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OPENING PRAYER

Merciful Father, open ourselves to your grace, we ask that the Spirit promised and sent by the Risen Jesus, may open our hearts and bring into our lives your Word, which is the source of Christian life and mission. May we be able to understand that to meditate on It is to encounter the Person of your Living Son, who wants to teach us the Way, the Truth and the Life that we must believe, love, follow and preach. Amen.

GOSPEL

John 20, 19 - 31.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples stayed, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So, the other disciples said to him- “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them- “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to 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.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

STUDY: What does the text say?

Some important notes for a better understanding and deepening of the Gospel.

• The Risen Lord fulfills his promises: to return to his disciples (Jn 14:18; 28) and to give them the Comforter, the Spirit that the Father sends them (Jn 14:26).

• The situation of the disciples locked up for fear of the Jews reflects the attitude of the Johannine community, which, fearful of an enemy and persecuting world, is tempted to take refuge in its own circle. Jesus, however, sends them into the world to be his witnesses and the Father's.

• Peace: In Hebrew "Shalom" and in Greek "Eirênê" does not designate only the absence of war or a life without anguish or concerns. It designates above all the set of goods that constitute the complete happiness of the human being: well-being, health, harmony, calm and inner tranquility that, even in moments of conflict or fear, keep the human being in a state of openness to God's action. (cf. Jn 14:27)

  Spirit: Refers to God Himself as revealed as strength, wisdom, glory, and holiness. It is, in this Gospel passage, a promise fulfilled and a new spiritual life that the apostles receive. (Cf. Jn 20:22. Gen 2:7).

• Believing/having faith: According to the Bible, faith is not just about accepting a religious truth of which we have no sensible experience. Biblical faith is intimately related to trust. (Rom 4:13-25). He has faith who distrusts himself and trusts God without reserve. Jesus Christ demands faith/trust as a prerequisite for salvation.

• Signs: They point to the correct meaning of miracles. It is not a question of highlighting the extraordinary nature of events, but of seeing the sign of God's saving and merciful Presence in the midst of his people.

• Thomas' demands show that his process of faith was exceptional. The verbal testimony of his community was not enough to believe, he needed a personal and intimate encounter with Jesus. However, in his encounter with the Risen One, he hears the beatitude of "those who believe without having seen" (Jn 20:29), that is, of those who will embrace the faith through the preaching of the apostles.

• The purpose of the Evangelist was to lead to faith in Jesus, discovering the signs of his messiahship and divinity. The consequence of such discovery and acceptance is: Eternal Life.

MEDITATION: What Does God Tell Us?

When Jesus appeared to the disciples, he showed them his hands and his side, and the disciples were filled with joy because they recognized, by these signs, the same Jesus who had been crucified, their Master. But let us ask ourselves: Why does the Risen Jesus only preserve and show the wounds of his hands, feet and open side? Where were the marks of the crown of thorns, of the scourges, and of his three falls? The answer is: Mercy.

Jesus preserves and shows only the wounds that reveal the Salvation willed by God for humanity. Those wounds that show his choice to freely give his life for us (cf. Jn 10:18) and, on the contrary, redeem, heal and erase forever the wounds that were caused by the ignorance, stubbornness, selfishness, lust for power, fear and unbelief of the men of his time. Jesus showed them, and shows us today, the wounds of our Salvation and forgives us forever, the wounds we have caused Him by our sin. What a great news!

This experience of total forgiveness and redemption is celebrated in the two encounters that the Risen One had with the disciples and especially with Thomas. This mercy, which is born from the womb of Our God, is the palpable heart of the personal encounter with Jesus; mercy which is the giving of the gift of Salvation to those disciples who had abandoned him and a gift which is also for us, vulnerable children of God; mercy that is capable of restoring the joy of following and the radicality of the commitment to the Kingdom of God, to the point of making us exclaim: "My Lord and my God" and thus open the way to our Transformation.

How many times in our lives have we experienced that this mercy has been a balm for our wounds and motivation to resume the mission entrusted to us? The incredulity of Thomas manifested in the preaching of his brothers in the community is the same incredulity of many of us who, filled with fear of the extraordinary of God, of the unknown, of the new, of the different, persist in believing that the Risen One does not fulfills his promises. But... HE COMES TO MEET US and transforms our unbelief into a meaningful experience of faith. He doesn't condemn us, he doesn't reproach us, he doesn't make any kind of complaints. He just wants to respond to our need to touch his wounds and put our hand at his side. Jesus comes to meet us and having him before us dispels the darkness of our fears, launches us with strength into the mission and makes us believe with full certainty in Eternal Life.

MERCY COMES TO MEET US AT EVERY MOMENT!

Do we allow ourselves to be found by the Risen One without hiding our vulnerability, aware of the importance of community (Synodality) and of the need we have to be transformed?

PRAYER

 What do we say to God inspired by His message?

Lord, when we feel called with others and impelled by the same Spirit to be witnesses of your Risen Life, we can easily recognize your presence in our midst, shaking off our fears and giving us your peace. Today, with Thomas we say to you "My Lord and my God", give us the courage to proclaim the message of Mercy which is the message of our Salvation not only with words but with the coherence of those who live with open doors. Inspire us with concrete signs to reveal yourself, objectivity to live the Kingdom of God in the now of our History as an experience of the Eternal Life that we enjoy when we rise with you. Thank you for your forgiveness that erases the wounds we inflict on you with our sins and make us Lord, prophets of Mercy in today's suffering world. Amen.

CONTEMPLATION: What are we committed to?

After encountering the Risen Jesus, having received his Peace and becoming aware of the Spirit we received in our Baptism, the commitment we will make is and will be...

To fulfill the mission of: Going through the world doing good (Acts 10:38), loving everyone with concrete acts of mercy. (Mt 25:35-40).

*(Check out the Bible quotes that help you know... how you can do it)
God with us!