Second
Sunday of Easter: Year A
Believing
Thomas: Divine Mercy Sunday
Entrance Antiphon
♥ The entrance antiphon
of today uses phrases: “…You must long for the pure,
spiritual, milk, that in him you may grow to salvation (1 Pet 2:2)
♥ The Pure, spiritual milk gives
nourishment to the soul and the soul learns to recognize the mercy and love of
God, grows into the healthy relationship with God and is able to practice the
corporal and spiritual works of Mercy
Collect
♥ Today’s collect uses the phrase: “… God of everlasting Mercy…”
♥ God’s love and mercy is everlasting. He
is a just God but his mercy is everlasting. it is so much matching for the
divine mercy Sunday.
Acclamation
♥ The acclamation of today says: “Thomas, you have believed because you have seen me. Blessed
are those who have not seen and yet believed.”
♥ Thomas is also doubly blessed because he
has not seen God. Jesus says no one has seen God and yet he believes in the
divinity of God in Jesus by saying: “My Lord and my God.”
♥ We don’t call him ‘doubting Thomas’ but
we calling him ‘believing Thomas’ because we usually delete the photos that are
not well taken. We usually keep the photo that is well taken.
First
Reading (Acts: 2:42-47)
♥ First
reading gives us the picture of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy
because the new converts devoted themselves to
♥ 1) APOSTLES’
TEACHING
♥ 2) to FELLOWSHIP,
♥ 3) to the
BREAKING OF THE BREAD,
♥ 4) to
PRAYER,
♥ 5) they
had EVERYTHING IN COMMON,
♥ 6) SOLD
their things and SHARED with the NEEDY,
♥ 7)
Attending the TEMPLE TOGETHER [But Thomas was not together with the Group]
♥ The Lord
added to their number because they lived a life of FAITH, HOPE, LOVE AND MERCY
that is why God added to their number. People were inspired. Does it happen
today? If it does not happen that means that we are not living our life as the
early Christians.
Responsorial Psalm
♥ “…Give thanks to the Lord for his love [mercy] endures
forever.”
♥ The
Hebrew word for ‘womb’ (rehem) indicates that it is the basic root for
such words as ‘mercy’ and ‘merciful’. Rehem
is a masculine word which means ‘compassion’. It refers to belly or womb of an
animal/woman where fetus exists and develops (Gn 20:18; 29:31; Is 49:15).
♥ A
‘womb’ that miscarries could be a curse from God but not necessarily (Ho 9:14).
This female imagery is employed to express God’s female compassion and feeling.
This imagery speaks of a mother who provides for the child in her womb. And yet
Israel proves to be stubborn even in the womb. Israelites celebrated God’s
mercy by singing the psalms 117 and 135 in their prayer assemblies.
♥ At this moment I am compelled to think about the ABORTIONS that
are being carried out in rampant in the world. Through abortion so many
innocent lives are destroyed in the womb which is the very place and sanctuary
of love and mercy.
Second
Reading
♥ Second
reading says: “By his GREAT MERCY we have been born
a new to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ….”
♥ It speaks
about the TEMPORARY TRIALS AND SUFFERINGS and the IMPERISHABLE, UNDEFILED AND
UNFADING INHERITANCE. It is possible because God is full of mercy and
compassion slow to anger and abounding in love. We don’t deserve them at all.
♥ In
contrast to Thomas’ faith, it also speaks about the GENUINENESS OF OUR FAITH
that is tested by fire (1 Pet 1:7)
♥ Sirach 2:5 For GOLD IS TESTED in the fire, and those
found acceptable, in the furnace of humiliation.
(Sir 2:5 NRS)
♥ Our faith journey is a wresting with God
like Jacob. We are tried, tested, tempted in every side.
♥ When I
look into my own personal life, I see that just before my ordination God gave
me a “thorn in the flesh.” (2 Cor 12:7) It is no use of asking God to take it
away. He will say “my grace is sufficient for you”. Because of that “thorn in
the flesh” I come to understand spiritual realities little better than before.
He has given me this to keep me humble. It is given to test my faith by fire so
that the genuineness of my faith which is more precious than the gold will be
seen.
♥ WITHOUT
HAVING SEEN HIM YOU LOVE HIM: though you do not now see him you believe in him
and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy.
♥ The
result of our faith is the salvation of our souls.
♥ Entrance
antiphon: “…You must long for the pure, spiritual, milk, that in him you may
grow to SALVATION (1 Pet 2:2). Pure, spiritual milk will make us grow in faith
and win us salvation.
Gospel Reading
♥ …THE
DOORS BEING SHUT…” are we also locked behind our sins, ego, own private plan/agenda
AFRAID that Jesus’ encounter with us will be not that palatable. That we will
be disturbed from our comfort zones. Are we closed up in our comfort zones not willing
to go out from there?
♥ …JESUS
CAME AND STOOD AMONG THEM…: Jesus can go through our problems, fears and
anxieties. Be available to him. Don't be absent from his presence like Thomas.
♥ PEACE and joy are very much part of the
Easter season. Do we experience Peace and joy in our daily life (relationship/family/community).
♥ This
peace is not as the world gives, it was born from his suffering and struggle
and death and resurrection of Jesus.
♥ In fact Jesus gives three times his peace by saying: “Peace be
with you”
♥ HE SHOWED THEM HIS HANDS AND SIDE: instead of we trying to touch
the wounds of Jesus, Let us allow Jesus to touch our wounds: wounds of lust,
pride, indecency, immorality, ego…
♥ THE DISCIPLES WERE GLAD WHEN THEY SAW THE LORD: Seeing the Lord
gives us joy. But it is a sad thing to know that there are so many Catholics
who do not attend Sunday Mass regularly. How can they have peace and joy in
their life because true joy and peace come from seeing the Lord, experiencing
the Lord.
♥ AS THE FATHER HAS SENT ME SO I SEND YOU: Jesus is giving to the
disciples exactly what the Father gave him with full authority and power.
♥ HE BREATH ON THEM: when I am with the parish community he will
breathe on me his spirit.
♥ … IF YOU FORGIVE THE SINS OF ANY, THEY ARE FORGIVEN:
Jesus gives them the power to forgive sins. Confessional is the place where we
experience God’s mercy in a very tangible manner. It is a beautiful coincidence
that Jesus gives the disciples the power to forgive sins on the divine mercy
Sunday.
♥ THOMAS THE TWIN: Who is the
other twin? It is I and you. Every time we don’t believe in the love and mercy
of God we become the twins of Thomas.
♥ THOMAS WAS NOT WITH THEM:
Thomas was looking for Jesus INDIVIDUALLY but God revealed to the COMMUNITY of
disciples. It is easier to discover Jesus in a community than to discover him
individually. How is my community life?
♥ WE HAVE SEEN THE LORD: The saying goes: “seeing is
believing.” Faith is assurance of things hoped for and conviction of things not
seen. How do you see the Lord today. We see him in others (1 John4:20). Mother
Teresa saw Jesus in the poorest of the poor, the abandoned.
♥ UNLESS I SEE IN HIS HANDS THE PRINT
OF THE NAILS: the resurrection was an extraordinary reality and so Thomas was
looking for an extraordinary proof.
♥ MY LORD AND MY GOD: It is like
St. Augustine who said: “Too late have I known you Lord. Finally Thomas has
managed to TOUCH THE FINGER OF GOD as in the picture of Adam and God the father
trying to touch and live.
♥ BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HAVE NOT
SEEN AND YET BELIEVE: how many of us seek signs, vision, prophecies and
miracles in our life?
♥ To believe is to have life in him.
♥ Divine Mercy prayer says: Jesus I
Trust in you. We need to trust in Jesus. “JESUS I TRUST IN YOU” is equal to “MY
LORD AND MY GOD”
♥ Jesus said: “DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME” means
that we also need to SHOW MERCY to others just as Jesus did on Calvary through
his Paschal Mystery. The Cross is the culmination of Jesus’ mercy, love and
humility.
♥ We need to be the MERCIFUL
FACES OF THE FATHER here on earth.
♥ John Paul II visited 129 countries because
he wanted all people to know that God loves them, no matter what is their
culture or language. Thus, He became the Merciful face of the father specially
by forgiving the young
man Mehmet Ali Agca, the pope’s attempted assassin.
♥ Every
priest
has been touched by the wounds of Christ and he in turns touches the wounds of
others in a healing way. Pope Francis said that: “God looked at me with mercy
and chose me.” All Christians faithful are Baptitized priests. We belong to the
royal priesthood of Christ. We need to touch the wounds of others in a healing
way.
♥
MESSAGE of Divine Mercy Sunday: “ABC” stands for: Ask for mercy, Be merciful to
others, completely Trust Jesus.
♥ SPREAD
DEVOTION to DIVINE MERCY Through “FINCH” Stands for: Feast of DM, Image of DM,
Novena to DM, Chaplet of DM, Hour of DM.
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