Father Dan Juelfs
Homily from the Televised Mass, NewsCenter1
Divine Mercy Sunday (Second Sunday of Easter), April 7, 2024

“Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, whose sins you retain are retained.”

“Do not be unbelieving but believe.”

These two phrases from today’s Gospel passage offer us much material to reflect on as we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. First, in a real sense, the why of Jesus’ death and resurrection — for the forgiveness of sins. That’s the purpose of Jesus’ life on earth. He came into the world to proclaim to us the Father’s love, the father’s forgiveness, and to perpetuate it. To share in that share in that ministry, to share in that message through his disciples, through his followers. That Jesus’ purpose on earth was to proclaim the reality of the Father’s love despite our oftentimes unfaithfulness. 

From the very beginning of creation, at least from the beginning of human creation, we’ve been unfaithful. We would rather do it ourselves than to trust that God, who has created us, knows what is best for us. Certainly, this leads to a variety of responses to God’s love, to care. We see from the very beginning Adam and Eve, who chose not to trust in the power of God. Not to trust in the gifts that God shared with them, but rather to do one thing he asked them not to do — to eat from the tree of knowledge. That somehow this was going to be more than what God had given them. They weren’t ready to simply take God’s word. 

We get a similar sort of response, or at least for the same motivation, in the Gospel today from Thomas, who refuses to believe. He simply could not grasp the idea that God would somehow bring Jesus back to life. That somehow that couldn’t happen, and he seeks some kinds of confirmation. “Unless I put my hand into his side, and my fingers into the nail wounds I will not believe.” 

Yet when he sees Jesus, when Jesus appears to the disciples, he no longer needs that physical proof. He no longer needs to touch the wounds of Jesus, but he can proclaim, “My Lord and my God.” 

That he’s moved to faith. He’s moved to trust. He’s moved to believe that what Jesus had said he really meant; he actually did. But it took a while for that to catch on. 

In this event, this appearance of Jesus to his disciples both on the evening of the day of resurrection and a week later and when Thomas was present, these events proclaim not only the reality of the forgiveness of sins, Divine Mercy as it’s been proclaimed by Pope John Paul II, but he also proclaims his patience. Patience in this case with Thomas who was not ready to believe yet that Jesus is not going to lose him. He says come put your fingers in my side. Put your fingers in my hands. Do not persist in your unbelief but believe. He pleads with Thomas to believe. He doesn’t want Thomas to be lost. He wants that to happen for Thomas, and for everyone else. That there’s that sense of patience, that sense of forgiveness that Jesus is proclaiming. 

We see it lived out on the very first appearance, the second appearance I guess you could say with Thomas, after the resurrection. This is the message he wants to get across. This is the message that he wants to make known to the world. It’s the same kind of forgiveness, the same kind of patience that we believe God has for each one of us in our weakness and our failures. He calls us to believe and to trust, to accept his forgiveness in our lives, to have that confidence that it took some time for Thomas, it takes some time for all of us to truly allow him to work in our lives. Because we all do struggle at times — struggle to believe that God has done all of these things for us, done all these things for me, for each one of us. 

Consequently, every year we take the time to remind ourselves again this is who our God is. This is what our God has done. We celebrate the event of the resurrection on Easter Sunday, throughout the six weeks of our Easter celebration, seven weeks I should say of our Easter celebration, that we’ll continue to proclaim that throughout the Easter season. Like Jesus invited Thomas to believe, to trust. Let us, too, respond by saying, “yes Lord I believe. Help my unbelief.” That we do not move ourselves away, but we accept and believe in the power of God’s love in our lives.