The Faith of the Community
This
Second Sunday of Easter is called by different names: “Low Sunday” or “White
Sunday”. On this Sunday Christians in the early Church took off their
white robes and became regular members of the community. Compared to the
excitement and rejoicing of Easter Sunday, this Sunday is much quieter. We
read the story of the ‘Doubting Thomas’. The Gospel doesn’t tell us who
brought Thomas to Jesus. Like all of us, someone else brought us to Christ
and to the faith. On the day of our baptism, someone spoke on our behalf.
Our parents and godparents made big promises and commitments for us. We
spend the rest of our lives making good on those promises and commitments.
Like Thomas we seek answers. We spend our lives seeking to make the faith
of the community our own—a first, hard faith. We strive to make the “Faith
of Our Fathers” our own. As Christians we have a wonderful legacy – but
there can be no second-hand faith. We must make it our own by our
decisions and choices.
The Gospel today highlights the importance of the community of believers. Thomas did not want to believe what many in the community had seen, heard and experienced. At the end of the story, Thomas came to believe – because: “He saw with his own eyes and made a powerful act of faith: My Lord and My God.” (John 20:28) For Catholics the community is central to our faith. It is in the faith of the community that we are baptized and receive the sacraments. It is in and though the community of faith that we receive religious instruction. Jesus did not give the Gospel or the Mass and Sacraments to an individual. He gave them to the community. The faith of the community sustains us in difficult times. On any given Sunday, people who come to worship may not be able to sing, rejoice or feel the presence of the Lord. They see all the people around them, but feel that they are removed from what’s going on. It may be a personal or family problem, an illness, divorce or a death. Whatever the difficulties, they are carried by the faith of the community. It is always good for us to remember that there are people in our midst who struggle and truly need to be lifted up by the faith and prayer of the community!
There are those who like Thomas have their “doubts”. Doubt is not denial. It is a search for a deeper understanding and experience of what we believe. Even if we ‘doubt’ and feel removed from the community of faith – the Lord still rejoices in us and seeks to restore us to the community – so that we can cry out with Thomas, “My Lord and My God.” (John 20:28) “Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief.”
Sr. Faustina and the Image of the Divine Mercy
Sr. Faustina of Poland is the well-known apostle of Divine Mercy. On the 30th of April 2000, the Second Sunday of Easter, at 10:00 AM His Holiness Pope John Paul II celebrated the Eucharist in Saint Peter’s Square and proceeded to the canonization of Blessed Sister Faustina. The new Saint invites us by the witness of her life to keep our faith and hope fixed on God, the Father, rich in mercy, who saved us by the precious blood of His Son. During her short life, the Lord Jesus assigned St. Faustina three basic tasks:
1. to pray for souls, entrusting them to God’s incomprehensible Mercy,
2. to tell the world about God’s generous Mercy,
3. to start a new movement in the Church focusing on God’s Mercy.
“The the canonization of Sr. Faustina, Pope John II said: ‘The cross, even after the Resurrection of the Son of God, speaks and never ceases to speak of God the Father, who is absolutely faithful to His eternal love for man. …Believing in this love means believing in mercy.’ The Lord of Divine Mercy a drawing of Jesus based on the vision given to St. Faustina, shows Jesus raising his right hand in a gesture of blessing, with his left hand on his chest from which gust forth two rays, one red and one white. The picture contains the message ‘Jesus, I trust in You!’ (Jezu ufam Tobie). The rays streaming out have symbolic meaning: red for the blood of Jesus, which is the life of souls; and white for the water, which justifies souls. The whole image is symbolic of the mercy, forgiveness and love of God.” (Fr. Tony Homilies – 2007)
Divine Mercy Sunday will be celebrated at Precious Blood with a special service this Sunday, April 11, at 2:30 PM.