April 12, 2026: Second Sunday of Easter

Jesus' spoke his shalom as a promising word of grace. It offers an invitation to be a part of him as he is a part of us all. People who have begun to experience the wondrous energy of shalom become naturally forgiving because they are caught up in the desire that everyone experience the same. To Thomas, his friends' experience sounded too good to be true. He couldn't believe that Jesus' gruesome death and their disillusionment could be upended in a "happily ever after" conclusion. Unable to accept sweet escapism, Thomas had to know how cruelty could be nullified. Unlike those who turn their heads from suffering, he had to see for himself how mortal wounds could be transfigured. He needed the experience of the living Christ; no amazing report could convince him. The risen Lord must have loved Thomas' skepticism. In a sort of "deeper the doubt, deeper the faith" perspective, Christ longed to draw Thomas into the mystery. Thus, he called on Thomas to touch the wounds, to acknowledge the unthinkable evil that had occurred and to encounter God's response of the forgiveness that gives life, life eternal. Jesus' real challenge to them -- and those who come after -- came in the commission: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." Mirroring God's breathing the breath of life into Adam, Christ breathed over them. His breath in-Spirited them so that they could grow into living the answer to Jesus' final prayer: "That they may be one as you Father are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us" (John 17). As we celebrate this Sunday of Divine Mercy, our Liturgy of the Word urges us to believe what sounds too good to be true. Easter proclaims that we, the motley communities of our family, neighborhood, parish, church and world, can live in such a way that others see wonders and signs of what can be. Having been enlivened with Christ's life-giving inspiration, we can be witnesses of God's own mercy by the way we share and care for others. Although evil continues in so many ways, we can be bearers of living hope, people who exemplify the future, the full transfiguration of creation in God. We can believe it and make it happen. We can share God's mercy. We can live in a way that is so good and life-giving that it can only be true.