Divine Mercy Sunday - Cycle C

John 20:19-31

”When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord” (John 20:20)

We continue this Easter season today, Divine Mercy Sunday.

I felt the Lord highlighting this word, “rejoicing” as I read the passage above. Harkening back to Jesus’ words in John 14:28, the disciples do participate in the promised rejoicing at the return of his presence in his glorified, wounded body. 

Yet, separate from those who rejoice, we have Thomas, who reflects each of us when our hopes, plans, expectations, and desires have been–to all human logic and understanding–crushed. I see parts of myself in Thomas’ disposition of heart, in the anger and confusion at the joy of the disciples who are declaring something so wonderful and profound!  

Thomas is living in the aftermath and trauma of having his whole life disintegrated. The teacher, friend, and Messiah he believed in had been brutalized and murdered. He has no idea what moving forward looks like now. And who knows what critical voices may have been in his brain, making him question everything he'd witnessed and believed in those past three years. 

How can he rejoice when holding in his reality death of hopes, plans, etc.? 

Yet Jesus knows and sees Thomas’ heart in this very pain. And He knows what is needed is encounter: For Thomas to intimately see, touch, and hear the truth of his presence in this place. And so, Jesus meets Thomas here.

Jesus invites Thomas to put his hand into his side–I imagine Thomas' hand being placed right atop Jesus’ pierced, merciful heart. 

His mercy is the entering into Thomas’ woundedness, and compassionately inviting Thomas to find comfort within His own. 

Today, I pray we ask for and receive the grace to trust in our God Who knows we need intimate encounters with Him and will meet us even in those locked away, most shattered parts of our hearts. 

I see Jesus’ final words to Thomas as a promise to all of us when we find ourselves in such brokenness. We, like Thomas, will not just see, but experience his mercy and presence in wounded places. A promise that we too will share in the fullness of new hope and rejoicing.