Hello, everyone! I hope you are having a beautiful Divine Mercy Sunday together with your loved ones. This morning, my reflection included a few people in the Bible who were misunderstood by many, and whose names often evoked controversy.
The first one is Martha. She was the sister of Mary and Lazarus from Bethany. Whenever her name is mentioned, what crosses one’s mind is the picture of a busy woman who prepared a meal for Jesus and failed to choose the better part (sitting down and listening to what Jesus had to say). We should give her the consideration that she did that out of love and concern for Jesus. The second one is Mary Magdalene, whose name makes us think of a sinful woman who was forgiven by Jesus and became a disciple – and eventually became the first witness to the Resurrection of Jesus. As misunderstood as these women are by many, they experienced first-hand the love, understanding, and mercy of Jesus. They are both saints of the Church.
The third one is Thomas, the Apostle. He was mentioned in the gospel for the 2nd Sunday of Easter and is pictured as the apostle who doubted the Resurrection. When his fellow apostles told him that they have seen the Lord, Thomas replied, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” For Thomas, it was too good to be true! (And you know what they say about things “too good to be true” – that they probably are not true.) After a week, Jesus came again and Thomas was there – and in an instant, he experienced the love and mercy of Jesus. When Jesus invited him to just believe, Thomas could only exclaim, “My Lord and my God.”
In fairness to Thomas, he was a courageous man. When the apostles did not have the guts to ask questions, Thomas always found courage to say something. He always wanted to understand what was going on. He was the one who asked Jesus how they can find the way to the Father, to which Jesus replied, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) When Jesus finally decided to go Bethany to see Lazarus, the apostles were hesitant to follow because they knew that the Jewish leaders were seeking an opportunity to seize Jesus. Thomas, realizing that Jesus has made up His mind to go in spite of the dangers lurking ahead, said to the other apostles, “Let us go so that we may die with Him!” (John 11:16) We are told that after the Pentecost, Thomas ventured to preach the gospel outside of Jerusalem and ended up in India where he preached the Good News. He eventually met his end when he was killed with a spear – a stark parallel to the spear that pierced the side of Jesus, the spear that opened the wound that Thomas wanted to touch. He received his greatest reward: God’s loving mercy. St. Thomas, the follower of The Way, pray for us.
JESUS, WE TRUST IN YOU.
A BLESSED DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY TO ALL OF YOU. GOD BLESS.