Sermon by Father Alex McAllister SDS        Index

Second Sunday of Easter, Year A—2005 Homily

In our Gospel reading we now move into a very important phase in the life of the Church—the immediate post-resurrection experience of the disciples.

This period is crucial and on it hangs the whole reason for the existence of the Church and the very basis of our faith. It is during this period between the Resurrection and the Ascension that Christ showed himself to his followers, and particularly to the Apostles, and it is only from their accounts that we have evidence for the resurrection itself.

If these accounts are not convincing then on what else can we base our faith in Christ and in the key doctrine upon which everything else hangs?

This is where the account of Thomas’s encounter with the Risen Lord is so important. Here is a sceptic if ever there was one. His scepticism is so well known it has become proverbial—we know him as Doubting Thomas and if he could be convinced then surely anybody could.

Forgive me if I have told you this before, and I probably have because this particular Gospel reading turns up on the Second Sunday of Easter every year. It says in the text that Thomas was called ‘The Twin’. This is a significant enough detail for John to mention it, yet he somehow neglects to tell us why Thomas was called ‘The Twin’.

However, there is a very old tradition that he was called ‘The Twin’ because he looked like Jesus. And this legend has a ring of truth about it, it sounds probable—its just the kind of nickname he might have been given. After all, just because they lived two thousand years ago we should not think that the Apostles did not have a sense of humour!

This then was a man who was probably being constantly mistaken for Jesus—so often, probably, that it had even become a bit of a nuisance to him. So when the others told Thomas that they had seen Jesus who he knew had died on the Cross, he surely believed it was a mistake; after all he was being confused with Jesus all the time!

And so, he may well have reasoned, the disciples probably thought they had seen Jesus when it was actually someone else. To Thomas it was probably just a case of mistaken identity.

We can easily understand this and his consequent refusal to believe. He says he wants proof and even goes so far as to say that he would have to put his fingers into the holes in Jesus hands and feet.

But eight days later when Jesus comes he recognises him immediately and actually refuses Jesus’ invitation to put his fingers into the holes. He then makes that wonderful testimony of faith not only in Jesus but also in his divinity, ‘My Lord and my God.’

His recognition is not only of the man Jesus but also of who he is, the Son of God come to save us.

He is convinced and by his testimony so are we and millions like us.

In this period between the Resurrection and the Ascension a lot of other very important things happen. At the beginning of our text today we are told about one of them. Jesus appears to a group of disciples in the Upper Room, he shows them his wounds so there can be no ambiguity about who he is. Then he breathes the Holy Spirit upon them and tells them: Those whose sins you forgive they are forgiven, those whose sins you retain they are retained.

This is something of vital importance for by this action Jesus is communicating what he has achieved through his death and resurrection to the world. He died and rose again to free us from sin, he now mandates his disciples to bring his forgiveness to the whole world.

This small band of disciples is being given the task of bringing the presence of Jesus to the entire world and indeed also to all future generations of believers. They are to mediate Christ’s forgiveness to everyone.

This particular text has often been used as a Biblical justification for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and rightly so. We must never underestimate the power and effectiveness of that great sacrament nor fail to acknowledge its institution by Christ himself.

Just think how much peace has been brought to so many through the Sacrament of Reconciliation down through the centuries! Just think of the transformation it has made to the lives of millions over all those years!

But reconciliation is not just the prerogative of the priests it is the responsibility of the whole Church. We are all disciples of Christ and this ministry is given to us all. We may not all have the ability to confer the actual Sacrament of Reconciliation but we all have the duty to be reconcilers. We all have the duty to bring the fruits of the resurrection to the whole world.

We are, as Christians, primarily mediators of Christ’s love to the world and the most concrete manifestation of this is through the forgiveness of sins.

Thomas began by doubting the resurrection of Jesus but through his personal encounter with him he was able to make one of the strongest statements of belief ever made. It is a statement of belief that has become an important element in the prayer life of Christians right up to our present day.

Many people use these very words of Thomas as a reverent prayer at the moment of the elevation in the mass. Nothing could be more appropriate at that moment!

We disciples of Christ meet many people who are just as doubting as Thomas, but perhaps as a result of their encounter with Christ through us they too might come to belief in him.

By experiencing the power of his salvation through our ministry they might too be able to recognise Christ as their Lord and God.

This is our task. This is our duty. This is our privileged role in the world.