April 12^th 2015. SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

Gospel: John 20:19-31

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

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

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Gospel: John 20:19-31

In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you,’ and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.

‘As the Father sent me,
so am I sending you,’

After saying this he breathed on them and said:

‘Receive the Holy Spirit.
For those whose sins you forgive,
they are forgiven;
for those whose sins you retain,
they are retained.’

Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord,’ he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you,’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:

‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’

There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.

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

Kieran’s summary . . . Sometimes we are inclined to think that we can live the faith in a private, individualistic way. Read the readings on Sunday and think again! The first reading tell of the wonderful communion of the early church. Their experience of the risen Lord (through the testimony of the apostles) led them to share everything, living completely in the service of others. When we live as a community of faith we testify to the power of the risen Lord. In other words, the way of life of our community is the most powerful way of bringing the message of Christ and his pardon to others. Faith arises from a community and causes people to live as a community. The Gospel tells us that Thomas was not with the others when Jesus appeared and he refused to believe in the risen Lord. Exactly a week later, Thomas was present when Jesus appeared again. The Christian assembly gathered every week then, as it does now. Thomas was brought to faith in the resurrection only when he participated in the weekly assembly, and that is how it is with us. We must enter into the life of the Church if we are to be brought to a deeper faith in the risen Lord. And when we enter into the life of the church, we will be enabled to bring the message and pardon of Jesus to others.

The early church lived a life of wonderful communion

We will read this marvellous Gospel in the light of the first reading which describes the life of Christian believers. None of us is born with the faith – we must become believers. The Christian faith is a gift that is offered to us and that we accept. The first reading tells us that the early Christian community were of one heart and one soul. It is possible to have great uniformity in a community but to have many different hearts. The heart refers to the centre of a person’s being. The soul (in the Hebrew conception) referred to the personality of a person. Thus, to be united in heart and soul is a wonderful picture of true communion. The early community were profoundly united and had similar attitudes towards things.

Was this communion an early form of communism? No! Communism involves external constraint, whereas the life of the early community came from the Spirit within

They also shared everything they had. Was this an early form of communism? No; they simply were not attached to the things that they owned. They still owned those things (unlike communism) but they used them in the service of others. These possessions consequently became an instrument of communion, instead of being a function of one’s self-absorption. This is not a statement against private property, but the Holy Spirit was acting in the hearts of the believers, inspiring them to put everything to work in the service of others. It was the love in the hearts of the believers that led to this radical sharing. The illusion of an ideology like Communism is that it compels people to share everything by the force of law, but the mutual love in the hearts of people is missing. Communion cannot be created by the imposition of external constraints! If the heart is not open to placing everything at the service of others then such external constraint is futile. Corruption and sin destroys systems of this sort that depend on external factors. Only the interior conversion of the heart can lead to true communion.

The mark of a genuine relationship is that it should tend towards selfless communion with others

We need communities of this sort that call people out of individualism and into a life of love. All of our relationships should tend towards self-emptying love of this sort. All other relationships lead to tension, frustration and ultimate conflict. The first reading tells us that everyone placed what they had at the disposal of the apostles, who were witnessing to the resurrection of Jesus. Anyone that was in need could then avail of whatever they required. The joy of the believers consisted in these acts of giving. They did not require formal structures that prescribed what they ought to give. Everything was done in a spirit of fraternity.

Thomas only encounters Jesus when he is present at the weekly assembly. Similarly, we too will only encounter the Lord through a life of communion with others

In what way does all of this illuminate the Gospel? The Gospel has various themes. The risen Jesus appears to the disciples and gives them the Spirit of pardon, the Spirit that defeats sin. Thomas is not present and says that he cannot believe in the risen Lord without seeing him. A week later the disciples are gathered again, as it was the custom of the Jews to gather on a weekly basis. The Gospel speaks of “eight days later” because the Hebrew way of counting a week from now included the present day as well. On this occasion Thomas is present and he encounters the Lord. We must ask the question? How does Thomas encounter Jesus? By being present in the weekly Christian assembly. The first reading speaks of the way in which the Christian community bore witness to the risen Christ through their life of giving and mutual acceptance. The Christian faith is not a private, individual thing. No-one encounters the risen Lord except from within a situation of fraternal communion. If the resurrection is not experienced from an ecclesial standpoint, and if it does not lead to ecclesial communion, then it is not the resurrection of the Lord; it is a deceptive form of individualistic perfectionism, or the fruit of our imagination. The resurrection is fundamentally a fraternal, ecclesial event. Sometimes we have a tendency to think that we can experience the resurrection as individuals, but the entire Christian faith is something that is plural in nature. The original Greek form of the Creed that comes from the early Church councils consists in statements beginning with “We believe . . .” Believing is something that we do along with others. If my faith does not lead me to union with others, then it is not real faith but a religiosity that has been put together for my personal advancement. The origin and goal of my faith is encounter with others.

The mission of the Christian community is to carry the pardon of God to others, and we do this together as a community bearing witness to the life of Christ. The origin of the faith is in the community and its goal is to create community

The risen Christ sends us out with the mission of pardon, saying: “For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained”. In other words, Jesus is saying that if we don’t carry the pardon of God to others, then who will bear it? We alone can accomplish the task because we are the ones who have encountered the life that is stronger than sin – the life of Christ. It is a community, a church, that evangelises. It is a community that bears witness to the power of the Risen Lord by its way of life. Let us leave behind all private, individualistic approaches to the redemption! True redemption leads us into a life of communion with others.