It’s very much that time of year: the springtime weather is breaking, which means warmer temperatures, more humidity, the bugs are starting to emerge yet again, and the plants are beginning to come back to life! Yet, it is also the time of the year for storms as well, which brings back many memories for me… especially in regard to my dad. When there were storm warnings of any kind, I always found my dad’s approach to be rather intriguing: instead of heeding warnings, he wanted to stand out on the porch and watch the storm arrive. It wasn’t enough to hear about radar and what was going on- there was something to seeing it with his own two eyes! He certainly lived out that midwestern dad stereotype. There was never a storm that approached that was worth missing!
Our eyes are very important to us, likely, especially in providing evidence and proof of what has happened or is happening around us. As we are all citizens of the “show me state,” we are all very familiar with the need for proof, and for seeing things for ourselves. While in our everyday interactions, there may be times and places for this, we are actually in an intriguing time, as we are early in our Easter celebrations, where we are being invited and challenged to do one thing: go and see Christ. While this may seem rather cliché, or perhaps a bit on the side of idealistic- it does reign as a question: are we able to see the Risen Christ with the eyes of faith?
The Gospel that we read for this second Sunday of Easter, also called “Divine Mercy” Sunday is one that we come to every year. We are familiar with it, not necessarily because it is a moment of triumph, but because it seems like a moment of weakness. In particular, we listen and we hear how Thomas has a moment of doubt- and because of that, we tend to remember him by his most popular name: “doubting Thomas.” It has stuck because of this one passage! It can become very easy to look down upon him with such distain and to wonder, “How could Thomas have doubted?!”
If we rewind back into the depth of this reading, we should realize a few things up front. Notice- the other disciples were afforded a luxury that Thomas was not. Thomas was the one who just happened to be absent at the time that the Lord appeared to the others! It almost seems like a moment of dumb luck. The disciples were there, Jesus appears, and yet, in that moment, Thomas was not graced with this occasion. However, Thomas did have something of a blessing here: the testimony of the other disciples. They all together saw Him- and from that moment on, they began to tell all of the others that would listen about this miraculous occasion! However, Thomas would not listen to that testimony, but found it easier to live in this stubborn way, and to refuse that testimony.
Notice the other powerful element here, though: the Lord, even in the midst of the doubt of Thomas comes running to Him. In a very real way, He hears Thomas’s prayer and need, and runs through a locked door to come to His aid! This is actually where we get this title “Divine Mercy Sunday.” Mercy can be somewhat of a catch-all phrase in the church, or perhaps a Catholic buzzword, but if we understand what is truly happening- we see just how much the Lord loves us. Think about it this way: we spent the entirety of Lent working to come closer to God- now during Easter, He is working to come to us. He wants us to see and to receive His presence in a very real and tangible way.
We cannot and should not stop there though, because in our day and age, it can be harder to believe. We don’t necessarily have the same benefit as those first disciples in seeing the Lord in His Body. We may not have been at the tomb that first Easter morning. What do we have? If we switch for just a moment to the first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, we can actually find what we do have: the testimony of the Church. In the Acts of the Apostles, they are not so much dealing with Christ’s own direct work, but are rather looking to the example and the ministry of the disciples. We are told that there are many signs and wonders being done in the midst of the people at the hands of the apostles. Peter is mentioned by name, and there were many who were placing the sick so that only his shadow should touch them- so great is their faith. They see the testimony, and they behold the signs- and because of these things- they believe!
Yet, it isn’t all easy. The people aren’t all simply filled with belief, but there are struggles. John in particular is mentioned in his own struggle, because, in the second reading, taken from the book of Revelation, he is seeing a direct vision of the Son of Man- namely, Jesus Himself! So, because of this, John is filled with trembling, and falls down. What happens here? John is aware of his own weakness and his own failures, and therefore does not feel worthy to be in the Lord’s presence! Nonetheless, the Son tells him something amazing: “Be not afraid!” Jesus reminds Him of the power of the resurrection, and how He now lives forever as a result of that beautiful moment! Because of this powerful moment- there is no need for John to be afraid- for Christ truly conquers death!
If we are to take anything from this Divine Mercy Sunday, however, perhaps it is an encouragement along the way. Our Lord wants us to not simply be in attendance here at Mass, but He wants something so much more powerful. He wants us to be invested in our faith! We shouldn’t be filled with doubt, but should be able to come to believe in the risen Christ as we celebrate His triumph over death during this sacred season!
In particular, however, we should be aware: the Gospel teaches us to not be fooled into simply trusting what we can see with our eyes. We shouldn’t just rely on, in this life, being able to see everything that is important. Some of the most important realities of this life are not something that we can see. That is certainly true in regard to our faith. So, yes, there is a challenge to realize that we are encouraged to not be like Thomas.
Yet, what if we doubt? Are we doomed because we struggle to live out faith? Are we in trouble, because, like my dad, or any Midwesterner, we want to go out on the porch to watch the storm to roll in? My brothers and sisters, if we put in the effort to believe, God wants to meet us in the midst of that desire to believe. He isn’t going to simply leave us on the outside, but wants to help us to believe, like Thomas eventually comes to. Even as John struggled with his own weakness, and with encountering Jesus in a real way, as he needed to, we are encouraged along.
We may not have the same things in our midst as the disciples may have, we may not have Jesus appearing to us in the same way, but we still do have our Lord appearing to us, in His Resurrected glory. We need not have hearts that are hardened, but hearts that are renewed by the Resurrection. This isn’t just and idle celebration that the Church is pulling us through every year without any sort of rationale. It is because we, like Thomas, need to see the Lord with our own eyes, and so we do, even though we are seeing Him with our eyes of faith, and not necessarily in the same way as those first Apostles and disciples.
Brothers and sisters, faith can be difficult, at times, to see. We may struggle to believe. Yet, if we strive to have faith and hearts renewed by this reality, we can trust that our God comes to meet us, to show us His Hands and His Side, and wants to renew in each of us that beautiful gift of faith. Thomas was on His way, but he wasn’t quite there yet. He needed a little more of the Lord’s mercy. May we each find in Him a merciful companion on the way, and one that encourages us to see the Lord in a new way and with the eyes of faith.
