A: 2nd Sun of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday (19 Apr 2020) - MORE THAN A DOUBTER (Jn 20:19–31)

Our Sunday today is also known as the Divine Mercy Sunday. It was designated by Pope St. John Paul II on April 30, 2000 during the canonization of Sister Faustina Kowalska, the visionary behind the Divine Mercy devotion that features the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus oozing with blood and water for mankind’s forgiveness. Accordingly, in his appearance to her, Jesus said, “I want the image solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter, and I want it to be venerated publicly so that every soul may know about it.” Clearly, it was the Lord himself who wanted to allot the Second Sunday of Easter as a day of celebrating his abundant mercy. But what is so special with today’s liturgy for Jesus to especially consecrate it?

The gospel for this Sunday is the second apparition of Jesus to his disciples, inclusive of Thomas. We recall that on Jesus’ first appearance to them, Thomas was not physically present (Jn 20:24). As he was told about the resurrected Jesus, Thomas instinctively doubted and was obstinate in his resolve to inspect his wounds: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe” (v. 25). A week after, Jesus showed himself to them and instructed Thomas to check for himself his body to verify that he has truly risen (v. 27). Without bothering to do so, Thomas delivered the quintessential statement of faith from a disciple: “My Lord and my God!” (v. 28).

Unfortunately, the characterization of Thomas in history has been marred with this doubting incident, earning him the moniker “The Doubting Thomas.” I think that such an assessment is unfair to someone who doubted only once and was momentarily incredulous on account of the pain of having lost Jesus badly on the cross. This episode, though, is not the lone starring role of Thomas in the gospels. In fact, he had some discourses in the Gospel of John where Jesus subsequently responded with celebrated theological truths about himself. One is when Thomas motivated his fellow disciples who were apparently disheartened by the death of Lazarus with the words: “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (Jn 11:16). A few verses after Jesus introduced himself as “the resurrection and the life” (v. 25). Another is when he asked Jesus “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (Jn 14:5), to which Jesus replied with the popular phrase: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (v. 6).

Looking at the general picture of his Johannine discourses, we can then assess Thomas as someone who is passionate and zealous of the cause of following Jesus yet inquisitive on the exact details on how this discipleship works. This attitude fits, too, to his portrayal in our so-called doubting episode today. Realistically, he was not totally doubting; he was simply quite particular with the details of Jesus’ physical resurrection, probably to evoke further their communal faith in him as disciples. As expected, again, Jesus delivered a maxim on true discipleship: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (Jn 20:29).

At the heights of this beleaguering pandemic, mankind, nowadays, is seemingly doubting… doubting God’s care, justice, and mercy. But we cannot sweepingly condemn each other as having lost already our faith. Who knows, most of us are just like Thomas who merely wanted some few details of hope, or to have a glimpse of a tiny sparkle at the end of the tunnel. We seek for a small sign to continue to hope.

Jesus, in his appearance to Sister Faustina, gave us a concrete one: the image of his Sacred Heart, which directly informs us that he offered everything for us, down to the last drop of his blood, to save us all from our sins and to show his infinite mercy to the whole world. May our response to this lasting reminder of Jesus’ immense suffering, far greater than what we experience now, is “Merciful Jesus, I trust in you!”

- Rex Fortes, CM