A few years ago, at this time of year, a medical surgeon friend of mine told me that he had performed a life-saving liver transplant on Easter Sunday morning. The recipient would have died within hours if it had not happened. The doctor went home and told me he realized it was the best Easter he could have had. Someone had died and their liver saved another person they never knew. The deceased donor gave new life even in death. The surgeon understood the life and death situation. He had to invite the patient to also believe that a new liver from a stranger could give the chance of living more. The doctor helped the patient say yes and that belief gave new life. What a powerful Easter story! The patient had to believe in order to live.
This Resurrection appearance story is read each year. That means the Church feels it is one of the foundational stories to which we must give our full attention. It is filled with important messages and images that speak to us again and again. The bottom line is believe that you may have life.
The story begins with John telling us it is the evening of the first day of the week, which repeats the setting of the Resurrection stories. Father Ron Rohlheiser, the noted spiritual writer, says the “first day” has a deeper meaning than just telling us it is Sunday. It is really the first day of a new world, a new creation. We are reminded God begins creation in Genesis on the first day and concludes in a week. Everything now starts again from here, Easter Sunday. In effect, as the phrase goes today in our computerized world, the restart button is pushed and there is a new chance to begin. Things change, are wiped clean and we get another invitation to make it right. Jesus breathes the Spirit over the disciples, like the first breath God gives Adam. We have a new opportunity to make things as God intended at the first creation. Can you do it?
God constantly gives these moments to us in smaller ways, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The power over forgiveness, which Jesus gives to his disciples, is the restart for us. How many times have I left the sacrament and told myself, “Now, go get it right this time!” At the same time, the sacrament is a moment to remember how much God has forgiven me, which in turn is an example of my duty to forgive others who have offended me. That is always the hard part, yet it is absolutely crucial. If we ask forgiveness of God, we must be ready to let go of the hurts others have caused us, and be truly reconciled. I understand that in the Anglican tradition, the priest after hearing the confession of sins, asks the penitent, “Do you then, forgive those who have sinned against you?” The priests pronounces absolution only after hearing an affirmative answer.
The gospel says the disciples were huddled inside behind locked doors, out of fear. Jesus penetrates that fear and appears, despite the locked doors. Locked doors are an image of fear. The opposite of love is not hate, but fear. Fear causes us to lock doors to others for any number of reasons. Often, we just don’t know the other because they are not like us. Sometimes we see the other as a threat to who we are, our position in society, what we have or any number of other reasons. Sometimes we have felt offended which causes us to lock doors to the other. Fear can make us act irrationally against the other. Easter is the time to face our fears and ask if we have locked ourselves in. It is time to open the doors.
Jesus answers fear with peace, which is the product of love. It is the willingness to unlock the doors, to take risks to allow the other into our lives, to know the other and thus to appreciate and finally to love the other. That is the way to peace. The Resurrected Jesus offers that as the first gift of Easter joy. We will never have peace until we face and overcome our fears. Unlock your doors!
The first day of the week is also the day we gather for Eucharist. It has been a long year of Covid where so many have not gathered in church on Sunday. Many are now returning with some confidence after vaccinations. It is a great experience to be with the faith community and finally receive the Eucharist again. Holy Week and Easter have so many references to Jesus in the Eucharist, including the Last Supper, Jesus giving himself in sacrifice on the cross, the breaking of bread at Emmaus, and so much more. Jesus appears in the Eucharist where he is both present and hidden. The community gathers on the first day of the week to experience Jesus, both in bread and in service. That is what Holy Week and Easter showed us.
The second part of the gospel deals with doubt and faith. Doubting Thomas is often portrayed badly as it seems yet once again another apostle is disappointing. However, he only wanted to physically touch the risen Jesus to verify it was he. Thomas actually ends up making the strongest profession of faith in the New Testament. John had said at the beginning of his gospel that the “Word was God.” Faith is prompted by Jesus’ invitation. Thomas is then ready to go further than all of the rest in proclaiming Jesus his Lord and God.
The moment with Thomas is also another first. This is first time in scripture that Jesus shows his wounds to the disciples. This happens twice in John and once in Luke. The showing of wounds is critical since the Messiah had to suffer in order to enter into His glory. Doubt can lead to faith, as Thomas shows by his struggle. The touching was not the moment of coming to believe but it set the place for the invitation by Jesus to have faith.
Acknowledging wounds is always critical to the healing process, whether our wounds are physical, psychological or spiritual. Touch the wounds, acknowledge they are there, then begin to accept the mercy that heals, and live that mercy. Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. The human Jesus, wounded, is the divine Jesus who invites us to be healed.
This story also connects directly to us and all who have believed over the two thousand year history of the Church. Jesus responds by invoking blessings on those who will not see Him physically but will stay faithful even when the Church does not do it right.
Today’s story is the original conclusion of the gospel where John says he wrote this so you may believe and have life. This is very different from Mark, which ends abruptly and leaves you hanging yet challenged to do something about the Resurrection. Luke spreads out the Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost over the forty days, but John does it in a week. John has three appearances, one to Mary Magdalene and the other two to the disciples which we read in this lesson.
John ends with an assurance of what you get with faith, which is life. The liver transplant patient believed and received new life. This is similar but much deeper. Faith is not a decision made once and for all but made anew in every situation. John writes “that you may believe.” The journey to faith is never over. Faith is prompted by Jesus’ invitation. John says in the first chapter what came to be through Him was life. That is also the story of creation, the beginning of life here. So, this ties it in again at the end. The whole purpose of the gospel and of Jesus is that you may have life.
Move through the gospels after Easter, and ask yourself if you believe as Jesus invites you to do. Then, live his life and share it!
Fr. David Garcia is a retired priest from the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas, where he served for 44 years. During that time, Fr. Garcia was instrumental in the effort to have the Old Spanish Missions recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and also oversaw the multimillion-dollar restoration of San Fernando Cathedral. Fr. David served as pastor for several parishes in San Antonio, including the historic Mission Concepción. He also served as Senior Advisor for Clergy Outreach at Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian and relief agency of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.