Homily

When evening came on the day of Easter, the apostles were still locked in the upper room. Jesus had spent almost the entire day with two disciples whose names we do not know and who were sadly going back to their village, Emmaus. The Gospel of this second Sunday of Easter (Jn 20:19-31) brings us to the evening of that day. The evangelist writes that, while "the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked" Jesus came in and stood among them. During the last supper he had told them: "I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live" (Jn 14:18-19). But they had not understood, and in any case, they did not believe him. But on that Easter evening a new way of understanding Jesus began for them. They saw a different Jesus, a risen Jesus, who was nonetheless the same as before. The marks of the nails and the lance wound were still visible on his body; they mean that we are still at the beginning of the resurrection; indeed there are still many bodies today that are marked by wounds and suffering and they are still waiting for a resurrection.
The risen Jesus is there in the midst of his friends in order to entrust them with his own mission: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (Jn 20:21). It is the one mission that comes from the Father and is transmitted to the disciples through Jesus, the mission to bring peace and forgiveness to the world. It was a joyful evening for the ten disciples; they had found their Lord again. The two from Emmaus, who came back late in the evening, added to everyone’s joy. But Thomas was not there. He was a helpful and generous man who had once said that he was ready to die with Jesus, even though later he would flee with the others. When the ten disciples told him: "We have seen the Lord!", Thomas cooled them with his response: "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). Right away he says: "unless I see, I will not believe." Then, considering that even eyes can deceive - Thomas does not want be counted among the many seers of the world - he demands a somewhat brutal physical proof. He is going to put his finger in the nail holes and his hand in the wound in his side. Thomas does not accept the Gospel of the ten and remains - though with his reasons - sad and hopeless.
Seven days later, on this very Sunday, the disciples are gathered together again, and this time Thomas is with them. And Jesus comes back. The doors are still locked because of the fear they all feel, including Thomas. Unbelief and fear often go hand in hand. After repeating the greeting of peace, Jesus looks for Thomas, calls him by name, and comes up to him. "Put your finger here," he says "and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Stop doubting and become a man of faith" (cfr. v. 27). In front of Jesus, still marked by the cross, Thomas cannot but confess his faith, exclaiming "My Lord and my God!" Jesus responds: "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe" (v. 29). Jesus is proclaiming the last beatitude of the Gospel, which will serve as a foundation for the generations who from that moment until today have joined the group of the Eleven. From that moment on, faith does not come from seeing, but from listening to the Gospel of the apostles. An ancient legend says that Thomas’ hand was red with blood until his death. As if gathering together our little faith, the Lord urges each one of us, as he did with Thomas, to dirty our hands with the wounds of men and women and to approach the tormented and abandoned situations of the world. Our unbelief is taken by the Lord and transformed into friendship and a fountain of peace. Listening to the Gospel and charity are the way of our beatitude.