Today when we are invited to share in unconditional love of God in 'Divine Mercy Sunday' we are given an example of how deep that love is. For some reason, Thomas, the apostle is not in the place of the first Christian lockdown when Jesus brought them his first simple message of 'Peace'; I like to think he was out shopping or checking in on the safety of other disciples in Jerusalem. He misses the words and actions of Jesus as he tells them, 'As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you: receive the Holy Spirit.'It is in this simple, yet so profound, way that John relates the gift of Pentecost, contrasting with Luke's presentation that we will hear on Pentecost Day.

Thomas cannot share the enthusiasm and energy of his friends when he eventually does return home and they tell him Jesus is alive, they have seen him. Jesus came in even though the doors were all locked. Thomas thinks this is adding insult to injury. You can imagine what he might have said to them. "You saw his body when it was taken down from the cross. You know he was not breathing. You know there was no blood left in his body, you know his heart had been pierced with the soldier's lance. You are all raving. It's getting to you. Get a grip on yourselves!" We heard in our Gospel today that Thomas demanded proof,"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." Thomas is the healthy sceptic that we all need in life; he is the realist that tempers our idealism.

Today marks that meeting between Thomas and Jesus; the Risen Lord again brings them 'peace'—something we need especially today. We look forward to a breakout of true peace in the North of Ireland, in Palestine and Israel--we pray for the true peaceful reign of God to be ours. As we have moved on from the regulations that were rightly put into place to save lives, we recognise a new way of looking forward. We look forward to a truce in the unending battle between politicians, the toxic media wars, and peddling of crazy conspiracy theories. Pope Francis warns us of the need for this peace, especially in our use of social media; even good Christians can get caught up in spreading disunity and lies:

(Christians) can be caught up in networks of verbal violence through the internet and the various forms of digital communication. Even in Catholic media, limits can be overstepped, defamation and slander can become commonplace, and all ethical standards and respect for the good name of others can be abandoned". How can this contribute to the fraternity that our common Father asks of us?('Fratelli Tutti' 46)

Jesus wants to ease the distrust and pain that Thomas is experiencing and invites him to look at the scars and wounds for himself. Jesus wants him to truly believe, and he does; without touching the Lord or placing his hands within the wounds, Thomas can exclaim, 'my Lord and my God.' Relying only on reason and logic and science alone had closed Thomas' mind to Jesus' resurrection. His independence, his pride, his wish to be master of his own life, wanting control of his own destiny instead of allowing faith to be in harmony with reason meant that he wasted a week. He shut Jesus out of his life for one week.

Today Jesus blessed each of us in praying with us, 'happy are they who have not seen and yet believe.' We see those resurrection moments in the amazing acts of love and sacrifice that mean so much. The pandemic taught us so much: we saw that resurrection life in the schools that never closed, in teachers learning new techniques and children open to try new ways of learning. In our work, play, family time and experience of being church, we had to learn to adapt. Like Thomas we were open to change, even total transformation in our lives. Thomas had wasted a week, but we do not want to not waste a lifetime. In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has adopted us as his daughters and sons: "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten by God." (1 John 5:1) It is most wonderful privilege to be part of that family of faith—as a part of that community of faith, you will make a contribution that only YOU can make. Thomas had wasted a week. We do not want to waste a lifetime. If you have not yet met the risen Jesus properly, then you need to roll away the stone and meet Jesus: allow faith to work together in harmony with your reason and logic. Today is the call to trust, surrender, believe, receive.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, it is good to pause and reflect how that unconditional love that God has for us, gives us that new life to move forward with true faith. Pope Francis reminds us:

Mercy in the light of Easter enables us to perceive it as atrue form of awareness. This is important: mercy is a true form of awareness. We know that it is experienced through many forms. It is experienced through the senses, it is experienced through intuition, through reason and even other forms. Well, it can also be experienced in mercy, because mercy opens thedoor of the mindin order to better understand the mystery of God and of our personal existence. Mercy enables us to understand that violence, rancour, vengefulness has no meaning, and the first victim is whoever feels these sentiments, because he deprives himself of his own dignity. (23/04/2018)

Author: Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB

Photo by Djim Loic on Unsplash