2nd Sunday of Easter (B)

(Edited) Reflections (from) 2nd Sunday of Easter (B), April 17, 2009

First reading: Acts 4:32-35
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 118
Second reading: 1 John 5:1-6
Gospel reading: John 20:19-31

"Peace be with you."

The gospel for the 2nd Sunday of Easter tells the story of Thomas, who did not at first believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. He was absent when Jesus, in His Risen body, appeared before His companions. But when Jesus came back, and Thomas was now with his companions, he came to believe in Jesus rising from the dead. Jesus told Thomas, "You became a believer because you saw me. Blest are they who have not seen and have believed".

That gospel for the 2nd Sunday of Easter is a gospel well studied by many bible scholars. One of the tools they use to interpret the meaning of that gospel passage is to count how many times a word or phrase is mentioned many times over in the passage. In this gospel passage, we find "Peace be with you" mentioned three times. Then the root word "believe", and all its word variants, are mentioned five times. With all these discoveries of the repetition of certain words, the bible scholars generally say that the themes the evangelist John wanted to convey and present to his readers are "peace" and "faith".

Peace and faith are the messages the Risen Lord wanted to convey to His apostles, and also to us in the present. Jesus knew this was the "solution" after He and everyone at Calvary experienced so much violence and abuse on His person. Jesus proved that peace and faith will always be victorious against violence and discord. God's mercy inspires all to believe and to practice peace in all life and work. Jesus shows us be His very example how, despite being crucified, forgave His executioners. And in His Risen body, He brings a message of peace. We are also called to forgive those who trespass against us, seek forgiveness for own trespasses, and amend our lives to be a herald of peace. It is God's grace in the Eucharist that gives us the strength to forgive as Jesus did and to bring peace to others as He did.

With faith in the Risen Person of Christ, we ought not to doubt like Thomas. It was Thomas' proximity to the Risen Jesus that eliminated all his doubt and brought him to faith again. In the same way, it is by our proximity to the Eucharist, our involvement and practice of its message in daily life and work, that will help us live in faith and believe always in the power of the Resurrection. We can be merciful and forgiving by being rooted in Christ, the Divine Mercy. This Divine Mercy is always in the Eucharist. We shall obtain the peace that only Christ can give (and which we are called to give in the same manner to the world as Jesus did). Together with our brothers in the Franciscan orders and congregations, we sing and pray, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace."