Homily For the Second Sunday of Easter, the Divine Mercy Sunday Year B, 7th April 2024

Readings: Acts.4:32-35; Ps.118; 1John 5:1-7; John 20:19-31

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

DO YOU STILL BELIEVE IN THE RISEN LORD AND HIS MERCY?

 

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, which was instituted by Pope St. John Paul II in the Jubilee Year of 2000. This event is to be celebrated every second Sunday of Easter to remind us that the joyful celebration of the Easter season is also a time for us to appreciate once again that our Lord Jesus passed through the worst of sufferings and humiliations in his Passion, Death and Resurrection, and so win eternal life for humanity.

 

Thus, the event we celebrate today is meant for us to focus our attention once again on the Lord, to ask Jesus for his mercy on us and the whole world especially through his glorious and wondrous passion, which stands as a perfect offering for the redemption of our sins. Hence, we need to have faith in the Lord and believe that through him there is hope for our salvation. This truly explains the words of Jesus to his disciples when he said: “Blessed are those who believe”.  This statement could be a central theme in our Gospel passage today.

 

Here, Jesus said to Thomas: “ Do not doubt but believe… for blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”  This is because Thomas was lacking in faith and so was doubtful of the Lord’s resurrection but only to be humbled when the Lord himself appeared right before him. Thomas believed and said to the Lord, ‘My Lord and My God’. The Gospel ended by saying that these are written so that you may believe in Jesus and that you may have life in his name.

 

This also is repeated in our second reading today, where we heard that whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten by God; and whoever loves the Father that begot him loves the child whom he begets. For anyone who has been begotten by God has already overcome the world; telling us that through our faith we have victory over the world. So, the purpose of this Gospel is for us, the readers to believe and enjoy the promised blessing. Today Millions of Christians have been strengthened in their faith by reading this Gospel, and millions of others have been brought to faith through it.

 

Dear friends, oftentimes we recite the apostle's creed, do we really believe what we say? Have we really contemplated what we say in the creed? Do we really mean what we professed? I know that we believe in what we profess in the creed. But sometimes in our lives, we behave like Thomas Thomas representing all of us who in one way or the other have been doubtful of the presence of God in our lives. No doubt that there are many of us with different experiences at different levels of faith and devotion. But at some point, we may have grown weak in our commitment to the Lord and begin to doubt his presence with us, based on our own experiences, or when we are distracted and tempted by many ugly desires for worldly things that will turn us away from the Lord.

 

More so, we have often placed God aside and forgotten about him, by prioritizing more on other things in our lives. We have often treated him or things related to him as something not significant. There are times when we doubt the presence of God in our families, societies and even the Church. There are times when we have doubted the presence of God in the Eucharist, the sacraments and even in the activities of his ministers. Oftentimes, we are doubtful of the mercy of God, his love for us, and his power to save, heal and protect us, as we go seeking help from other “sources” which will only worsen our situation.

 

Brethren, to be a believer in our world today can be really difficult, so we need to support each other. We need to strengthen our community life, especially during this difficult moment in our country and the world at large. The first Christians supported one another by praying, worshipping and sharing their resources and the word of God together, as we have it in our first reading. For the whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in common.

 

Therefore, let us unite together as believers, and bear authentic witness to our faith. As we struggle in this dark moment in our lives when God seems far away from the world, let us ask him to help us to remove all forms of doubt, especially at this time when the Gospel is under all kinds of threats by faithless and ignorant people. Let us embrace His Divine mercy in our lives, our families, societies and the world at large. Remember, the Lord is indeed merciful he forgives us freely and generously but do not take his mercy for granted by dwelling perpetually in sin.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, today we are encouraged to believe without seeing, this can really be very difficult in a world of empiricism, help us especially this trial moment in our world, never doubt whatever you have revealed through your son, may we rather be steadfast in faith, joyful in hope and untiring in loving you and our neighbours, as we hope to experience your Divine Mercy once again in our lives, our family and the world at large. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy Divine Mercy Sunday to you and your household.