Homily — 2^nd Sunday of Easter, Year C (2004)

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

Each year, on this Second Sunday of Easter, we hear the same Gospel. It is the story of two Sunday nights, one week apart. The first is the night of the resurrection, when Jesus visits the disciples who are hiding in fear behind closed doors. All but two of the disciples are there; Judas, the betrayer, is dead, and Thomas is absent. The second Sunday night is tonight—one week later—and this time Thomas is present. We all know the story of doubting Thomas, how his unbelief gave way to a most profound faith in his beautiful profession, "My Lord and My God."

But instead of focusing on Thomas today, I’d like to turn your attention to our Lord’s greeting to his disciples. Why? Because today is Divine Mercy Sunday, and this simple phrase of Jesus—"Peace be with you"—resounds with the mercy of God.

This greeting which Jesus gave to the fearful and grieving men is different from the greeting he gave to the women whom he encountered outside the empty tomb that same morning. St. Matthew tells us that to them he said, "hail". The Greek word, here translated hail, is the word, khairete. This was a common greeting in the Greek-speaking world, but it literally means "rejoice, be glad." It is the same word which St. Paul uses in his letter to the Philippians when he says, "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice." So, why would the Lord tell the women to rejoice and the men to be at peace?

Both the women and the men were in a state of grief and in need of the Lord’s joy. But where the women had been true and faithful to Jesus, following him even to the foot of the cross, all of the Twelve (with the exception of St. John) had not been true to Christ. They had betrayed him, denied him, and abandoned him to his enemies. As a result, their hearts were filled, not only with grief, but with bitter self-reproach, and burning shame. Through sin, the disciples had entered into conflict with God. And so, Christ’s words to them reach deeper than merely assuaging their grief—he offers them peace—peace through forgiveness and reconciliation. By offering them peace, he offers them an end to their conflict and the promise of new life.

And that’s why it is so appropriate to focus on these words of Jesus on Divine Mercy Sunday. "Peace be with you" is nothing less than an outpouring of the infinite mercy of God—not only to the disciples, hiding in fear behind locked doors. "Peace be with you" is God’s mercy extended to each one of us. Because, unlike the faithful women, we have been untrue to the Lord through our sin, our cowardice, and our lack of faith. All too often we find ourselves taking up the dreadful weapons of malice and pride against the King of the universe—entering into conflict with the one who loves us so much, who has created and redeemed us, and wants us for his own. His message to each one of us on this Second Sunday of Easter is "Peace be with you!" Lovingly, he invites us to lay down our arms, to surrender ourselves to his mercy, and to take up the sweet yoke of his service.

But the Lord’s message does not end there. To the consolation of peace, Jesus adds a commission. "As the father has sent me, so I send you." Then he empowers his apostles with the authority to forgive sins, thereby completing the ordination rites he began at the last supper and making it possible to extend his mercy to others. This authority is passed down to the successors of the apostles and to every ordained priest. But all the members of the Mystical Body of Christ share in the apostolate—every baptized Christian is a "sent one." We are sent into the world with the message of peace, with the message of reconciliation, with the message of God’s mercy. We proclaim his mercy when we show mercy to others; we proclaim reconciliation when we forgive those who wrong us; and we proclaim the peace of Christ when we live as instruments of his peace.

When the opportunity arises, we must be bold to use our voices as well as our actions as we proclaim our faith in the risen Christ. The promise of peace and the power of the Holy Spirit turned the cowering disciples into courageous apostles. "Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles," the first reading today tells us. In the second reading, the risen Lord appears in glory to the apostle John and proclaims to him and to all of us, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld." These are words of power and hope.

"Peace be with you!" "I send you!" "Do not be afraid!" May the Lord burn these words deeply in our hearts as they inflamed the hearts of the disciples. And may the Lord make each one of us a bold apostle of his mercy to all who’s lives we touch, even to the ends of the earth.

© 2004, The Rev. Timothy W. Castor