My sisters and brothers in the Lord,
Today, as we celebrate this eighth day, the Octave day of the Solemnity of Easter, as we do each year, we hear this very famous story of Saint Thomas, known as the ‘Doubting Thomas’.
In fact, in the tradition of the Church, he’s affectionately known as the Patron Saint of Skeptics. Bcause Thomas, as we heard, could not get beyond his human reasoning and his religious training, to conceive that this Master, whom he followed for three years, who was subject to crucifixion, could actually be alive again. He wanted to see it with his own eyes. How many times are you and I in that position as well?
And what happens? Jesus, in His great Mercy, appears and invites Thomas to do something absolutely extraordinary, literally to touch His resurrected body. To put his hands in the wounds that the Lord Jesus will have for all eternity, as a sign of His depth and breadth of the love He has for us and for the suffering He endured for you and me.
And to his credit, Thomas not only comes to Faith, but he is the first of the apostles to proclaim who Jesus truly is, “My Lord and my God”.
Thomas received the mercy of the Lord Jesus. Mercy, my friends, which is a love which meets us in our hour of need, whatever that need may be, but invites us to something more; that lifts us up, that’s an invitation and encouragement to a greater life. In Thomas’s case, to a life of true faith. A life that would make him a missionary to the Far East.
We should not be too hard on Saint Thomas. Because the apostles themselves needed Jesus’s Mercy. But don’t you think it’s interesting, that the first time the apostles met, the doors were locked and Jesus appeared and they rejoiced. And the second time He appeared, the doors were still locked. Because while they were struggling to believe, struggling to receive the gift of peace that Jesus wanted to give to them, it was not until Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came in His power, that they could receive it.
So Jesus in his Mercy appears to them again and again and again, paving the way for their great renewal. To rise to the greatness of holy apostles and fearless preachers.
There is not a person in this church who is not received the mercy of Jesus Christ.
Each one of us, as sinners, has received His Mercy, have we not? In the moment we went for the confession of our sins, kneeling in our own contrition, who came to us to lift us up in our hour of need, but not the Risen Lord? Who by His death and resurrection has forgiven every sin that seeks forgiveness. He met us at our need and lifted us up, and invited us to holiness of life. And every time we’ve fallen on our faces, He has done the same thing – lifted us up. Not to the same life, but to a greater life. And He does it not only in our sinfulness, but He does it in our time to suffering, loneliness, and pain and sorrow. The times when we attempted to despair or to give up, He comes to us in the Inspirations of the Holy Spirit by the charity and work of Christian men and women, and those of good will. And through the events of our lives, the Lord Jesus comes to us with His Mercy, to meet us in our need and to lift us up.
And we are grateful for receiving so great a gift.
And yet, my friends, there is a challenge. A profound challenge. Is that you and I who have received Mercy, is it not our task and mission to be the ambassadors of Mercy? That is, to be merciful to everyone we meet? For if the Lord has given it to us, who are we who bear His name, share in His death and resurrection, not to be equally merciful to those around us? And that, my friends, is at times very difficult to do, as you know.
Saint John Chrysostom, the Patriarch of Constantinople who lived in the 4th century, preached a magnificent homily on this very Sunday, the Octave of Easter. And in the magnificence of the Basilica of Constantinople, he reminded his people that they spent so much time dressing the altar, dressing the cathedral, with fine linens and gold and flowers and all, that we could possibly imagine to give honor and worship to Christ, he reminded them that there is no point to dress the altar with silk when Christ stands on the doorstep of the Cathedral homeless and naked. He said God does not look for golden vases, God looks for golden hearts.
In that, my dear friends, is what you and I need to reflect on this week. How much are we committed to be merciful to those around us; who are in need, who are mired in their sins, who have deeply offended us, who are simply looking for hope? And are we willing, not simply to give charity, but to give and meet their need and lift them up so that they might find a path to a greater life? The peace that Jesus talks about in the Gospel, which can only be found by finding Him in seeking radical holiness.
Are we willing to walk with our neighbor in Mercy, so that he or she may find what we have found?
For my friends, Saint Thomas walked as far as India to be an ambassador of Mercy. The question you and I need to think about this week, is how far are you and I willing to walk for Him?