The second sunday of Easter is called white sunday. Traditionally the newly baptised Christians in the Easter night came to the liturgy on this Sunday in white cloths. The white Sunday had this name due to this tradition. Later those who received the first holy communion used to come in white dress on this Sunday and in many parts of the world there began the tradition of celebrating the first holy communion on white Sunday. Since the jubilee year 2000 the second Sunday of Easter is called as the Sunday of divine mercy. The idea of a feast of the divine mercy of God originated from a vision of Sr Faustina whom Jesus supposed to have demanded in a vision to celebrate such a feast. In the year 2000 Pope John Paul II introduced this feast to be celebrated in the whole Catholic church during the canonisation of Sr Faustina.
The appearance of the risen Lord is the theme in the first part of today’s gospel. The disciples of Jesus were sitting behind the closed doors out of the fear of the Jews. Jesus appeared to them, showed them his wounded hands and his chest as proof for the injury due to crucifixion and the visible stigmata. Jesus wished them many times peace with the words, “Peace be with you”. Then he gave the mandate to proclaim the good news all over the world.
As support he promised them the Holy Spirit and gave them the power to forgive sins which actually only God can do.
All the events mentioned are strange and unique, difficult to believe for those who have not experienced it themselves. But Jesus’ disciples immediately felt strong and courageous, they began to proclaim what they had seen, heard and experienced in their hearts. The core of their proclamation was the peace that the risen Jesus had wished for them.
We wish this peace of Jesus to each other in every service and to people all over the world. Especially today there is a desire for peace among all peoples because many people in several regions of the world are suffering from a lack of peace and are even threatened with war. The situation in Ukraine is just one example.
Nevertheless, we Christians should take the mission of establishing peace more seriously again because many fellow human beings no longer have faith in God and Jesus and many fellow Christians have lost their faith.
To do this we need enthusiasm, loyalty and courage, which we often lack, and especially he support of the Holy Spirit.
The apostle Thomas is also a good role model for us in this regard. He was not the unbelieving Thomas, but one who was ready to die with Jesus and for Jesus.
He wanted to meet the risen Jesus personally, like all the other disciples, and he was perhaps a little disappointed to know that Jesus had appeared to all the other disciples and not to him alone. The encounter with Jesus strengthened his willingness to live for Jesus and his message and as a result he traveled the furthest distance namely to India compared to the other apostles to proclaim the gospel. The apostle Thomas suffered martyrdom later in India, he is called the apostle of India.
When we look at the life of Christ, the lives of his apostles and many saints, we know that they worked for peace. We also know that many of them were brutally persecuted or murdered. Today we need convinced Christians like the Apostle Thomas.
Today in the service we want to particularly ask for the grace of God that, through the intercession of the Apostle Thomas he may give us many convinced priests, bishops and Christians who work for peace between people of different groups, peoples and nations.
Fr. Joseph Pandiappallil MCBS