by Fr. Jose “Joesum” Sumampong, Jr.
April 11, 2021
Second Sunday of Easter (B)
Acts 4:32-35 / Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24 1
Jn 5:1-6 / Jn 20:19-31
RESURRECTION: A CHALLENGE TO OUR FAITH
Word: The gospel passage proclaimed today narrates two “manifestations” of the risen Jesus, separated by an eight day interval.
We notice, first of all, that Jesus showed Himself alive on the “first day of the week”, Sunday. We know very well that the first Christian did not meet every day. They too had to live their daily lives during the weekdays. They could not be always together except on Sunday. It is in the context of their Sunday assembly that the risen Christ showed to them.
Yes, each Sunday is Easter!
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you” (Jn 20:19). We too are tempted to bolt our doors today, out of fear. Before we reflect further on this gospel, we may ask ourselves from what frightening, shut in, deadly situation Christ wants to liberate us, and make us rise again?
When he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw they Lord (Jn 20:20). Paschal joy, the true Christian joy, is not an easy, spontaneous experience when things are going all right with us. Paschal joy is not the same joy when we are healthy, young and dynamic, when there is success, or when the relationships with families and friends are okay. The JOY of the Resurrection is a joy which comes “after”, that is after fear!
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them : “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20:22). The gift of the Spirit is the gift of new creation. In the mind of John, Pentecost is the evening of Easter. For John the essential work of Jesus after his victory over death, is the gift of “the Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). In our creed, we assert solemnly of the Spirit that “He is Lord, the giver of life.”
That time Thomas was not with them. When told about the appearance of their Master, Thomas said: Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my fingers into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (Jn 20:25). The latecomer Thomas had been a man who relied on his own common sense. Remember him as the realist who doubts the audacity of Jesus: “Lord, we do not know where you are going?” (Jn 14:5)
Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came (Jn 20:26). When Jesus showed him his hands, all that Thomas uttered was a declaration of his faith: “My Lord, my God!” (Jn 20:28) Truly “blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe” (Jn 20:29).
o0o
Order: First, it would be totally wrong to see Faith as a totally personal or individualistic affair: the presence of the risen Christ is experienced and felt chiefly within a community meeting. The disciples were together, united “in the Church”.
Second, as baptized Christian, each one is sent by Jesus, as Jesus was sent by the Father (cf. Jn 20:21). Let us discover the deep meaning of the two words: Mission which means “sending” (from Latin missio) and Apostle which means “being sent” (from Greek apostolos). When we meet someone in our neighborhood or at work, we are not there merely in our own name, and for our own advantage: we are sent by Jesus—to work in his name and for his plan—in the same way as Jesus was sent by the Father. Each one has a message from Jesus to give to one another.
Third, the most sublime realities of God cannot be “seen”. Faith alone introduces us to them. Truly “blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe” (Jn 20:29).
o0o
Realities: 1. A young man worked in a leather factory. His fellow workers were not Catholics, and when on Friday he brought his egg, fish, and cheese sandwiches to lunch, they called him a fish-eater and put their meat sandwiches before his eyes. Of course, it was all good-natured joking, but there was one man whose bitter remarks were serious.
Years later, the leather worker met that old acquaintance leaving a Catholic Church and dressed as a Catholic priest. The two recognized each other and began to talk over old times. Finally, the priest said, “It was your example that aroused my interest in Catholicism. I thought if a man can take the taunts of a crowd and still remain proud of his faith, there must be something wonderful about that faith. That led me to inquire about the Church. Today, I celebrate my first Mass.” (Drinkwater, FAITH IN EXAMPLE)
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2. MYSTERIES AND FATIH
Every now and then you will come across partly educated people who will loftily proclaim that they never believe anything that they cannot understand. Let’s see if that is true.
Let’s ask these wise men and women a few questions… What causes sleep? What is life and what causes it? What causes cancer? What is this thing we call luck and how does it work? What is death? What is thought’! By their own admission, if our wise men cannot answer these questions, then don’t believe that sleep or cancer or thought or life exist.
Actually, the most learned scientists in the world have no answers to some of those questions, and yet they have no trouble believing in them. In our everyday lives, we accept very many things on faith. Tha t means, we take someone else’s word for something. We believe the newspaper, the radio and TV. We take on faith what teachers tell us. There is nothing stupid nor foolish about this…(Frank Mihalic, MYSTERIES AND FAITH)
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3. DISVANTAGES OF BEING IN A COMMUNITY
One day, the eye said, “Out there in the blue yonder beyond these valleys, I see a mountain peak in the haze. What a wonderful sight it is.”
The ear listened and after a long pause remarked, “Where is that peak?
I don’t hear any.”
Then the hand chimed in with, “Try as I might, I can’t touch that mountain you are talking about. I can’t even prove that one is there.”
The nose then said, “I don’t smell anything. There just is no mountain there.”
At that the eye turned its gaze in another direction. And the other senses kept arguing about how they had been tricked by the eye. They finally concluded that something was wrong with the eye. It was “seeing” things.
As Louis Zimmermann says, “Man, beware that you don’t imagine things. Actually, you know a few things. But there are many more you don’t know. Others have to make you aware of this. When they do, be thankful
for the lesson. You depend on others. Don’t fall into the trap of cutting others down to size just because they think and act differently from you.
Be happy and grateful that there are other people whose ideas broaden your horizon. Alone, you are a nobody. You are strong and rich only in a community or group.” (Kurt Bucker, THE DISANVANTAGES IN A COMMUNITY)
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4. We Filipinos can instinctively be “compassionate” with a suffering Savior (Lent), and a young Mother with a new-born Babe. But the once-and-for-all event of Christ rising from the dead and appearing to his disciples (Easter) is different. It is not something “familiar” to our ordinary experience. So a special effort is needed by us Filipino Catholics of today if we are to become more aware of the full truth and reality of Christ’s Resurrection. (Catechism for Filipino Catholics, no. 617).
oOo
Direction: Holy Spirit, Sanctifier blest, deign to grant us: the gift of fear which makes us shun all sin; the gift of piety which makes us respect and love the Three Divine Persons, our parents and children, as is proper for true children of God; the gift of knowledge which makes us judge eternal and temporal things as God judges them; the gift of fortitude which makes us bear all hardships for the love and greater glory of God; the gift of counsel which makes us be guided, and guide others, in the Way of Truth, of Christlike Life; the gift of understanding which makes us penetrate deeply into what you, Holy Spirit, have deigned to reveal; the gift of wisdom which makes us relish all that is right and is in line with Eternal Wisdom. This we ask you to grant us, Gift of God Most High, who live in perfect unity of Love with the Father and the Son. (Joint Prayer for the Gifts of the Spirit, Peoples’ Prayer Book, no. 704)