HOMILY FOR THE 2ND SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR A. (4)

HOMILY FOR THE 2ND SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR A.

THEME: MY LORD AND MY GOD!

BY: Fr Andrew Ekpenyong.

1. Joke and Faith. A few years after the resurrection and ascension of our Lord into Heaven, Thomas is having a conversation with Peter and the rest of the Apostles and makes the following passionate plea, smiling but pointing and shaking his forefinger: “What I am saying is that since no one calls you, ‘Denying or Lying Peter’, no one calls Mark ‘Ran-Away-Naked Mark’, people should stop calling me ‘Doubting Thomas’, is that clear?” Sisters and brothers, jokes aside, Thomas went from doubting, from demanding evidence to a superlative confession of faith when he exclaimed: “My Lord and my God”. This is the first and only time in the four canonical Gospel accounts someone directly addresses Jesus in adoration as “my God”. John the Evangelist stated it in the third person: “…and the word was God” (Jn 1:10). Peter merely told our Lord in answer to his question: “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). Honest doubt can elicit the deepest faith. Personal encounter can provide enduring hope. Countless intellectuals all over the world who went from being celebrated atheists to becoming outspoken and outstanding Christians demonstrate this. Edith Stein went from atheism to becoming a Catholic nun and now one of the patron saints of Europe, St Edith Stein (or St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross). Australians know of Robert J. Stove and many more. The Chinese have Chai Ling who led the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Now a Christian, she founded and runs “All Girls Allowed”, an NGO dedicated to ending China’s one-child policy. Here in America, we have Avery Dulles who went from agnosticism while at Harvard to becoming a Catholic priest and later Cardinal Avery Dulles. We have Marvin Olasky who not only went from atheism to Christianity but now advocates concrete ways every society on this planet can adopt the agape, the mutual love, sharing and compassion described in today’s 1st reading (Acts 2:42-47). He calls it “Compassionate Conservatism”. And all this, thanks to God’s everlasting love for all of us including those still doubtful, thanks to God’s mercy that endures forever, as we recited in today’s responsorial Psalm (Ps 118).

2. Divine Mercy. Sisters and brothers, there is progress in our acceptance of this everlasting mercy of God. On the 30th of April 2000, on the 2nd Sunday of Easter, Pope St. John Paul II celebrated the Eucharist in Saint Peter’s Square and proceeded to the canonization of Blessed Sister Faustina. “The Lord of Divine Mercy,” a depiction of our Lord based on the vision given to St. Faustina, shows Jesus raising his right hand in a gesture of blessing, with his left hand on his heart from which gush forth two rays, one red and one white. The picture contains the message, “Jesus, I trust in You!” (Jezu ufam Tobie). The rays streaming out have symbolic meaning: red for the Blood of Jesus, which is the life of souls and white for the water of Baptism which justifies souls. The whole image is symbolic of the mercy, forgiveness, and love of God. What a contemporary reminder of Divine mercy already expressed in today’s Gospel reading (Jn 20:19-31)! Here, our risen Lord instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation when He appeared and told the Apostles: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (Jn 20:23). Yes, He gave them the power of imparting God’s mercy to the sinner who repents. To God be the glory as we refresh our souls and grow in holiness through the devout and frequent reception of this Sacrament. Today’s 2nd reading (1 Pt 1:3-9) blesses God for this reason: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope”.

3. My Lord and My God. In gratitude to God for His everlasting love and mercy, despite our doubts, our denials, our weaknesses in the flesh, our drooping spirit, let us respond to his invitation, to his presence with us in His Word and in the Eucharist, using the words of Thomas the Apostle: “My Lord and my God!” Another holy Thomas, would later use these words in our familiar Eucharistic Hymns. Let us conclude with that stanza of one of St Thomas Aquinas’ 5 beautiful Eucharistic Hymns: “Adoro Te Devote”, that includes “My Lord and My God”.
Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor; Deum tamen meum te confiteor; fac me tibi semper magis credere/, in te spem habere, te diligere. Though I look not on Thy wounds with Thomas; Thee, my Lord, and Thee, my God, I call; make me more and more believe Thy promise; hope in Thee, and love Thee over all. Amen.

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