April 16, 2023, Second Sunday of Easter Sunday (Year A)
On this Second Sunday of Easter, we see the drastic change which has taken place in the disciples of Jesus after his resurrection.
It begins in the Gospel (Jn. 20:19-31) on Easter Sunday, “the evening of the first day of the week.” The disciples have locked and hidden themselves away because they fear that the Jewish leaders will come to arrest them for being followers of Christ, who at this point is remembered as being a criminal. Imagine the emotions, other than fear, that they must have been feeling: grief, anger, sadness, disappointment, embarrassment, and so forth. The man they thought to be the Messiah, the true Son of God, had been hanged like a common thief and they had done nothing to help him. Except for the Beloved Disciple of John’s Gospel, his mother, and some other female followers. They had all ran away and abandoned him.
Now they are sequestered and unsure of what they should do when all of a sudden Jesus appears in their midst behind a locked door where they are hiding. Instead of appearing with anger, resentment, and accusations, Jesus offers them peace. They are skeptical about what they are seeing, so Jesus shows them the wounds on his hands and side to prove that it is really Jesus.
The disciples are overjoyed as once again Jesus offers them peace and a commission to follow the actions of the Holy Spirit. Soon they believe that they have seen the risen Jesus and they are overjoyed, elated, and inspired. But one of the original twelve, Thomas, is missing and when he returns to the group, they tell him of the exciting encounter they have experienced. Thomas refuses to believe their story until he actually gets to see Jesus and the wounds himself. And this is exactly what happens a week later when they are locked away in the room, this time with Thomas present.
Jesus appears and shows Thomas his wounds, allowing him to even touch them. Thomas immediately comes to believe, falling to his knees exclaiming, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus has made this appearance and will make many more of this kind to bring both followers and nonbelievers, those previously doubtful of his identity, to belief.
If we jump ahead in time to the First Reading, the disciples have been blest with the Holy Spirit, not only by Jesus but also by the appearance of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:42-47). Jesus has breathed the Spirit upon the disciples and the Spirit later comes to rest on each of the disciples and other followers. Their number as a community has grown quite large and they have become a close knit group. They cohabitate and sell their property and possessions and divide them according to each one’s need (Acts 2:42). They are no longer disparate members of a small group, but rather they are bound together as a family sharing a common belief and commission. They spend their days praising the Lord in union at the Temple and they break bread in their homes. No doubt their meals are centered around the tradition of the Eucharist as commanded by Christ.
They have lost the fear they originally felt, and they are boldly adding people to their numbers. They have been using the power of the spirit to help and heal people and they bring more and more people to faith. What they are doing is providing witness to the power of the Spirit and how the Spirit can bring conversion to one’s life.
We might say, “well this is something that happened over 2000 years ago when Jesus and the Spirit were readily available to the Christian community but what does it have to do with us today?” Well, the fact is the power of the Spirit and the ability to do the work of Jesus is still readily available to us today through the Church and the sacraments. We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit at both our baptism and our confirmation. And the power of Jesus and the spirit is made available to us every day at the Eucharist. Every time we receive the body and blood of Jesus we are strengthened to do the work that He calls us for, the work of the Church done by the earliest Apostles. And we are strengthened by the power of the Spirit to pass on God’s word to all whom we encounter. It is a two millennial tradition, a miracle of Christ and Church of the Spirit that has existed since Christ was risen from the dead.
St. Peter says it best: “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 through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading…” (1 Pt. 1:3)
