{"id":726,"date":"2019-05-10T11:47:37","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T11:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=726"},"modified":"2019-05-10T11:53:38","modified_gmt":"2019-05-10T11:53:38","slug":"28-april-2019-c-second-sunday-of-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=726","title":{"rendered":"28 April 2019 (C) Second Sunday of Easter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A. The Bible as\nGuide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue:<\/strong> \u201cBlessed are those who have not seen\nand yet have come to believe\u201d Divine mercy Sunday<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy\n(Sunday Readings)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Reading <\/em>(Acts 5:12-16). This is one of\nthe idealized presentations of the early Christian community in Jerusalem beloved of the\nauthor of this work, the Acts of the Apostles. The early community was held in\ngreat respect, and the prominent role of Peter is highlighted. This was in the\nearly days of the Christian community, shortly after the resurrection and the\ncoming of the Holy Spirit. The implications of faith in Christ had not yet sunk\nin, as the Church spread out into the non-Jewish world, and away from the Law\nof Moses. This once tranquil Jerusalem\ncommunity will later experience much soul searching and no small division. In\nthis, too, it is an image of the Church of many ages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial Psalm <\/em>(Psalm\n117). The Lord\u2019s right hand has raised me\nup.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading <\/em>(Apocalypse\n1:9-3, 17-19). For the Sundays of the Easter period the second readings will be\nfrom the Book of the Apocalypse, or as it is better known today the Revelation\nof John. An apocalypse is a form of Jewish writing containing a divine\nrevelation through an intermediary about matters said to be about to take place\nshortly. An earlier biblical one is the book of Daniel, given when the Jewish\nreligion was in danger of total destruction. The essential message of both\napocalypsesof Daniel and John is that God is in control and that his work will\nprevail over any persecution. The revelation to John was made when John was\nexiled for his Christian faith in the tiny rocky island (about ten miles by\nfive in extent) of Patmos in the Aegean Sea during\nthe reign of the Emperor Domitian (A.D. 81-96). Apocalypses are to be read as\nintended for their first readers. Their language is often symbolic and\ncolourful. and reading of the full work is best done with the aid of a scholarly\nintroduction. The readings chosen for these Sundays are the clearest and most\neasily understood of the entire book. Today\u2019s reading introduces John\u2019s vision.\nIt was an ecstatic experience. Jesus, the risen saviour, appeared to him a\njudge, in the dress of priesthood (long robe) and royalty (golden girdle). The\nrisen saviour is the Lord of all ages, the First and the Last (a\nself-designation of God himself, Isaiah 44:6; 48:1). These are words of\nencouragement to the exiled John and to the persecuted church in all ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gospel <\/em>(John\n20:19-31). The first part of this reading tells of events that took place on\nEaster Sunday. The risen Saviour appeared to his apostles, confirmed the\nreality of his risen humanity by showing them his pierced hands and feet. He\nbreathed the Holy Spirit on them, the Holy Spirit promised before his death and\nresurrection, and gave them (and the Church for all times) the power to forgive\nsin. The second half of the reading is on the Sunday following, the completion\nof the Easter week. It has the well-known episode of the \u201cdoubting Thomas\u201d. Thomas\nis led to faith in Jesus, not merely as risen Lord, but as God. His profession\nof faith \u201cMy Lord and my God\u201d brings the Gospel of John to a fitting\nconclusion. This gospel began with the words: \u201cAnd the Word was God\u201d (John\n1:1). It ends with the same profession by Thomas. Jesus\u2019 reply to Thomas is\nrich in meaning: \u201cJesus said to him: \u2018Have you believed because you have seen\nme? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue<\/em><\/strong>: \u201cBlessed are\nthose who have not seen and yet have come to believe\u201d Divine mercy Sunday<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I once heard a playwright being asked in a televisioin\ninterview what extra experience he would like to have had in life. His reply\nwas: \u201cI would like to have met Jesus\u201d. One can only surmise what encounter, if\nany, a playwright, a politician or any other would have had with Jesus, and\nwhat, if any, Jesus\u2019 reply would have been to their questions. Matters are\ndifferent with regard to faith. Jesus is not a person of yesterday, or of\nanother era. He is ever present as a person and influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Let\u2019s go\nback for a moment to that scene in the upper room, with doors closed. Jesus\naccepts Thomas\u2019s profession of faith. Thomas has seen the risen Saviour and\nbelieved. But, as if casting a glance forward to believers of all ages, in all\nplaces, into this twenty-first century, and this particular year, Jesus\ndeclares blessed all those who will believe in him down through all the ages.\nThey will not have seen with their physical eyes, but will have done so through\nthe eyes of faith. In his parting discourse at the Last Supper Jesus looked\nforward in prayer to the same course of faith history, and prays to the Father\nfor all believers (John 17:20): \u201cI ask not only on behalf of these (my\ndisciples now present), but also on behalf of those who will believe in me\nthrough their word, that they may all be one\u201d. For the earlier Church, and for\nlater ages, Jesus is near in his empowering, consoling and inspiring presence. Peter\nis made to address early Christians suffering for their faith in Jesus as\nfollows: \u201cAlthough you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do\nnot see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and\nglorious joy\u201d (1 Peter 1:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The\nimitation of Christ is central to the New Testament and to Christianity.\nImitation in this sense also implies a personal acquaintance with Christ. It s\nnicely put in a poem transmitted in Irish folk tradition, as part of an instruction\nto young people how to prepare for life: \u201cYoung person, at the beginning of your\nlife, pay good attention to my teaching. Before you get too old come to a\npersonal acquaintance (aithne<\/em>) with\nChrist\u201d \u2013 not just knowledge of Christ (eolas<\/em>),\nbut a personal acquaintance with (aithne<\/em>),\nthrough faith, an awareness of that presence which Jesus spoke about to Thomas.\nBlessed are they who have not seen and yet have come to believe\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Divine mercy Sunday<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is also Divine Mercy Sunday, established by\nPope John Paul II in 2000 (issuing from divine revelations to the Polish Sister.Faustina\nKowalska). In the course of a homily for this feast in 2001 (Year C of the\nthree-year Cycle), Pope John Paul II said:\n“Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and\nbehold I am alive for evermore” (Rev 1:17-18). We heard these comforting\nwords in the Second Reading taken from the Book of Revelation. They invite us\nto turn our gaze to Christ, to experience His reassuring presence. To each\nperson, whatever his condition, even if it were the most complicated and\ndramatic, the Risen One repeats: “Fear not!; I died on the Cross but now I\nam alive for evermore”; “I am the first and the last, and the living\none.” … Jesus said to Sr. Faustina one day: “Mankind will not have\npeace until it turns with trust to My mercy” (Diary, 300). Divine Mercy!\nThis is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ and\noffers to humanity at the dawn of the third millennium\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(The entire homily can be accessed on\nthe internet, Google, at \u201cPope John Paul II\u2019s Divine Mercy Sunday Homily\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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