Homily for the Week of April 7, 2013

Second Sunday of Easter, 2013 Acts 5:12-16 Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24 Revelations 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19 John 20:19-31 A mother took her three young old son to church one weekend, They got there rather early. The child got impatient waiting for Mass to begin. Turning to his mother he said: When does Jesus get here?” I wonder if this was what the Apostle Thomas was asking himself all week. The other Apostles had seen Jesus on Easter Sunday evening. Thomas, for one reason or another, missed out on this first appearance of Jesus to the Apostles. Jesus did not appear again until the following Sunday, that is this weekend. Thomas did not reject the idea that Jesus could rise from the dead, but he certainly set up conditions for his believing that He had risen. Thomas wanted to see before he could believe. Thomas comes across as a classic doubter. That is how we get the saying A doubting Thomas. Our first reading describes the very first Christians. It seems that they had no trouble believing in Jesus, but also doing what Jesus said they should do. These early Christians shared their goods with one another and they worshipped and prayed together. They formed the very first Catholic communities doing what we are doing today over 2000 years later. The gospel I just read shows that the Jesus sends out his Apostles to bring his message to the world through the forgiveness of sins. Jesus said to them and he says to us: Peace with you, As the Father has send me so I send you. Then he gave them the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that we all received when we were Confirmed and Bishop LaValley will bring to to our young parishioners who will be Confirmed on May 10th. Some years ago Pope John Paul II was so inspired by this passage that he declared this Weekend to be called Divine Mercy Sunday. It is not that this is the only time that God offers Mercy to us, but it is a good time to for each of us to realize that God’s mercy is always available for forgiveness. Whenever we ask for and receive forgiveness we really appreciate the peace we feel. Yet, so many people do not believe they need mercy. Worse, more and more of do not even think they need God. Soon there will be more who say we do not believe in God as understood through the teaching of Jesus Christ rather than those who will say they do. Many of us from time to time have a hard time accepting God's mercy and forgiveness for ourselves or for others. Sin separates us from ourselves, it separates us from others, and it separates us from God. Through Jesus God offers us mercy and forgiveness. Unfortunately it is a struggle for us to show mercy. The best way to obtain mercy is to be merciful. Jesus said at one time: Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Failure to forgive others is a major human problem. Holding grudges is common. Failure to forgive routinely tears apart families, neighborhoods, and even nations. Jesus stressed mercy as when he asked God to forgive those who crucified him. The sacrament of Confession is an expression of God's gift of endless mercy. Each person needs to have the burden of sins and guilt removed from their hearts. If there were no need for forgiveness, Jesus would not have died for us. Each time we see the crucifix we are reminded of God's mercy. A look at the life and teaching of Jesus shows us that his loudest message was his teaching on forgiveness, compassion and mercy — the very things that seem so lacking today. But these are not dead. The cross could not defeat Christ; therefore, hope cannot be crushed. Thankfully, before Jesus told us to be different from everyone else, he breathed on his disciples: “he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” Before Jesus asked us to do the hard things, to live the challenging path, he gave us the Holy Spirit. Each week as we gather here in Church to celebrate the Lord’s Day we profess our faith in the living presence of Jesus in our day-to-day life. Each week we listen to the word of God and of Jesus through our readings from the Bible. Unlike the three year old boy I mentioned at the beginning we are trained to listen carefully to these words, and then to look at ourselves as to how we apply them into every situation of our life. If we do we can almost see the active, faithful presence of Jesus living in and through us. Although our doors may be locked at times-- locked by distractions, busyness, weariness, success or failure -- Jesus Christ still passes, still moves and addresses each one of us and says to us personally: PEACE BE WITH YOU. Today, listen carefully at the words I will use right before Holy Communion when I pray Look not at our sins, but on the faith of our Church, and graciously grant us peace and unity in accordance with your will. Then I will say: The Peace of the Lord be with you always.