by Fr. Tommy Lane
We celebrated Jesus giving us the Eucharist and priesthood during the Last Supper. We celebrated Jesus saving us and atoning for our sins by giving his life in sacrifice for us on Good Friday. We celebrated Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday. Today’s Gospel (John 20:19-31) is, in a sense, a summary of all that we celebrated during the Triduum because in Jesus we see the wounds from his crucifixion, and we see Jesus risen: Thomas was invited, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” (John 20:27) Without seeing Jesus’ heart, this appearance of Jesus reveals Jesus’ heart to us, and it is a heart full of love and mercy for us. Jesus’ heart was opened by the soldier’s lance when he died but now Jesus’ heart was open to Thomas to help him out of his doubt and disbelief. Jesus did not leave Thomas in his pitiful state. Without explicitly saying so, Jesus really asked Thomas to trust him. Trust in Jesus no matter what. Because Jesus has a heart of mercy and love, he did not reprimand Thomas but reached out to Thomas, responding to Thomas’ request to be able to put his fingers in the wounds of the nails and his hand in the wound in his side. Thomas’ heart in turn opened to Jesus and he responded, “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28)
In the second reading (Rev 1), John, who was exiled to the Greek island of Patmos for witnessing to Jesus, sees in vision Jesus in the midst of seven lampstands. After today’s excerpt, John tells us what the seven lampstands are: they are seven churches (1:20). Jesus is in the midst of them, so he is present to them all. Jesus described himself as the first and the last. Elsewhere, three times in the book, Jesus described himself as the Alpha and Omega—the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet (Rev 1:8; 21:6; 22:13). As first or Alpha, Jesus is the origin of everything; everything was created by him (see John 1:1). As last or Omega, Jesus is the end or goal or destiny of everything. Just as Jesus came to uplift Thomas from his despair and doubt, Jesus is present with the churches in John’s vision. It is an invitation to trust Jesus no matter what. The two letters, Alpha and Omega, are on our Paschal/Easter candle that symbolizes Jesus. Jesus is present with us also inviting our trust.
When we look at history, we see Jesus coming to uplift us when needed. When we are in a low state, his heart opens to us to lift us up. This is because the door in Jesus’ heart is always open to us. During a time when there was a severe type of Catholicism practiced by some in France and elsewhere in Europe, Jesus’ heart opened to us by his appearances to St. Margaret Mary in France in 1673-1675. In response to the rigorism of some at that time, Jesus came with a message of love: “My Divine Heart is so on fire with love for all mankind” (1673); “If only they would make me some return for my love, I should think but little of all I have done for them and would wish, were it possible, to suffer still more” (1674), and “Behold this Heart, which has loved mankind so much, that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify to them Its love.” (1675) Since then, there has been an increase in devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as well as the First Fridays.
During the last century (1931-1938), Jesus’ heart opened to us again, this time through the revelation of his love and divine mercy to St. Faustina in Poland. The image of Jesus we associate with that revelation of Jesus’ love and mercy has rays of red and white coming from Jesus’ heart, the blood and water from his open heart on Calvary, representing the sacraments coming to us from Jesus: blood for the Eucharist and water for the Holy Spirit given in Baptism. Beneath the image are the words, “Jesus I trust in You” which is really the invitation from Jesus to Thomas in the Gospel today, and the invitation from Jesus to John in vision on Patmos, and Jesus’ invitation to us. Jesus, I trust in You.
In today’s Gospel, we heard Jesus give us the Sacrament of Reconciliation, confession:
Receive the Holy
Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose
sins you retain are retained. (John 20:22-23)
The Diary of St. Faustina about Jesus’ mercy is full of beautiful statements from Jesus about his mercy, for example, this one: “My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world.” (Diary of St. Faustina §1485) Jesus revealed to St. Faustina his abundant mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation:
Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint there would be no hope of restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. (Diary of St. Faustina §1448) When you go to confession, know this, that I myself am waiting for you in the confessional; I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in the soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of Mercy. (Diary of St. Faustina §1602)
Jesus said that today especially, the Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, his mercy is wide open to those who ask for his mercy:
The soul that will go to Confession [beforehand for this feast, but within 20 days for a Plenary Indulgence] and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. (Diary of St. Faustina §699)
Jesus’ heart was open to Thomas to help him out of his doubt and disbelief. Jesus was present with the seven churches in John’s vision. Throughout history Jesus has come to us to uplift us when necessary. Jesus I trust in You.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2022
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Second Sunday of Easter Year C
Jesus always waiting for us 2023
Christ invites us to his Sacred Heart 2013
Year A: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe
Year B: Trust, Surrender, Believe, Receive
Year B: The joy of faith in Jesus 2006
Year B: Why confess sins to a priest? 2006 (excerpt of above homily)
Related Homilies: Jesus Did Rise on Easter Sunday! 2021
Divine Mercy 2008
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