Second Sunday of Easter
Sunday of the Divine Mercy. Today the Orthodox Churches celebrate Easter.
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Second Sunday of Easter
Sunday of the Divine Mercy. Today the Orthodox Churches celebrate Easter.
First Reading
Acts 2,42-47
These remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. And everyone was filled with awe; the apostles worked many signs and miracles. And all who shared the faith owned everything in common; they sold their goods and possessions and distributed the proceeds among themselves according to what each one needed. Each day, with one heart, they regularly went to the Temple but met in their houses for the breaking of bread; they shared their food gladly and generously; they praised God and were looked up to by everyone. Day by day the Lord added to their community those destined to be saved.
Psalmody
Psalm 117
Antiphon
Eternal is the mercy of the Lord.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his love endures for ever.
Let the sons of Israel say :
'His love endures for ever.'
Let the sons of Aaron say :
'His love endures for ever.'
Let those who fear the Lord say :
'His love endures for ever.'
I called the Lord in my distress;
he answered and feed me.
The Lord is at my side; I do not fear.
What can man do against m?
The Lord is at my side as my helper:
I shall look down on my foes.
It is better to take refuge in the lord
than to trust in men:
It is better to take refuge in the lord
than to trust in prices.
The nations all encompassed me;
in the lord's name I crushed them.
They compassed me, compassed me about;
in the Lord's name I crushed them.
They compassed me about like bees;
they blazed like a fire among thorns.
In the Lord's name I crushed them.
I was thrust down, thrust down and falling
but the Lord was my helper.
The Lord is my strength and my song;
he was my saviour.
There are shouts of joy and victory
in the tents of the just.
The Lord's right hand has triumphed;
his right hand raised me.
The Lord's right hand had triumphed;
I shall not die, I shall live
and recount his deed.
I was punished, I was punished by the Lord,
but not doomed to die.
Open to me the gates of holiness :
I will enter and give thanks.
This is the Lord's own gates
where the just may enter.
I will thank you for you have answered
and you are my saviour.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the corner stone.
This is the work of the Lord,
a marvel in our eyes.
This day was made by the Lord;
we rejoice and are glad.
O Lord, grant us salvation;
O Lord, grant success.
Blessed in the name of the Lord
is he who comes
We bless you from the house of the Lord;
the Lord God is our light.
Go forward in procession with branches
even to the altar.
You are my God, I thank you.
My God, I praise you.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love endures forever.
Second Reading
1 Peter 1,3-9
Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into a heritage that can never be spoilt or soiled and never fade away. It is reserved in heaven for you who are being kept safe by God's power through faith until the salvation which has been prepared is revealed at the final point of time. This is a great joy to you, even though for a short time yet you must bear all sorts of trials; so that the worth of your faith, more valuable than gold, which is perishable even if it has been tested by fire, may be proved -- to your praise and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. You have not seen him, yet you love him; and still without seeing him you believe in him and so are already filled with a joy so glorious that it cannot be described; and you are sure of the goal of your faith, that is, the salvation of your souls.
Reading of the Gospel
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 20,19-31
In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, 'Peace be with you,' and, after saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord, and he said to them again, 'Peace be with you. 'As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.' After saying this he breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone's sins, they are retained. Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, 'We have seen the Lord,' but he answered, 'Unless I can see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.' Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. 'Peace be with you,' he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, 'Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving any more but believe.' Thomas replied, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him: You believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. There were many other signs that Jesus worked in the sight of the disciples, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Homily
The Gospel passage seems to mark the time of believers starting from the Pascal event: Easter gives a rhythm of life to the disciples, since the very beginning. In fact, after having appeared to the disciples on Easter day, the risen Jesus returns among them again eight days later, we could say the following Sunday. And so from Sunday to Sunday since then, uninterrupted for two thousand years, the disciples of Jesus gather in every part of the earth to live again the encounter with the Risen Lord.
The apostles were closed in the upper room because of fear; fear of losing their lives and their tranquillity or even that little bit remaining after Jesus' death. But on that day, the Lord himself opened their hearts and won over their disbelief. The evangelist writes that upon seeing the Lord the disciples rejoiced and were full of the Holy Spirit. They were profoundly transformed as if from a new and irresistible interior energy. They were not like before. And as soon as Thomas came back they said: "We have seen the Lord!" Thomas did not believe them. "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." It is the "creed" not of a bad man, actually he was a generous one. But for him the only thing that existed is what he could see. This is the belief of so many men and women, which more than being rational are self-centred. It is the "belief" of those who are prisoners of their own narrow horizons, of their own sensations, convinced only of what they can see and touch. Those do not believe in what they cannot touch or what is far from them or their interests. Because of this, not rarely, Thomas' creed is also ours.
But then comes this new visit of the Risen Jesus, eight days later. This time Thomas is there. And we could add, we are there too. After repeating his salutation of peace Jesus invites Thomas to touch his wounds. In reality it is Jesus who touches the disbelieving heart of the disciple calling him by name and tells him, "Do not doubt, but believe." These words full of love and tender reproach make Thomas fall to his knees. He does not need to touch because his heart was touched by the Gospel. Certainly he saw Jesus still marked by the wounds. And maybe it was the sight of that wounded body which was the vehicle through which the Lord's words arrived in Thomas' heart. "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side," Jesus tells Thomas. Yes, if we want to meet the risen Lord we need to put our hands in so many wounded, sick and weakened bodies we encounter. Victory over disbelief begins right here: listening to the Gospel of Easter and touching the wounds of Jesus' body still wounded in so many men and women who are near and far from us. It is here that the joy of Easter begins. The apostle Peter reminds us: "Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy" (1 Pet 1:8).
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
