BIBLE STUDY #85
SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
April 15, 2012

READING 1
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 4:32-35

The community of believers was of one heart and mind,
and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own,
but they had everything in common.
With great power the apostles bore witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and great favor was accorded them all.
There was no needy person among them,
for those who owned property or houses would sell them,
bring the proceeds of the sale,
and put them at the feet of the apostles,
and they were distributed to each according to need.

The Word of the Lord.

READING 2
1 JOHN 5:1-6

Beloved:
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God,
and everyone who loves the Father
loves also the one begotten by him.
In this way we know that we love the children of God
when we love God and obey his commandments.
For the love of God is this,
that we keep his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome,
for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world.
And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.
Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ,
not by water alone, but by water and blood.
The Spirit is the one that testifies,
and the Spirit is truth.

The Word of the Lord

GOSPEL
JOHN 20:19-31

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
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 them,
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 nailmarks
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 have 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 Christ, the Son of God,
and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

The Gospel of the Lord

Reflection

Today’s Gospel comes immediately after Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene on Easter morning, and it seems to indicate that Jesus appeared to the disciples on Easter evening (his reference to “that day” refers to Easter Sunday).

The doors were locked “for fear of the Jews”. If the authorities were able to have Jesus crucified, it would be possible for them to be treated as such. They are not yet the fearless disciples of Jesus until Pentecost.

Jesus didn’t knock on the door to be let in, nor did he bust the door open. He appeared to them through the locked doors. He has a resurrected body and is no longer bound by space and time as we are. He can appear where ever he desires.

He appears to the disciples; presumably there are 10 of them. Thomas is not there, and Judas hung himself.

Jesus gives them his peace, referring to John 14:27, part of the Last Supper Discourse, where Jesus promises to send the Advocate (the Holy Spirit). This peace, or “shalom” is a gift of salvation, and connotes the bounty of the messianic blessing. He is giving the kind of peace that only comes through faith in him. This peace also reflects rejoicing, as seen in John 16:22.

Jesus then sends his disciples (and us) on a mission: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you." Jesus was the obedient Son who perfectly obeyed the Father’s will for him. He sends all of us out on a mission to bring the good news of salvation to others. We also see this type of sending in Matthew 28:19, Luke 24:47, and Mark 16:15.

But they can’t do it on their own. They need his help. He breathes the Holy Spirit on them, which reminds us of Genesis, when God breathed life into Adam. Just as Adam’s life came from God, so now the new spiritual life breathed into the Apostles comes from God. This is John’s version of Pentecost.

The Apostles are sent out to preach forgiveness: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." The Council of Trent defined that this power to forgive sins is exercised in the sacrament of confession. Forgiveness is one of the biggest themes in scripture, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus conquered sin and death. He paid the penalty for our sins and wants all of us to feel that forgiveness. What is the one thing that can keep us from eternal life (or life in abundance now)? Sins that are not forgiven from people who are not repentant. There are a lot of themes in scripture, but this one seems like it should be near the top of the list in importance, and is why the apostles are sent to preach forgiveness.

Being forgiven by God, whether from an act of contrition, or sacramentally through confession, is a wonderful way to grow spiritually. Sins that are not forgiven will eventually block the avenues of God’s grace. If God feels distant, it may be time to seek forgiveness. The sacrament of reconciliation gives us an opportunity to focus on the things we did wrong, be forgiven, and receive the grace to do better and grow as a disciple.

The Apostles are given the power to retain sins by Jesus, but I don’t know of any time that Jesus or the apostles ever refused to forgive someone. My experience is that those who are unrepentant do not seek forgiveness. Any one who comes to confession is seeking God’s forgiveness, and if they are not sure if something is a sin, they will ask.

One of the saddest things is when people refuse to believe that they sin and therefore need forgiveness. Unrepentant people are passing up an opportunity to live in God’s grace, peace, meaning, and happiness.

I do think that clergy need to preach on this topic without belaboring the point. It’s an important part of the message of Jesus. But we need to preach on it by stating that God loves us and wants us to participate in Jesus sacrifice on the cross and be forgiven, not so we won’t be punished, but that we can live in the peace of Christ.

The second part of today’s Gospel is commonly known as “Doubting Thomas” but it should be known as “Believing Thomas” because of his eventual profession of faith.

Thomas is typical of the other Apostles because they don’t understand until they have an experience of the risen Jesus. Thomas missed the experience of the other apostles when Jesus appeared to them, and he won’t believe until "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."

How many people nowadays are like that. They want “proof” that Jesus is risen. Arguments are not going to convince people to believe. You can argue until you are blue in the face and still they won’t believe. We have to lead people to have an experience of the risen Jesus because it is only God’s grace that converts people, not our words. It is through living like Christ and being a reflection of his grace and love that someone may see Christ in us and come to believe.

Well, Thomas gets his wish. Jesus appears like he did to the other apostles, through locked doors. I wonder what was going through the mind of Thomas when he saw Jesus? Notice that Jesus didn’t scold him, but showed him his hands and his side so Thomas would believe.

We never put people down because of the level of their faith or their lack of faith. Only people who need to tear others down to build themselves up and/or feel better about themselves do this. We accept people for who they are but
we also witness and minister to people to lead them to faith.

Thomas responds to Jesus with a supreme act of faith: "My Lord and my God!" Lord and God (Yahweh Elohim) are Old Testament names for God. Thomas is
expressing his belief in the divinity of Jesus.

John’s Gospel is now complete. In the first chapter (the Prologue) Jesus is the Word that is God who comes to offer himself for our sins, and now he his going back to the glory of the Father he had before the world began.

Jesus now praised those who come later who believe but have not seen. While we won’t see Jesus in his resurrected body and won’t have an opportunity to put our hands in the nail marks of his hands or put out hand into his side, I am convinced that those who believe hade had an experience of the risen Christ in some way, shape, or form. Or more likely, we have had more than one experience of the risen Christ. Most of us won’t have that tremendous personal experience of Christ like St. Paul. Ours is more an accumulation of experiences until one day we are so moved as to believe. One day there will be something, maybe through sacraments. prayer, people, or scripture that will so move us that we feel the risen Christ in our hearts. We won’t be able to explain it to others but we know and believe in our hearts. This is why we always need to keep our hearts open to Christ: to give him an opportunity to enter. If we are open, he will touch us.

The first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles. Each Sunday from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, we don’t have an Old Testament reading; instead, we hear from the Acts of the Apostles.

Today’s reading from Acts is our common image of the early Church: an ideal community of believers with no problems where everyone is loving.

Yet, when you read some of the letters of Paul, such as the second half of 1Corinthians, we find a much different community, one of selfishness. Which one is true?

Paul is writing about contemporary communities, where Luke in Acts is writing about what a community should be: he is writing about the ideal community, one that should exist somewhere down the road. It is an ideal to strive for.

Even though those in the early church didn’t attain this ideal, I believe that the reason that they were successful in their evangelizing is that they were striving to reach that ideal and they became so different, so much more peaceful, so much more Christ like that others wanted what they had. They may not have understood their theology, but they wanted to be like them.

In the second reading, John tells us that we can gauge our love for God by how we obey his commandments. Saying we love someone isn’t good enough. If someone told you that they loved you but didn’t show their love, would you believe them? Probably not. We can’t say we love God unless we love other people. The letter of James says, “So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17).

In its truest form, love is an action. The emotions come later: who could not feel emotional for someone when they are always doing something for you?

His commandments are not burdensome: “My yoke is easy and my burden light” (Matthew 11:30). God knows what is best for us, and his way of living should bring us the most peace, happiness, and fulfillment in life, and eternal life in the next.



Fr. Phil