His Love is everlasting
Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy) - Year C
Acts 5:12-16; Psalm 118:2-4,13-15,22-22 (1); Revelation 1:9-11a,12-13,17-19; John 20:19-31
Sunday is the first day of the week, the day God created the light (Gen. 1:3). "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5). But Sunday is also the eighth day - the beginning of another world in which death is no more and human hearts are circumcised by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the day that the Lord has made (Ps. 118:24), the Lord’s day, that announces the victory of Christ over sin and death.
Jesus appeared to the Apostles on two consecutive Sundays (John 20:19,26), and also on Sunday, He revealed his glory to Saint John (Rev. 1:10). As we gather together on this Sunday of Divine Mercy to celebrate the Eucharist, He is also present among us. We see him with the eyes of faith - "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:39). He stands amid the candlesticks placed on our altars, dressed in priestly clothes and speaking His Word to us (Rev. 1:12-15).
“Peace” that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7) is the risen Lord’s first gift. "I give you peace, not as the world gives me, I give you, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). He also gives it to us just before we receive the Holy Communion. This gift of peace is an integral part of the Good News (Is. 52:7), the fruit of reconciliation between God and humanity (Is. 57:19) achieved by Christ’s saving death.
The appearance of Christ fills with joy (John 20:20) and with . . . fear (Rev. 1:17). Why? The apostles met Christ before His ascension to the Father (John 20:17). On the other hand, St. John met the glorified Christ who, like the Son of man in the Book of Daniel, has already received "power and glory and the kingdom" (Dan. 7:14, see Matt. 28:18), and a name that is above every name ( Phil. 2:9). Faith in His name brings life (John 20:31). In both visions, however, Christ identifies Himself referring to the Cross. The apostles could see and even touch His wounds and in the second reading, Jesus introduces Himself as the one who was dead and now lives forever (Rev. 1:18).
“As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21). The time has arrived for the apostles to be sent into the world (John 17:18) to testify about Christ. Their words recorded in the Gospel aim to bring us to faith in Christ (John 20:30-31). "And having said this, he breathed on them" (John 20:22). The same verb "breathed" we find in the book of Genesis. God breathed into the first man (Adam) "the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7). Now the last Adam, whom Saint Paul calls "the life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45), breathes the Holy Spirit on the apostles.
Finally, the one who has the keys of death and the underworld (Rev. 1:18) shares the power of forgiveness with the Church (John 20:23). Through the power of the Holy Spirit present in the sacraments, the Church continues Christ's work of healing and salvation. When Christ died on the cross, blood and water flowed from His pierced side, the symbols of the Eucharist and Baptism. Today the Church receives the sacrament of reconciliation (John 20:23) and continues Jesus’ ministry of healing (Acts 5:12.15-16).
The Resurrection of Christ marks the beginning of a new creation, of a different world. Through the first Adam, “sin entered into the world, and death through sin” (Rom. 5:12). Now, the last Adam, the victor over sin and death, brings us new life. Therefore, we sing: “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love is everlasting” (Ps. 118:1).