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This Sunday in the Octave of Easter is designated as Divine Mercy Sunday, bringing to our attention the fullness of God’s Mercy as revealed to Saint Faustina Kowalska in 1931. Yet we have the Gospel story of Saint Thomas the Apostle, which, at first glance, seems less about God’s mercy and more about the Apostle’s obstinacy and skepticism.
There is, however, a touching scene of reunion between Thomas and the Lord in which Jesus invites Thomas to touch His wounds, even though earlier in the day He had instructed Saint Mary Magdalene not to do so. In this moment, St. Thomas makes the greatest statement of faith in the entire New Testament as he says, “My Lord and my God.”
Thomas is a sturdy individualist, unimpressed by the others’ story; he had to see for himself. His, however, was not the frivolous skepticism of indifference, or hostility to the truth; he wanted personal experience as the basis for his faith in the Resurrection. His doubt arose, it seems, from his despondency and sorrow at the Lord’s death, and from the effect of his self-imposed isolation. Here he makes the mistake that so many skeptics make: When we have doubts, we shouldn’t move away form the Church, but instead, seek the Community of Faith where God abides. Here we will find that our relationship with Christ can surpass certitude in the study of theology.
Thomas thought he was doing the right thing in demanding full evidence of sensible proof, but then what would become of future generations if the same evidence was to be demanded by them? By saying “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed,” the Lord is implying that future believers must accept the truth of the Resurrection from the proclamation of the Apostles, as handed down through the ages in the Church.
Here in this scene is found Divine Mercy: Thomas’ doubt was not in itself sinful, yet Christ, in mercy, leads Thomas in a way unique to him, that meets his personal and immediate needs for the fullness of his faith. No stern rebuke here, no “Get thee behind me,” but instead, “Come and touch me.” We’re not told whether Thomas actually touched the Lord’s wounds, but we can understand that the Lord touches Thomas’ own woundedness… and then faith leaps forward in Thomas’ acclamation, “My Lord and my God…” the first and only time in the New Testament that Jesus is addressed as God.
Even in His Risen, glorified Body, Jesus bears the wounds of His Crucifixion… they would be eternally present… which suggests that our own bodiliness, even in heaven, will maintain something of human imperfection. Though the dignity of the human soul be perfected, our human and bodily perfection will not equal, or even approach the perfection of God, yet He will allow us to approach the Beatific Vision, such is His Divine Mercy.
In the ministry of the Apostles, conferred in, and then going forth from, the Upper Room, God makes His mercy approachable. And in our time, mere human words: “te absolvo” would become the means by which people would experience Divine Mercy and the “Peace” extended to the Apostles would be extended to the entire Church in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. So now, at the end of Confession, when the priests says, “Go in peace,” it’s not just a friendly farewell, it’s an acknowledgement that the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness form the basis for human peace.
So, today, on this Octave of Easter, this remembrance of Divine Mercy, we learn from the interchange between the Lord and Saint Thomas that it is important for us to frequent this Upper Room, this Church, to stand together in faith despite doubt and skepticism, and to bask in the Lord’s mercy as He calls us all to Sainthood.
Saint John Paul II, whom many have called “The Great” from the moment of his death, was, indeed, one of the great men, not only of his day, but of the entire second millennium of Christianity. It was he who founded this Feast of Divine Mercy, recognizing the mercy of God in his own life. He could see the woundedness of humanity, and, not content to remain in the “Upper Room” of the Apostolic Palace, he traveled the globe to touch that woundedness, to bring the healing power of Divine Mercy to those who were suffering, and to all mankind. He taught us all, no matter what our circumstance, to “Be not afraid…” to let Christ into our lives, and to take Christ to the world.
And so, on this Feast Day, if we in our sinfulness harbor some doubt about God’s forgiveness, we might pray with Saint Faustina, “Jesus, I trust in you…” or cry out with Saint Thomas, “My Lord and my God…” so that we might find strength and hope in the Lord’s own words, “Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.”