April 7, Second Sunday of Easter
Sunday of Divine Mercy
Daily Readings: Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31
The first reading demonstrates the true unity of mind and spirit within the community of believers. They even distributed their possessions fairly, according to their needs. The apostles witnessed the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and they received great favor.
The second reading proclaims that those who believe in Jesus are begotten by God and everyone who loves the Father was begotten by him. It further describes that those who love God obey his commandments and those who obey the commandments conquer the world.
The Sunday Gospel focuses on Jesus' appearance to his apostles and making them ready for their mission. The story of doubting Thomas, who was not present when Jesus first appeared to the apostles, also highlights this. He firmly declared that unless he saw and felt the wounded hands and feet, he would not believe. Soon Jesus again appeared to the apostles and in their midst, he called up Thomas, ``Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
All the readings for the day speak of the mission. The first reading characterized how the apostles did their mission. They carried out their mission with love, uniting all their possessions into a single mission. The generosity of the heart is very visible, not only in terms of the things that they shared but also in witnessing the resurrection of Jesus. In return, God gave them a great favor by being with them as they continued preaching the gospel and performing miracles through healing, resulting in the multiplication of the believers in God.
The second reading emphasized that those who believe in God should follow the commandments of God. These commandments serve as the guiding principles for believers in God. Those who truly follow the commandments show that they love God.
In our Gospel, it says that every time he appears to his apostles, he always starts with “Peace be with you." He always started his meetings by establishing tranquility. He even breathes them in, saying, ” Receive the Holy Spirit." In the last few days that he remained with his apostles after his resurrection, he truly prepared them for their mission in life. He further strengthened them with his words to Thomas, “Do not be unbelieving but believe.” This is the key word for success in doing a mission in life.
A person should first establish that he truly believes in what he is doing. This approach will facilitate the easy and smooth accomplishment of this mission. Just like in the theme song of the movie, “There can be miracles when you believe.” Once you believe in what you are doing, it means that you love it, and along the way, great things will happen.
As we also celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, let us ask for help in fulfilling our mission through the intercession of divine mercy. As described in one of the references, Divine Mercy is when God's love meets us and helps us in our suffering and sin. Through the mercy of God, he offered his life to redeem us from our sinfulness.
Lord, help us to believe in the mission that you have assigned to us. Amen.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
Latest News
