2nd Sunday of Easter &
Divine Mercy Sunday, Year A - April 12, 2026
Acts
2:42-47; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31
Theme: “Whose Sins You Forgive are Forgiven
Them”
- A Brief Exegetical
Analysis of John
20:19-31
This
Gospel narrates Jesus’ two appearances to his disciples, with Thomas absent at
the first and present at the second. The context of this text is to testify to
Jesus’ Resurrection and signify the conclusion of his earthly life and the
beginning of the Church age. Before this text, the author had already shared
the stories of the Empty Tomb (20:1-10) and Jesus’ Appearance to Mary of
Magdala (20:11-18). Immediately following our Gospel passage is the Epilogue,
in which the evangelist recounts the story of Jesus’ Appearance to the Seven
Disciples in Galilee (21:1-25).
The
Gospel text presents a narrative account structured into three movements. In
the first movement (vv. 19-23), Jesus appears to his disciples while Thomas is
absent. The second movement (vv. 24-29) recounts Jesus’ second appearance to
his disciples, this time with Thomas present. The third movement (vv. 30-31)
serves as the initial conclusion of the entire book.
Vv.
19-23. “On the evening of that first day of the week” is the evening of the
Sabbath day (Sunday for the Christians). The ten disciples (minus Judas and
Thomas) were in one locked room, presumably in Jerusalem, out of fear of the
Jews. They feel as if they have wasted three years following Jesus, who is now
dead, and everything seems finished. Furthermore, they are experiencing great
fear and confusion because they believe that the people who crucified their
Master Jesus are also looking for them to crucify them. Amid this
disappointment and anxiety, Jesus appears and stands in their midst. Jesus’s
resurrected body enters the room without opening the locked doors.
Jesus
does five things here. (1) He wishes them “peace.” This peace differs from the
ordinary peace the Jews use to greet each other. It echoes Jn 14:27: “Peace I
leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to
you.” (NABRE). Jesus knows their fear, so he starts by filling their hearts and
minds with the peace of the resurrection, which revives their hope, courage,
confidence, and faith in him. (2) Jesus shows them his hands and sides as
evidence that he is alive. Luke speaks of “hands and feet” based on Ps 22:17
(see Lk 24:39-40). The fearful disciples rejoice now because the living Lord is
among them. (3) He sends them on a mission just as his Father God sent
him. This means the disciples are commissioned to continue Jesus’ mission. (4)
He fills them with the Holy Spirit by breathing on them. This recalls the story
of creation in the book of Genesis when God created the first human being. Adam
was not a living being until God breathed the breath of life into his nostrils
(see Gn. 2:7). By using his breath to give the Holy Spirit to his disciples,
Jesus recreates them. (5) He empowers them with the authority to forgive and
retain sins. Previously, this faculty was reserved for Jesus alone. Here, he
shares it with his disciples.
Vv.
24-29. Thomas conditions his belief on physical proof: to see the marks of the
nails on Jesus’ hands and to touch Jesus’ side and nail marks (vv. 24-25). When
Jesus appears to them for the second time, he provides Thomas with the proof he
requested and exhorts him to believe. The narrator does not disclose whether
Thomas touched Jesus’ hand and side; he only mentions Thomas’s profession of
faith, referring to Jesus as “My Lord and my God.” Jesus’ declaration in v. 29
is a beatitude for future generations who will not see him physically but will
believe in him and his Resurrection.
Vv.
30-31. These two verses form the first conclusion of the Gospel of John. The
evangelist affirms that his book contains only a few of the many signs
(miracles) Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples. He reveals the
purpose of writing his Gospel: to have his readers “come to believe” (or
continue to believe) that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Through this
belief, the readers will have life in Jesus’ name.
- Synthesis
Jesus
appeared to his fearful disciples two times, entering the room without opening
the locked doors and wishing them peace three times. In the first appearance,
when Thomas was absent, Jesus showed them the marks on his hands and side as
physical evidence that he was alive. The disciples rejoiced at seeing him.
Then, he commissioned them to continue the same mission his Father had given
him. He filled them with the Holy Spirit by breathing on them, which recreated
them. He finally empowered them with the authority to forgive and return
people’s sins. Thomas, who missed Jesus’ first appearance, requested physical
evidence (to see and touch Jesus’ nail marks and side) before he could believe
in Jesus' Resurrection. When Jesus appeared to them for the second time with
Thomas present, he provided Thomas with the physical proof he requested. Thomas
believed by professing his faith in Jesus: “My Lord and my God.” Then, Jesus,
referring to future generations, called “blessed” all those who would believe
in him without seeing him physically. The narrator concludes his whole book by
affirming that he did not write down all the signs (miracles) Jesus performed
in the presence of his disciples. The purpose of the few signs he wrote was to
help his readers come to believe (or continue to believe) that Jesus is the
Messiah, the Son of God, and through this belief, his readers have life in
Jesus’ name.
- Pastoral Implications
1. Liturgical
Context
Since
the year 2000, the Church has designated the Second Sunday of Easter as “Divine
Mercy Sunday.” The background of the Feast of Divine Mercy centers on a
devotion stemming from the private revelations of Saint Faustina Kowalska. To
make these private revelations official, Pope John Paul II, in 2002, added
“Plenary Indulgence” to Divine Mercy Sunday. “Plenary Indulgence” is a complete
pardon that Jesus grants to us, as he revealed to Saint Faustina, “I want to
grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive
Holy Communion on the Feast of My Mercy.” (Diary 1109). In the liturgy of this
Mass, the Church invites us to contemplate our Risen Lord as the Ambassador of
Mercy. Through Jesus’ Resurrection, we have peace and forgiveness of sins; we
are re-created, filled with the Holy Spirit, and commissioned to continue his
mission wherever we live (Gospel). Thus, we are called to devote ourselves to
attending Mass regularly and to communal life (First Reading) as we hope for an
imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance kept in heaven for us (Second
Reading).
2. What
the Church Teaches Us Today
Jesus
appears to his frightened disciples amid their fear, disappointment, and
confusion, without opening the doors of the room they have locked themselves in.
Many of us today are going through similar crises. Anxieties, worries, and
numerous sufferings that we face daily create fear and force us to close
ourselves off in our minds. The way Jesus stands before his fearful disciples,
he and his mercy also stand before us today. He first wishes us peace because
he knows our anxieties very well. This is not the regular peace we use to greet
each other. Instead, it is the peace of the Resurrection. It resurrects the
hope, confidence, and courage that we lost because of the fear caused by the
sufferings of this world. The disciples rejoiced in seeing the Resurrected
Lord. Let us also rejoice because our Lord is alive.
Jesus’
Resurrection entails a mission. Our Risen Lord sends his disciples and us on a
mission as his Father has sent him. This means he calls us to continue the
mission he started. In our mission, we will not work alone. Jesus fills us with
the Holy Spirit, who will assist us. We receive this Holy Spirit through the
breath of Jesus, recalling the story of creation in the book of Genesis when
God created Adam. This first human was not yet a living being until God
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (see Gn. 2:7). By breathing on us
on this Divine Mercy Sunday, Jesus recreates us. We have a new life, a life of
the Resurrection. Let us go out on the mission, lay and ordained ministers,
each with our specific calling. This mission consists of assisting our fellow
humans, especially those who still isolate themselves due to fears caused by
the suffering they endure. As Jesus asked Thomas to touch the marks on his
hands and side as evidence that he is alive, he invites us today to touch and
feel the marks on our fellow humans who suffer and assist them. Let us share
the peace of the Resurrection that Jesus has given us with them and encourage
them to join us in the Church. Together, we devote ourselves to the teaching of
the Church, communal life, and regularly attending Mass as the early Christians
did in our first reading. Let us exhort them and ourselves to continue hoping
for the eternal salvation of our souls despite suffering, as Saint Peter
teaches us in our second reading.
Jesus’
mission is also to forgive the sins of the people of God, the power that Jesus
gives to the Church through the ordained ministers: “Whose sins you forgive are
forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (Jn 20:23). Let us
encourage our brothers and sisters, including ourselves, to regularly use this
wonderful Sacrament of Confession.
We
seek three things when we go to confession: forgiveness of our sins,
reconciliation with God and the fellow humans we have offended, and the healing
of the spiritual, emotional, or psychological wounds that sin causes. First, in
confession, we implore Jesus to forgive our sins. Just as we go to our shower
rooms to clean our bodies of any dirt, we need to approach the confessional
room to take a spiritual shower and cleanse our souls of any sins. On the day
of our baptism, we wore a white garment and received a lit candle. We were told
to keep this white garment (which represents our souls) unstained and to keep
our souls' lamps always lit until our Lord Jesus returns. To achieve this, we
should frequently use the sacrament of confession to ensure we are ready to
welcome our Lord whenever he comes back or calls us to him.
Second,
in the sacrament of confession, we seek two reconciliations: vertical
reconciliation (with God) and horizontal reconciliation (with our fellow
humans). Note that the priest who listens to our confessions plays two roles.
First, in vertical reconciliation, the priest represents Jesus, who stands on
behalf of God the Father, whom we offend through our sins. When we confess our
sins to a priest, we confess to Jesus, our mediator with God the Father. The
priest who acts in persona Christi accepts our confession, absolves our sins,
and reconciles us with God. Second, in confession, we also reconcile with our
fellow humans whom we offend. For some reason, most of the time, it is
difficult and even complicated to meet all the people we have hurt, to ask for
forgiveness, and to seek reconciliation with them. That is why, in confession,
the priest stands for all the people we have offended by our sins. He listens
to us, accepts our apologies, forgives us, and reconciles with us on behalf of
these people. Hence, we should not feel afraid or shy to confess our sins to
the priest. Instead, we tell him our sins with the attitude as if we were
telling the people we have offended. So, confession restores our relationships
with God and our brothers and sisters.
Third,
in the sacrament of confession, we seek multiple healings. Because sins can
cause emotional, psychological, or spiritual wounds, we need God to heal us. We
consult doctors, psychologists, or counselors for healing; similarly, we need
to talk to a priest to seek emotional, psychological, and spiritual healing
through confession. Sometimes, the healing process takes time. In this case, I
advise us to continue the process in a spiritual or psychological direction,
with the same confessor-priest or, if needed, a professional psychologist. Let
us take advantage of this beautiful sacrament of confession that Jesus
instituted to forgive our sins, to reconcile us with God and with our fellow
humans, and to provide us with the spiritual, psychological, or emotional
healing we need.
May
the liturgy of this Divine Mercy Sunday inspire us to become Jesus’
missionaries who encourage our brothers and sisters, including ourselves, to
always believe in Jesus’ Resurrection, promote unity, hope for eternal
salvation, and regularly partake in the Sacraments of the Eucharist and
Confession to receive Divine Mercy. Amen.
Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD
Pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Jackson, MS
&
SVD-USS Biblical Apostolate Coordinator
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