Second Sunday of Easter, 2018

John 20:19-33

After my father mustered out of the army, he and my mother and I moved back to Montana. My mother quickly got a job as a nurse, but my dad wasn't so lucky, and ended up taking a job as a farmhand for one of my uncles. This meant that he didn't get home except every other weekend. So I was given to my grandparents for several months. During this time, I was about four, and I remember how much I looked forward to seeing my dad. My mother stayed in nurse's quarters in the hospital so they would pick me up and usually take me out to lunch or the park or some activity. And after the big day I'd look forward to the next visit.

One day I was particularly naughty, I guess. I broke something my grandmother valued after being told not to keep running in the house. As my grandmother swept up the pieces, she said those words which strike terror into small hearts: “Just wait till your father hears about this!” But by the time my dad blew in again, I think she must have forgotten her threat because my father treated me just like he always had.

The apostles are in a locked room. If you read the accounts of the rewsurrection in the other gospels, you are told that they were fearful. In Luke, they think Jesus is a ghost and they are terrified. John, or gospel writer of today, doesn't mention fear, but I think we can assume they were afraid – afraid of the Jewish leaders, afraid of the Roman soldiers, afraid that if they went out someone would recognize them as disciples of Jesus – but maybe what they were really afraid of was what if Jesus returned as he had promised?

Everyone knew that when one king conquered another, that king's supporters would be deported, sometimes blinded or maimed, and often put to death. What would Jesus do if he came back? They had, after all, deserted him in his time of need; Peter had denied knowing him three times. If Jesus came back, the least they could expect would be a serious scolding – and in the Gospel of Mark Jesus does speak to them about their lack of faith. And certainly if Jesus was to come back and this time show forth God's power against the enemies of the Jews, they would have nothing to do with it; they, who had been his closest friends, would be out.

But Jesus appears and offers them his peace. Not once but twice. And then he tells them that they have the power to forgive sins. Sometimes we read what Jesus said as justication not only for the sacrament of reconciliation, but also that if the priest chooses to not forgive you, you are stuck with your sins. But Jesus may be saying something to all of us – he may be saying, “I have forgiven you and now go and forgive each other, because unless you forgive every sin against you, you won't have peace.” In other words, Jesus shows mercy and instructs the apostles to do likewise.

And that is probably Thomas' problem as well. When the disciples tell him they have seen the Lord, he notices that they are still in the same room; and they don't show any effects of having been scolded or kicked out of the disciple's club. They are, rather, full of joy. And I think it's interesting that when Thomas refuses to believe, they continue to include him in their group. They are already passing on the mercy that they received. Thomas may not believe, but he is still their friend.

And finally Jesus appears and offers to fulfill Thomas' conditions for him to believe. And we don't read that Thomas took Jesus up on this. Instead he drops to the ground and says, “My Lord and My God!” Thomas has experienced the mercy, the forgiveness, that Jesus offers with his whole being, not just his intellect. And we know that Thomas was probably as great a missionary as Paul; stories from the first couple of centuries have him founding communities up and down the Arabian peninsula and into southern India, where he was martyred. Thomas didn't leave a paper trail like Paul did.

So Jesus whose friends betrayed him, deserted him, denied knowing him, not only offers complete forgiveness and mercy, but commissions them to show mercy as well, through the forgiveness of sins. And while you and I can't forgive sins in Jesus' name as our priests can, we can forgive in our own names, those sins against us. And we can strive to forgive as Jesus did, offering mercy and love to the people who have offended us.

Because if we choose not to forgive, it not only keeps a barrier between me and the person who offended me, but it also impairs my own spiritual life, because in not forgiving, in not showing mercy, I cease to imitate Jesus' example.

So this weekend, this Mercy Sunday, imagine Jesus offering you his peace, and take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And pray that as you receive the mercy that He offers, you will have the courage to offer it to others. As we learn to forgive we begin to restore the world and bring about the kingdom of heaven.