Every year on Divine Mercy Sunday, we hear the gospel of doubting Thomas. All the other Apostles see Jesus on Easter Sunday. Thomas doubts their testimony, just as the other Apostles had doubted the testimony of the women. Just as Jesus mercifully revealed Himself to the Apostles, He mercifully reveals Himself to Thomas the following Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We see Jesus\u2019 mercy revealed in many ways throughout the gospels, but it is notable how prominent this theme is in the resurrection appearances. We can think of Jesus\u2019 patience with the disbelief of the Apostles, His tenderness with Mary Magdalene, and of course, His dialogue with Peter, where He gives Peter an opportunity to reverse His three denials. In this Sunday\u2019s gospel, Jesus seems to appear entirely for the sake of Thomas. In this appearance, Jesus doesn\u2019t do anything besides speak to Thomas and show him His wounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is worth paying attention to the focus on wounds \u2013 the wounds that radiate light in the images of Divine Mercy. Jesus shows the Apostles His wounds in His first appearance to them. Then, when Jesus appears again, it is in seeing and being able to touch Christ\u2019s wounds that Thomas believes. This brings to my mind the famous prophecy from Isaiah: \u201cBy His wounds we are healed\u201d (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus won salvation for us through His wounds, but we also see Him healing Thomas\u2019s wound of doubt, by revealing His own wounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps one of the reasons Jesus\u2019 wounds remained after His resurrection was precisely to show us His mercy. After Jesus is glorified, He does not become distant from us. He remains the same compassionate Jesus that He was before His resurrection. He does not leave behind His suffering, but bears it on His body as a testament of His mercy. Jesus keeps His wounds to remind us that He has suffered with us and for us. Our woundedness has been cured by His woundedness. Let us look upon His wounds, and with Thomas, let us say, \u201cMy Lord and my God\u201d (John 20:28). Let us have faith that, although we cannot put our hands in Jesus\u2019 wounds, Jesus will put His hands in ours, and heal us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrew Sheedy<\/strong> \u2013 St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Divine Mercy Sunday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n