My Dear People, 

This Sunday, known as Divine Mercy Sunday, is tied with the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The first thing Jesus did when He appeared to His Apostles in the upper room was to empower them with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would then enable them to forgive sins. 

Next Jesus showed great mercy to Thomas, the doubter. Instead of being indignant about Thomas’ lack of faith, Jesus consents to show Himself to Thomas in ways that will only satisfy Thomas’s doubts. Significantly, Thomas is invited to thrust his hand into the side of Christ—the very wound from which the mercy (flow of blood and water) came forth. We don’t actually know if Thomas took the Lord up on His offer, despite the many depictions that show him doing so. We do know, however, that Thomas responded to the Lord’s mercy by recognizing His true nature: “My Lord and My God!” In many ways, this is the climactic statement of the entire Gospel of John. The Apostle is leading us to the point where we, too, can make this whole-hearted confession like Thomas. 

Let’s not fall into the trap of thinking, “Faith was easy then, but now it’s hard.” It was definitely hard for the first disciples to believe that Jesus of Nazareth, a man they knew and ate with, was also the God who revealed Himself to Moses. After all, for the most part, Jesus, Our Lord, looked normal. Aside from a few revelations which only a few witnessed (The Transfiguration), His body looked similar to other men’s bodies. No halo followed Him around. He did all the things other people did. He performed miracles—but so had other prophets who were not divine. So, we should not underestimate the demands on the faith of the first Apostles. 

Likewise, we should not exaggerate the demands on our faith today. In many ways we are blessed with a long tradition and a great deal of truth and insight that the Church has been given for over two thousand years. We have categories and a language to speak accurately about how Jesus can be both God and man (one “person,” two “natures”) and how the Eucharist can be his Body (“substance” and “accidents”) the bread and wine. The host is transformed into the Body of Christ even though it may look, taste, and feel like bread and wine. This intellectual framework is a help to faith as is the clarity and coherence of teaching that is readily available to us, for example, the Catechism.  

Embracing Christ and His claims has always required an act of faith, both for Thomas and us. Christ helped Thomas secure his faith—but He gives us help, too. Let’s not make excuses; let’s resolve to make a good confession. 

Yours in Christ, 

Fr. Vincent Clemente