Divine Mercy Sunday
Today’s feast originates from St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish mystic who had visions of the Lord in the 1930s. The feast culminates the Divine Mercy novena which began on Good Friday. In 2000, St. Faustina was canonized and Divine Mercy Sunday was instituted into the Roman calendar. It is also associated with a plenary indulgence. Read more about St. Faustina. Read more about the feast.
The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for the Easter Season
At the Easter Vigil, catechumens are baptized. The Sundays of Easter then provide instruction in the Christian life. Something to ask of each reading, then, is what does it tell us about how to live the Christian life with eyes of newness and wonder?
In today’s readings, we continue to ponder the resurrection. Jesus is risen. We believe this; our faith proclaims it. And yet, how often do we wish for some more tangible evidence?! How often do we wish that we could have walked with Jesus in the flesh? Today’s readings challenge us to look for and find the resurrected Christ in new ways. They ask us to see the presence of Christ in our ordinary life.
Acts 5:12-16
The writer of Acts several times employs a device that conflates two or more narratives into a single story which serves as a summary of a broad range of activity. These summaries occur in 2:42-47, 4:32-35, and 5:12-16.
V13 says that the people were afraid to openly join the new community while v14 says more were being added in great numbers. Both are probably true. Too often we think of faith as an immediate sort of thing and assume that the good news transforms us overnight. Our human reality is that change takes time. It takes numerous hearings of something to sink into our souls. And then it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out how to live it. Can you imagine yourself in the context of that early community, hearing the gospel and saying yes, but needing time to embrace the changes openly?
In 3:1-11 and 5:1-11, there are stories of Peter’s signs and wonders in particular. Here in v12, Luke extends that to all the apostles – all of them were doing miracles. “Signs and wonders” is a common phrase that appears in Acts (see 2:22, 43, and 4:30) and also the Old Testament (see Exodus 7:3, Psalm 135:9).
In v14 we see that believers “were added,” a passive verb. It wasn’t the community adding members to itself; it was God’s action. And the new members didn’t add themselves; it was God’s action.
Mark 6:55-56 tells the story of how a woman simply touching the hem of Jesus’ garment is cured. Acts 19:11-12 attributes the same curative power to Paul. In v15, that power is given to Peter. But even here, it is clear that it is God’s power. The word “fall on” (used of Peter’s shadow) is the same word for the annunciation in Luke 1:35 and the transfiguration in Luke 9:34 (a cloud fell on them). Luke is making it clear that it is not Peter’s power but God’s that effects the healings.
How might God be adding to the number of believers even now, in ways that are unusual and possibly unexpected? Can we as a faith community embrace those believers?
Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19
1:10 – 11:19 contains a series of visions. 1:10-3:22 is the first vision in which Christ gives a message to each of seven churches. Today’s passage is the vision of Christ appearing to John with those messages. This is a commissioning vision. In it, John is given a mission and also the authority to complete the mission.
Patmos was an island off the western coast of Asia Minor, a place where political enemies of Rome were banished. It has a long history in Greek mythology. In 2009, Forbes Magazine named it “Europe’s most idyllic place to live,” but we can assume that being banished there made it somewhat less idyllic.
Messages were given to seven churches. These cities were located along a major roadway, so these messages could easily have been carried from one to the next. John is told to write these messages down.
John then sees in v12 one like a “son of man.” In the Jewish tradition, this phrase was frequently used of a prophet or figure who had been given a message and power by God. Christian tradition later associated it with Jesus. The figure wears a gold sash on his chest. Men of Rome wore such a sash. Laborers would wear it around their waist so as to easily tuck in their garments for work. The important and well-to-do wore it around their chest. He appears in the midst of lampstands, which evoke a vision in Zechariah 4. Other parts of the description call to mind Daniel 7.
In v17 are two things Jesus commonly said:
- Don’t be afraid
- I AM
Then he uses three characterizations that have their origins in the Jewish tradition of speaking of YHWH:
- First and last Isaiah 44:6
- The living God Psalm 42:1 (now the God once dead and now alive)
- Holding the keys to death and the netherworld
This vision grapples with theology around who Jesus was/is by attributing to Jesus characteristics traditionally reserved for God.
John was in an out-of-the-way place. We might say he was on a retreat, however forced it was. He most likely lived in silence and solitude. And it was in these conditions that God was able to appear to him. As people of faith, I think we have to continually walk a fine line. On the one hand, God is always near and always appearing to us in some form. Our challenge is to recognize that in the midst of daily life. On the other hand, we absolutely need times of silence and solitude in order to connect with God’s appearing in a deeper way. I suspect most of us lean towards one side of that more than the other. Spend some time thinking and praying about this. Do you need more times of retreat? Or do you need to emphasize more the finding of God in the daily?
John 20:19-31
This gospel passage is read every year on the second Sunday of Easter.
Luke puts 40 days between the resurrection and the coming of the spirit. John seems to say that you can’t separate the giving of the spirit from the paschal event of the resurrection – these things happen on the same day in John’s gospel. This is a great example of a theological “both/and.” The early disciples needed time to process what had happened. Luke’s gospel illustrates this. Eventually, they came to understand the presence of the Spirit as intimately connected with Jesus’ death and resurrection, which is what the gospel of John illuminates. The key point is that the Spirit has been given.
It’s interesting to note that 1 Corinthians 15 is the earliest account of the paschal story and it does not include Ascension or Pentecost. These events took time to be established as important in the faith.
Why is such an important event like the life-giving, faith-establishing gift of the Spirit described in such diverse ways? Luke tells the Pentecost story in the context of his own narrative, and he conveys the message his community needs to hear. John, too, will tell the story in his own way for the needs of his community. But they both tell us this: Jesus is no longer physically present with us, but he has not withdrawn to some remote place in the cosmos, distantly waiting for his time to return. Both narratives tell us that Jesus is fully with us because his Spirit dwells in us – as individuals and as a community.
Verse 19 says that Jesus brings peace first and foremost. But verse 20 reminds us that a second gift of experiencing Christ is JOY. Verse 21 uses a technical term for “send” indicating an agent commissioned with the full authority of the sender.
Verse 22 evokes Genesis 2:7 – this is the beginning of a new creation!
“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
This is a sacramental moment where the words and matter effect what they signify. I am particularly struck by the fact that Jesus is giving us something, but there is work to do on our part: we must receive!
Verse 23 is usually viewed as the hierarchical power to absolve sin. But the word “retain” here is not a word that has a legal sense. It is more often translated “hold on to” or “seize” or “hold in check.” Similarly “forgive,” which is a word better translated “send away,” or “leave alone.” It’s almost like a statement of fact: when someone does something wrong against us and we hold on to it, we do indeed hold on to it! But if we let it go, it is gone.
Thomas represents all the generations after Christ: we know that Christ died and rose again, but we did not experience all that as directly as the first disciples. Thomas encounters Christ in a new way and believes. I love the honesty in this encounter. Thomas does not shrink back from stating his doubt. And Jesus does not berate Thomas; instead, Jesus gives Thomas exactly what he needs. It’s interesting to note that Thomas said he needed to see and feel the wounds – actually put his hands on them. In the end, however, it is the encounter with the risen Lord, not the physical “proof,” that solidifies Thomas’ belief.
Verses 30-31 form a conclusion to John’s gospel and remind us that, for all that is told, there is much not said. The stories have been chosen so that all may “come to believe.” The Greek tense implies a continuing, repeating action: “that you may continue to believe.”
Do you identify with Thomas’ need for bolstering his belief? Can you channel your inner Thomas and boldly ask Jesus for what you need, trusting it to be given?
Peace and joy are the first gifts of the risen Lord. How does your life reflect these gifts? How are you sharing these gifts with others?
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
© 2023 Kelly Sollinger