Homily for Divine Mercy Sunday, April 27, 2025

While it is true that the Lord appreciates and counts on our contribution, symbolized by our Sunday collection and by the bread and wine we bring to the altar, what the Lord welcomes most of all is that part of our heart which can be dubbed “Doubting Thomas.” 

He wants our “Doubting Thomas” to reshape it according to the Father’s plan. 

This transformation is meant for all of God’s children, including those who have messed up as badly as Peter, Thomas, James, John, Paul or any of the others. 

The readings of the Sundays after Easter cover the radical transformation that the Lord brings about in everyone’s life through his Resurrection.   

Listed today, Divine Mercy Sunday, are: 1) the newly found boldness of the Apostles who had fled when Jesus was arrested; 2) the miraculous power transferred from Jesus to all of them, to Peter in particular; 3) the bearing witness of John to the Word on the island of Patmos and, of course, 4) the discovery made by Thomas about his love for Jesus as an answer to Jesus’ love for him. 

We might be afraid of or embarrassed by the occasional or the persistent doubts in our hearts, but the Lord repeats to us, with a soothing voice as he did with John on the island of Patmos: “There is nothing to fear.  I am the First and the Last and the One who lives.  Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever.”  (Revelation 1:17-18) 

Such a reassuring statement means that our doubts, our hesitations, our fears, our sins, our spotty past, even any betrayals, are now easily within his eternal power of transformation affecting everyone who goes to him trustingly.  

Thus, confident in the boundless mercy of our Lord and in the majestic power of his Resurrection, we shall dare to look at the “doubting Thomas” in our hearts. 

Here is the starting point: We love Jesus! We love him perhaps more than we give ourselves credit for, just as the original Thomas did. When everyone else was trying to convince him to steer clear of Jerusalem, Thomas told the other disciples: “Let us go and die with him!” (John 11:16).  That was love; imperfect if you will, but love, nonetheless.   

Looking at my “doubting Thomas,” these are some of the doubts I found in him:  what if someone were to ruin my reputation …would I be able to forgive them and deal with the irreparable damage done to me? 

What if I got in a terrible accident and suddenly, I was to become heavily dependent on others, even for my most personal needs, will I be able to appreciate their help without feeling humiliated? 

Even more difficult than that: will I be humble enough to accept myself whenever the Lord might reveal to me that I am guilty of many of the failings that, with ease, repeatedly and without hesitation, I judge and condemn in others? 

Do I practice what I preach?  What if, in time of persecution, I am asked to choose between losing my life for Christ and reaching a compromise, will I bear witness to him to the very end? 

As death nears, will there be someone to hold my hand and comfort me by reminding me of the Lord’s infinite mercy? 

I guess that the “doubting Thomas” hidden in your hearts has similar doubts.  

Given our emotional investment in Jesus, like Thomas, we might find it perfectly reasonable to demand irrefutable evidence of his presence, of his power, of his Resurrection. 

With calmness and serenity, today, we are called to reflect on our situation and to move from feeling “left out of” and unaffected by his Resurrection to being assured sharers in it. 

Given our natural frailty, we might soon realize that it is unrealistic to expect a solid guarantee that we will be always faithful to him; obey his laws every time; have smooth sailing through thick and thin and conduct ourselves always blamelessly. 

This kind of expectation would leave us still “outside” his Resurrection—a living anachronism.   

There is nothing we can do to change the facts, the evidence of his transforming power, the evidence that he lives again, and of the ultimate proof of his love.  

The cross and the resurrection are events that took place before we did anything right and good. Their transforming power affects us even at our lowest ebb (cf. Romans 5:8). 

Before this evidence of undisputed, boundless love, Paul was moved to tears of joy and gratitude. (Galatians 2:20)  

Simon Peter surrendered unconditionally to his mercy and wept profusely. (cf. Matthew 26:75) 

Thomas fell to his knees and cried out “My Lord and my God.” (cf. John 20:28). 

Similarly, there is no longer need for us to probe, to touch, to feel the evidence that we thought so important before. 

Hence, today, we shall bring to Jesus our “doubting Thomas” so that, by looking at our crucified Lord, by contemplating the overwhelming evidence of his love, by sharing in his Eucharistic meal once again we may hear him saying to each one of us: “There is nothing to fear.  I am the First and the Last and the One who lives.  Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever.”   

“Do not be afraid.  Live in the forgiveness and the mercy that my Resurrection guarantees you.  I have loved you, just the way you were.  I love you just the way you are. Your doubts, your hesitations, your mistakes, are precisely the reason why I died; but now I live and you, too, will live always in my love.”