2nd Sunday of Easter (Year A)
Divine Mercy Sunday
Acts 2:42-47 | Psalm 117(118):2-4,13-15,22-24 | 1 Peter 1:3-9 | John 20:19-31
As the modern world accelerates each year, we keep trying to save time by shortening our communications with each other, relying increasingly on acronyms, txtspk, and just plain dropping “unnecessary” words.
FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) is one such acronym, and in these turbulent times, we experience it in spades, what with worldwide political and economic unrest, made worse by “fake news” and unpleasant people unreservedly spewing their vitriol online.
Thomas the Apostle must’ve felt like he was being pranked in today’s Gospel, when his fellow disciples kept telling him “WE HAVE SEEN THE LORD! Why don’t you believe us?”
We experience the opposite problem today, besieged by unbelievers who keep telling us “you fools, there’s no such thing as eternal life, you’re wasting your time preparing for it! You sure you don’t want to fornicate, do drugs, get drunk? Your loss, and where’s this God of yours anyway?”
Fear of missing out. Uncertainty of our own beliefs. Doubt in the deposit of faith we were given. The esteemed science-fiction author Frank Herbert coined an apt phrase to describe these phenomena: mind-killers, “little deaths” that lead to psychological and spiritual oblivion.
Brothers and sisters, let’s replace this FUD with a different one:
- Faith bolstered by regular communion with our fellow believers at church
- Understanding through daily contemplation of scripture
- Deeds of kindness and mercy, impelled by the revelation of Christ’s all-consuming love from the cross
May this trinity of belief keep us on the narrow path that is God’s loving plan for our salvation, leading in time to the Holy Trinity.
May we take inspiration from today’s First Reading, and remain united as a faith community that pours out its collective love for others.
May this FUD sustain us in the trials that St. Peter alludes to in the Second Reading for today, till we attain our unsullied inheritance in heaven.
Faith, Understanding, Deeds. They may be difficult to achieve under the relentless assault of this unforgiving secular world, but we too have our “secret weapon”.
Jesus, we trust in You!
Amen.