Last week we accompanied Jesus on his passion. We suffered with him in the garden, at the hands of the temple guards, in front of Pilate, chained to the whipping post, carrying the cross to Golgotha and we died with him on the cross and we were resurrected with him on Easter Sunday!

Jesus returned to the disciples after he had risen and before he ascended to the Father. He brought them the advocate he promised, the Holy Spirit. With the help of the Holy Spirit the disciples are able to continue the work of Jesus, including healing the sick and those who were accosted by evil spirits. More and more men and women came to believe in the Lord! (Acts 5:12-16)

In the Gospel according to John we read about Jesus visiting the disciples and breathing the Holy Spirit into them. Thomas was not present and said he would not believe that Jesus had been there unless he saw the wounds on his hands and feet and touched the wound in his side. Jesus returned and showed to Thomas the wounds and invited him to feel the wound in his side. Jesus admonished Thomas to stop doubting (this is where we get the expression "Doubting Thomas") and believe. Thomas said, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus replied, "You believe now because you see me. Blessed are people who have not seen me and still believe!"

We are like doubting Thomas, are we not? Our minds and our hearts have difficulty believing what we have not seen with our eyes, felt with our hands. We do not doubt that Abraham Lincoln existed, was President of the United States and abolished slavery in the United States. We say, "That's history! That really happened! It's in the history books!" Well Jesus was a real man, who walked on the face of this earth among people. Jesus had family. Jesus loved people. Jesus worked. Jesus slept, ate and bathed. Jesus celebrated, he had happiness and he also mourned. Jesus learned. Jesus taught things to people. Jesus healed people. Jesus was crucified, died and was buried. Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day. This, too, is history. It happened and was witnessed by many people. Other religions, though they do not believe Jesus to be the Messiah, do believe he was a prophet and they testify to his teachings and his miracles. Who Jesus was, what he taught and what he did was written down in a history book, the Gospel. Jesus and who he is and what he did is no less real than Abraham Lincoln. BUT, Abraham Lincoln was not God made human; Abraham Lincoln did not cure sick, heal lame, dispel demons and raise the dead. Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed but he did not rise again on the third day to ascend to the Father.

The difference is the mystery of faith. We must transcend our physical senses (like Thomas) and have faith in the mystery that is Christ Jesus. It is this very mystery that is our hope, and our birthright, our inheritance. "How blessed are people who have not seen me and still believe!" (John 20:19:29)

The Psalm for this week is Psalm 118:  Give Thanks to the Lord For He is Good

This Sunday is also Divine Mercy Sunday.  If you are not acquainted with the Divine Mercy chaplet and devotion, I suggest you visit the link on the home page of this site for Divine Mercy Sunday, and even search for St. Faustina, Sister Faustina Kowalska or Divine Mercy Chaplet on the internet for more information.  In a nutshell, a young polish nun, Sister Faustina Kowalska, was the recipient of a great many messages and visitation from our Lord Jesus.  Her last 4 years of life were recorded in a diary format, The Diary of St. Faustina.  Jesus himself requested that the church set apart a day of the year as Divine Mercy Sunday, and that an image of His divine mercy be painted to share with the world.  The Vilnius image is the original depiction painted by Eugene Kazimirowski in Vilnius (presently, Lithuania) in 1934 under the direction of St. Faustina Kowalska.  Although she was never happy with the image, insisting it did not at all capture the incredible beauty of our Lord, she had to settle finally for a finished picture.  Jesus taught St. Faustina how to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet.  You use a rosary to pray the chaplet.  

If you follow the link to the Vilnius image of Jesus' Divine Mercy you will notice that Jesus is showing us his wounds, primarily the wound to his heart which poured out mercy in water and blood, the white and red rays emanating from his most merciful heart.  Notice how that imagery ties into the gospel reading of the 2nd Sunday of Easter, the Doubting Thomas Gospel, wherein Thomas says he will not believe until he sees the wounds on Jesus himself and puts his hand into the wound in his side.  It is no coincidence that Divine Mercy Sunday is on the 2nd Sunday of Easter, which is also called the Octave of Easter.  Here is what is said on the 

Divine Mercy Org website has to say about Divine Mercy Sunday:

"Blood and water! We immediately think of the testimony given by the Evangelist John, who, when a soldier on Calvary pierced Christ's side with his spear, sees blood and water flowing from it (see Jn 19:34). Moreover, if the blood recalls the sacrifice of the cross and the gift of the Eucharist, the water, in Johannine symbolism, represents not only Baptism but also the gift of the Holy Spirit" (see Jn 3:5; 4:14; 7:37-39).

The Meaning of the Day

Clearly, Divine Mercy Sunday is not a new feast established to celebrate St. Faustina's revelations. Indeed, it is not primarily about St. Faustina at all — nor is it altogether a new feast! As many commentators have pointed out, The Second Sunday of Easter was already a solemnity as the Octave Day of Easter; nevertheless, the title "Divine Mercy Sunday" does highlight and amplify the meaning of the day. In this way, it recovers an ancient liturgical tradition, reflected in a teaching attributed to St. Augustine about the Easter Octave, which he called "the days of mercy and pardon," and the Octave Day itself "the compendium of the days of mercy."

Liturgically the Easter Octave has always been centered on the theme of Divine Mercy and forgiveness. Divine Mercy Sunday, therefore, point us to the merciful love of God that lies behind the whole Paschal Mystery — the whole mystery of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ — made present for us in the Eucharist. In this way, it also sums up the whole Easter Octave. As Pope John Paul II pointed out in his Regina Caeli address on Divine Mercy Sunday, 1995: "the whole octave of Easter is like a single day," and the Octave Sunday is meant to be the day of "thanksgiving for the goodness God has shown to man in the whole Easter mystery."

And with that we tie in the Psalm for the day, Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good!  :)  

Have a most blessed week!