April 23^rd 2017. 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 . . . Easter is a passage from self to others, and we see that in Sunday’s Gospel with the story of Thomas. Thomas is absent on Easter Sunday when the risen Lord appears. Exactly a week later, he gathers with the apostles on Sunday and meets Jesus. It is through our encounter with the Christian community that we meet the risen Lord. No one can encounter God in the individual recesses of his own mind. The journey of Easter is a journey from living a life that is self-directed to living a life of communion with others. Since the time of Adam and Eve, humanity has pursued individual goals. We have sought our own personal supremacy, our own egoistic aggrandisement. We have tried to discover meaning purely in our own individual roles. But nothing has meaning unless it stands in relation to others. Any discoveries we make or deeds we do are meaningless if they are not of relevance to others. Any extraordinary abilities we might have pale in significance with our capacity to be with others and show love. Take heart! We can all build the Church for even the most fragile and weak of people can love! God resides in a life lived in communion. If we wish to encounter the one who has loved us then we need to be in a situation where love is exchanged – in the life of the Christian community.

The first reading emphasizes how the early Christians lived a life of radical communion

This Sunday we celebrate the eighth day since the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection is an event that stands outside of time; it represents the completeness of life, a level of fulfilment that is beyond that which is humanly possible, an unmerited gift bestowed on us by God. There are many aspects to the rich passage that we read in this Sunday’s Gospel, but, as we usually do, we will focus on one theme through the lens of the first reading. The reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes the life of the early Christian community, who persevered in following the teachings of the apostles in a life lived in communion, with the breaking of bread and prayer. These elements – a life of communion, the breaking of bread and prayer – are all the essential elements of Christian life, and they were lived with an attitude of perseverance.

Thomas encounters Jesus only when he gathers with the apostles

In the Gospel, Jesus appears to the apostles and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit - the gift of new life - and a mission to forgive sins. Thomas is absent and only encounters the Lord exactly one week later (the reference to “eight days later” indicates a week since the Jews counted the first and last day when they were calculating intervals of time). The day of the week on which these encounters occurred was Sunday, the first day of the week, the day on which everything begins again. The point is that Thomas meets the Lord when he gathers with the apostles on the day of the resurrection. It is not simply that a gathering becomes an encounter with the Lord when the Lord chooses to appear, but that we encounter the Lord when we gather with the Church. In order for Thomas to meet the Lord he needs to gather with those who have already met him. Meeting the Lord is not an event that typically happens between the individual and the Lord.

Even the conversion of St Paul required an encounter with the Lord through the Christian community

Paul seems to encounter Jesus individually on the road to Damascus. But it is only when the leader of the Christian community, Ananias, lays hands on him that he is liberated from his blindness. The meeting on the road to Damascus is only the beginning of a process in which Paul is first left in a state of darkness. Paul enters a state of transformation and it is only when he meets other Christians that he himself becomes Christian. The Church – the presence of others - is required for him to experience the fullness of the power of the Lord. It is not possible to encounter the Risen Lord in a purely individual way. We encounter him as a person from within the Christian community. Someone might think that we are trying to place the Church at the centre of the picture at all costs, but it is the text of the Gospel that is making this point! When Thomas is not with the others, he does not meet Christ, but when he is present then he does experience the Lord directly. Thomas meets Jesus because Jesus can be met in the midst of his brothers.

Things attain their sense and meaning only through relations with other people

From an anthropological point of view, this also makes sense. Do we want a knowledge of God that does not bring me into relations with others? If I were to make a discovery of some sort that is not of any interest to others, what sort of discovery is that? If I have knowledge of something that no-one is interested in, what value has that knowledge? If I do something that brings no benefit to others, what sort of deed is that? It is only in interchange, relationship, interaction that we discover what is true and authentic in life. We are never happy or fulfilled through things that have significance only for ourselves and cannot be shared. In life we have joys and sufferings, but often it is not where we are or what we are doing, but who we are with that determines the quality of our acts. I can be in the most beautiful place in the world but surrounded by hate, or in the ugliest place in the world and surrounded by love. I might be in the depths of illness and feel myself loved, or be in the fullness of health and feel completely alone, in communication with no-one.

Easter is the passage from self to others, from our preoccupation with our narrow interests to a life lived in communion with others. It is through this life of love that we encounter the Risen Lord

The Passover, the Easter, than the human person must constantly undertake is the passage from himself to others. The most difficult task on this earth is to construct the Church. It is the enterprise that is most attacked by the devil. Nevertheless it is possible. We might be inclined to think that only artists can do things that are sublime and beautiful. To say things that are marvellous and inspiring, one might think that the gift or oratory is required. But even a person who is very weak and fragile can stand in solidarity with others. Whatever our limits might be, we can still respond to others, be affectionate, show love. Very often people who seem to have extraordinary abilities are less capable of doing these things very well. Too often we become enclosed in cocoons of self-celebration which only serve to keep others at a greater distance. Thomas meets the risen Lord because he is with the others. The secret is to be in relation with others and this is the place where Christ appears. From the time of Adam and Eve we have been obsessed with our own roles, our own singular importance, our individual supremacy, our personal self-divinisation, whilst God resides in the things that are lived together. He resides in relationships, resides in love. We are called to meet him who has loved us in the situations where one can love! The situation in which we can love is when we are in communion with others. No one can meet God by himself.