Fr. Jerome Pistoni, SX
SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
The readings of the Sundays of Easter present to the faithful a remarkable contrast: The behaviour of the apostles before the encounter with Jesus and the activity of the same apostles after the risen Lord visited them. The gospel of this coming Sunday tells us the story of ten apostles who are in a room with the door locked for fear of the Jews. They experience the death of Jesus as a big failure and now they are waiting for the backlash. They are afraid of the consequences of being the followers of the Crucified. Will the Jews look for them so that they will be arrested and jailed and the movement of the Nazarene be completely suffocated? Fear paralyzes them. Fear paralyzes the believer. We can experience many kind of fears: fear of changes, fear of what is new, fear of isolation or bad name.
The first reading instead, taken from the Acts of the apostles, presents to the attention of the listeners apostles who are completely transformed. Peter is not anymore in the room, but we find him in a public place chased by people who, as they did with Jesus, want to be cured by him. Which event triggered this miraculous change?
They are visited by the Risen Lord. He offers to them the gift of peace, and send them out to preach the good news. Fear evaporates like dew in the morning and courage takes its place. This happened when they were gathered together the first day of the week which is our Sunday Mass. It is there that we experience the presence of the risen Lord and receive the courage to become witnesses and missionaries.
It is during the Sunday Mass that we see the Lord, experience the gifts of his peace and become bold enough to go out and share our faith with others. Thomas was not there. Thomas was not a bad guy, he just missed the opportunity. Also the other disciples doubted, refused to believe; actually Thomas was the bravest one, who was not blocked by fear and he decided to leave the comfortable protection of the room: he was already doing what the other will accomplish later following the command of Jesus: go out!! But he did it out of need: looking for food? Gathering information? Visiting friends?
Thanks to God he did not miss the second chance and after seeing the Lord, even without putting his finger in his wounds, he made the highest profession of faith: my Lord and my God.
SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
The readings of the Sundays of Easter present to the faithful a remarkable contrast: The behaviour of the apostles before the encounter with Jesus and the activity of the same apostles after the risen Lord visited them. The gospel of this coming Sunday tells us the story of ten apostles who are in a room with the door locked for fear of the Jews. They experience the death of Jesus as a big failure and now they are waiting for the backlash. They are afraid of the consequences of being the followers of the Crucified. Will the Jews look for them so that they will be arrested and jailed and the movement of the Nazarene be completely suffocated? Fear paralyzes them. Fear paralyzes the believer. We can experience many kind of fears: fear of changes, fear of what is new, fear of isolation or bad name.
The first reading instead, taken from the Acts of the apostles, presents to the attention of the listeners apostles who are completely transformed. Peter is not anymore in the room, but we find him in a public place chased by people who, as they did with Jesus, want to be cured by him. Which event triggered this miraculous change?
They are visited by the Risen Lord. He offers to them the gift of peace, and send them out to preach the good news. Fear evaporates like dew in the morning and courage takes its place. This happened when they were gathered together the first day of the week which is our Sunday Mass. It is there that we experience the presence of the risen Lord and receive the courage to become witnesses and missionaries.
It is during the Sunday Mass that we see the Lord, experience the gifts of his peace and become bold enough to go out and share our faith with others. Thomas was not there. Thomas was not a bad guy, he just missed the opportunity. Also the other disciples doubted, refused to believe; actually Thomas was the bravest one, who was not blocked by fear and he decided to leave the comfortable protection of the room: he was already doing what the other will accomplish later following the command of Jesus: go out!! But he did it out of need: looking for food? Gathering information? Visiting friends?
Thanks to God he did not miss the second chance and after seeing the Lord, even without putting his finger in his wounds, he made the highest profession of faith: my Lord and my God.