Jesus appears to his disciples

It is the second Sunday of Easter and today has been declared Divine Mercy Sunday, which was ordained by the late Pope John Paul II. This is because our Lord Jesus Christ appeared in his gloried body before his disciples even if the doors were closed and gave them the authority to forgive or not to forgive sins. Thus because the Lord delegated (which is written in Scripture) this Divine authority to his bishops and priests, we can now earn this Divine Mercy from our clergy. Today's gospel reading comes from John 20:19-31.

"19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."

22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." 24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus [a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." 30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

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Today's scripture gives us many lessons. The first is that the recently-risen Christ appeared before his disciples and breathed the Holy Spirit to them and gave them the authority to forgive or not to forgive sins. The second lesson was that the Lord appeared to his disciples eight days later because Thomas Didymus was not present when he first appeared in the upper room and Thomas was all doubts about the stories of his fellow disciples that the Lord had risen and appeared to them.

As we learned from today's scripture, Thomas told his fellow disciples, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." Then the Lord appeared again and saw Thomas and told him, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Upon touching his wounds, Thomas made a confession, "My Lord and my God!" To which, our Lord said to Thomas, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

For us Catholics born 2,000 years after the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, we have never seen the Lord, but know him because of the Bible and the many books written about Jesus. So what we have is a strong faith in what Jesus teaches us as written in the Bible. The most important lesson for this second Sunday of Easter is our hope in our own resurrection as this is what the Lord promised us. This is why today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday for we know that with a contrite heart all our sins, no matter how big are forgiven and forgotten.

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For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@moscom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.