Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)

Mass Readings

• First Reading Acts 4:32-35
• Responsorial Psalm Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
• Second Reading 1 John 5:1-6
• Gospel John 20:19-31

Open the Mass Readings on USCCB.org →

Step Into the Story

Acts shows the young Jerusalem church holding everything in common: landowners sold fields and laid the money at the apostles’ feet. The St. Thomas Christians of Kerala, in southwest India, trace their church to the apostle Thomas and hold that he landed there around 52 A.D. But on the first Easter evening, probably in 30 A.D., the apostles were going nowhere. They were behind locked doors in Jerusalem, afraid that the men who had just crucified their master would come for them next.

1. 14 A.D.Tiberius becomes emperor
2. c. 18 A.D.Caiaphas becomes high priest
3. 26 A.D.Pilate becomes prefect
4. c. 30 A.D.Jesus is crucified
5. This week’s scene: c. 30 A.D.Jesus enters the locked room

Climb to that room as the light fails. The bar is down across the door. A lamp or two burns, and the air is close with too many frightened men in too small a space. Hear a footstep in the street below, and feel everyone stiffen. Mary Magdalene has told them she has seen the Lord. No one quite knows what to make of it.

Notice who is missing: Thomas, called the Twin. Find a place against the wall among the others. Watch the bolted door, and the shadows by the lamp. In a moment the room will not be as it was.

Encounter the Lord

Sit in the locked room with the disciples. The shutters are closed. You abandoned Him on Friday, and now you are afraid. Suddenly He is standing among you. He does not scold. He says, “Peace be with you,” and shows you the wounds in His hands and His side.

The first gift of the risen Lord is mercy. He breathes the Holy Spirit on His apostles and gives them the power to forgive sins in His name. Every confession is that Easter evening repeated. Thomas, too, receives mercy: Jesus comes back for him, and the doubter makes the clearest confession of faith in the Gospels. Augustine says that when you name your sins honestly, you are already working with God.

This week, go to Confession. Before you go, pray slowly, “Jesus, I trust in You.”

Know Your Faith

The Power to Forgive

When He gave the Holy Spirit to His apostles, the risen Christ conferred on them His own divine power to forgive sins (CCC 976). Only God forgives sins, but Jesus gives this power to men to exercise in His name (CCC 1441-1442). Bishops and priests continue this ministry (CCC 1461).

The Mercy of God

There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive (CCC 982). The sacrament of Penance restores us to God’s grace and joins us with Him in intimate friendship, often bringing peace and serenity of conscience (CCC 1468).

Witnesses of the Risen One

As witnesses of the Risen One, the apostles remain the foundation stones of His Church (CCC 642). Even when faced with the reality of the risen Jesus, the disciples still doubted, so their faith was not the product of credulity (CCC 644).

The Wounds of the Risen Body

By touch and the sharing of a meal, the risen Jesus shows that His body is not a ghost but the same body that was crucified, still bearing the traces of His Passion (CCC 645).