2nd Sunday of Easter (Sunday of Divine Mercy)

by © LPi Fr. John Muir  |  04/16/2023  |  From the Clergy

A young, engaged couple sat on the couch in front of me as we chatted about their upcoming marriage. The young lady was struggling to trust her future husband. She told me her father had been unfaithful to her mother. She said of her fiancé, “I want him to prove to me that he won’t cheat on me.” The young man looked at me helplessly, raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders. What evidence could he possibly give to validate such a proof? Nothing. All he could do was invite her to trust him.

We all are wounded by experiences of imperfect love. We also are tempted to demand from God proof of His fidelity and goodness. We are like St. Thomas the Apostle who, on that second Sunday of Easter, demands proof of the Lord’s resurrection. Unless I see the mark of the nail … I will not believe.” Our science, technology and mathematics can indeed prove a great deal. But there are some things that require trusting another person. We prove promises of love only by trusting.

St. Thomas indeed saw the wounds of Jesus and believed. But there is an even greater blessing for us who simply trust Him — and all the truths the Church proclaims — because of the trustworthiness of the Risen One who speaks. This week let’s trust Jesus without seeing him.