DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY

APRIL 7, 2024

GOSPEL MEDITATION

A protestant pastor friend of mine was invited to meet Pope Francis with a group of other pastors. He noticed the Pope’s chair was especially ornate and set at the head of the group. He somewhat playfully said, “Holy Father, why do you get that special chair?” The group chuckled nervously at my friend’s audacious chide.

The following year, the group was invited to return. They entered the room to find only simple chairs placed in a circle. Pope Francis entered, sat down in one of the humble chairs and, looking directly at my friend, with a twinkle in his eye, asked, “What do you think of my chair now?” My friend was stunned that the Pope remembered his concerns — and took the time to answer them.

Thomas the apostle was certainly stunned by the Risen Jesus displaying his wounds in person. But he also must have been equally shocked that Jesus knew and answered his particular questions, worries, and even demands related to his faith. How humbled — and perhaps a bit terrified — he must have been to realize God remembers his concerns and cares enough to answer them.

What questions or demands about Jesus do you find in your heart? Like Thomas, will you be bold enough to voice them this week? How wonderful to know that if we do so, God will remember and respond even to our most audacious desires.

– Father John Muir

A FAMILY PERSPECTIVE

In today’s gospel Jesus teaches, “Blessed are those who have not seen and believe.” Accepting someone as they are, without demanding they prove themselves or meet our expectations, creates a rich relationship. Without acceptance a home is only a house and a family is just a group of house mates.

– Bud Ozar

EVERYDAY STEWARDSHIP

On this second Sunday of Easter, we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. We celebrate this feast today since God’s mercy was shared with us through the resurrection of Jesus. To put it sim-ply, we are celebrating Jesus’ merciful love for us and how we can partake in it.

No matter where we are on our journey as a disciple of Christ, we are all in need of God’s merciful love. There are countless times throughout the day when we miss the mark. For instance, we might fail to respond in kind to our spouses or kids, fall into gossip in our workday, or even forget to think positively of others. These shortcomings call us to humble our-selves and receive the unwavering mercy of God.

Let us continue to celebrate today, as we are in the midst of our glorious Easter season! As we celebrate, may we recall the precious gift God has given to us through His Son – Mercy it-self. May we never forget that, with a contrite heart and a resolution to do better, God is always willing to forgive. And may we never withhold merciful love from anyone we meet.

– 2024 Catholic Stewardship Consultants

PRACTICING CATHOLIC – RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS

For all the condemnation Thomas the Doubter has received in 2000 years of homilies, I think there’s something to admire in him. Thomas is not unique. We all waver at some point, overcome by hesitation, distracted by the clamor of the world which seeks at every turn to shout above the whisper of the divine.

Thomas knows what he saw on Good Friday: his friend nailed to a cross, a sword driven through his body. He saw the blood and the water. He saw these things with his own eyes, eyes given to him by God, eyes which have never failed him before. And God doesn’t ask us to suspend reality to believe in Him. He only asks us to be discerning about how that reality is interpreted in our hearts.

Thomas knows the man before him is either a fraud, preying on the hopes and anxieties of the traumatized disciples, or he is the Christ, the Savior of the world, accomplisher of impossible things. But where to look, to tell the difference?

Satan once appeared to the great mystic saint, Teresa of Avila, disguised as Jesus. She knew instantly that he was a fraud. Enraged, he demanded to know where his deception had failed. “You have no wounds,” she told him simply. Could we have accepted a savior who did not bleed? I don’t think we could, because sooner or later, we would all stand before him and say, “Here is where the world hurt me. Here, and here, and here. What about you?” Christ can point to his hands, his feet, his side. “Here, and here, and here,” he can say. “And I overcame them all.” It’s the wounds, you see. The truth is in the wounds.

“Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” — John 20:28