspective on the Church in its moments of difficulty, at the times when it doesn’t catch any fish, at the times that it loses sight of its vocation and tries to rely on its own internal dynamics to keep itself going. But the Church is nothing without its Spouse, and the call on the Church must be renewed continually. Jesus asks Peter “Do you love me more?” Jesus is the one who must be loved above all else. It is only when Peter loves Jesus above all else that he returns to the full state of being a disciple. This bountiful catch of fish must be abandoned and Peter is called by Jesus to follow him. He must love Jesus more than all else and he must follow him. The call on Peter is made three times because Peter denied the Lord three times. Peter must be brought to full awareness of his deficiencies. He must be brought to the realisation that he was not called in the first place because he was worthy. In Chapter Thirteen he had declared that he would lay down his life for Jesus. But before he can attain the capacity to lay down his life for Jesus, he must be brought to a state where he begins to love Jesus more than other things. Once he begins to love Jesus in this way, then he becomes capable of following the Lord right to the end.

Once we learn to love Jesus above all things, then we become true disciples capable of following Jesus in the way of the Cross

The vocation to follow the Lord is expressed in the statement, “I tell you most solemnly, when you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old, mature, an adult, you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go.” The change in Peter is a change in his very being. In the beginning he is represented in an infantile, immature state, in which he dresses himself as he likes and goes where he likes. This state is transformed when he is loved by the Lord despite his weaknesses and faults, and he comes to the understanding that Jesus is worth more than any other thing. Once he comes to this understanding, then he realizes that it is no longer necessary to keep his old profession in reserve just in case things go wrong with his vocation to follow the Lord. At the start of this Gospel passage, he seemed to be returning to his old ways in exactly this manner. When Peter finally takes the step and enters into an adult way of life, then he “will stretch out his hands and somebody else will dress you and take you where you would rather not go”. This is a clear reference to Peter’s newfound capacity to follow Jesus in embracing the Cross.

Let us summarize our reading of the passage. Viewed globally, this text is the story of how the Church must constantly re-possess the Resurrection of the Lord. As Christians we all have powerful and beautiful experiences of the Risen Lord, but there is a constant temptation to lose sight of the Lord and to return to our old ways, to a reliance on our own capacities and our old patterns of behaviour. We must learn to constantly cast our nets in a new and different way. We must continually and habitually re-learn to love the Lord above all else, and this requires renunciation of other things, the things of this world. At this point – the point where we love Jesus above all else - we become adults; we become capable of loving the Lord more than our own lives; we attain the capacity to become true disciples.

April 7th 2013. Second Sunday of Easter. Feast of the Divine Mercy
Gospel: John 20:19-31
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio
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Gospel: John 20:19-31
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.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Don Fabio focuses on the theme of the forgiveness of sins. Like the Apostles, we are all locked in inner rooms behind barriers of fear. This fear is in the background to all of our sinful activity. Our obsession with our own preservation drives us to engage in activity that is harmful to others and ultimately to ourselves. How do we escape from this closed room of sin and fear? We are not capable of escaping using our own methods. Self-analysis and psychological techniques can only take us so far. The forgiveness of sins is something that only the Lord can do. In the Gospel, Jesus appears in the closed room and says "Peace with you!" He shows them his wounds of love and commands them to bring his pardon to others. We too need to have Jesus in our midst. We must look to him, listen to his word, and welcome him into our inner enclave of sin and fear. We must contemplate his wounds, as Thomas did, and believe in his forgiveness. The Lord will dissolve our sin and make us capable of carrying his pardon to others.

The story of doubting Thomas is perfectly in line with Divine Mercy Sunday

Blessed John Paul  II dedicated the second Sunday of Easter to the Divine Mercy. At first glance, this dedication might seem incompatible with the traditional Gospel reading which recounts the story of doubting Thomas. But in fact the dedication is perfectly consistent with the Sunday readings - the forgiveness of sins is the central element in the apparitions of Jesus to the apostles. "Those whose sins you forgive shall be forgiven. Those whose sins you retain shall be retained". This command should not be interpreted as a form of dominion or arbitrary power given to the Church by Jesus. It would be very worrying if that were the case. The command rather, should be understood to mean that we should make every effort to carry the forgiveness of God to as many people as possible, because no-one else except us has been entrusted with this mission. In this sense, if we do not bring pardon to people then there is no one else who will do it. We must not forget that the forgiveness of sins is very much a divine capacity. In the Gospels, the Pharisees object when Jesus tells the paralytic that his sins have been forgiven. Sin is an issue that only God can resolve. Our various techniques for analysing human brokenness can achieve some things that are positive, but they cannot dissolve sin. We can analyse ourselves endlessly, but only a relationship with God - the only being who is greater than sin - has the power to create things anew and eliminate sin. 

The Resurrection is the first day of a new order in which God's forgiveness is transmitted to the world.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, let us reflect on how this divine capacity for the forgiveness of sins is transmitted to human beings. The Gospel begins on the evening of the first day of the week. Which week is being referred to here? It is the week which begins immediately after the week of God's new act of creation. During this act of creation the new Adam is wounded in the side, out of which flows blood and water. The week ends on the Saturday, the Sabbath day (according to the order of the Old Testament) in which Jesus is placed in the tomb. The following day, the day of Resurrection, is the beginning of a new order in which God is doing something entirely new. The forgiveness of sins requires going beyond the categories of the old world. The forgiveness of sins is effectively life after death. After the death of sin, the dissolution of sin allows us to live a new life. We can begin again because Christ is risen.

Just like the disciples, we are locked in closed rooms behind barriers of fear. Our sinful activity is a response to deep-seated fears. Only Christ can overcome these barriers and dissolve our sinfulness.

It is interesting that Sunday, the day of resurrection, is described in the Gospel as the first day of the week. In our secular world, Sunday is considered part of the weekend. But Sunday is properly viewed as the first day of the week, the day from which the week takes its departure! It should not be thought of as the day we arrive at exhausted after our week's work, looking to be regenerated in whatever way takes our fancy. The celebration of the Eucharist adds a completely new dimension to our existence  and sends us out into the world to live the new week that has begun. The Gospel tells us that the disciples were locked in the upper room for fear of the Jews. The human being is not capable by himself of escaping from the closed room in which his fears entrap him. Fear is in the background of all sin, as the Letter to the Hebrews tells us. The fear of annihilation, the fear of death is the motor that is whirring away behind all sinful activity. The human being, in his fear of destruction and his disordered quest for life, engages in behaviour that is harmful to himself and others. This wall of fear that generates sin must be demolished, but we are not capable of doing it. The pardon that makes us overcome the fear that generates sin is the free gift of God, the eruption of Christ in person in the upper room in which we are enclosed. 

We cannot overcome sin unless we have Jesus standing in our midst

The Gospel tells us that Jesus comes and stands in the midst of the disciples. What a beautiful expression - to stand in their midst! Chapter 15 of the same Gospel says, "If you remain in me then my word will remain in you". Jesus is the one who wishes above all to remain in our midst. He departs from us only because he leads the way and we do not follow. The basic characteristic of the Christian community is to have Christ in their midst. How many people focus obsessively on their own errors and problems because they remain only with themselves. Do we really think that this organism of body and spirit that produces sin can, of itself, find a way of escaping from our situation? And so we continue going around in circles until the one who says "Peace be with you" comes in our midst. This Hebrew greeting is a greeting that initiates a relationship between two people. In this case it is heaven itself that salutes us, indicating that heaven is not distant from us. Even if we are in a state of sin, enclosed inside our barricades of fear, Jesus comes to us exactly where we are, demonstrating that he simply wishes to be with us. 

In the Old Testament, God tells us that he has carved us on the palm of his hands. The wounds of love on the risen Jesus are the way that the Lord has carved us on his hands. 

He salutes the disciples as a friend, and then shows them the scars in his hands and side. In other words he recalls the memory of the Cross. Jesus is not with them as he was before. He is with them after the event of the Cross. His wounds are a demonstration of what he has done for them. As the prophet Isaiah says, "A mother cannot forget her child, but even if a mother were to forget her child, I have carved you on the palm of my hands". Those hands are the hands of Christ who bear upon themselves the marks of suffering love. The disciples look on Jesus and rejoice. We too must look only for him and to him. In order for pardon to enter our lives, and in order for us to become instruments of pardon, we must take our point of departure from the Lord. At the heart of our misery, we must allow ourselves to be visited by Jesus, we must listen to his word and look upon him. We do not have the solution for sin within ourselves; we must look to him for the solution. When Thomas is finally present, he too must look at Jesus and contemplate his wounds. All of us need pardon for our sins in order to escape from the narrow room in which we are enclosed. To bring this about, we must look at Jesus and stop looking at ourselves.