Repeat/Good News (2015-04-12)

2^nd Sunday of Easter

Homily 12 April 2015

[__01___]     In today’s Gospel, on the second Sunday of Easter, which we traditionally observe as Divine Mercy Sunday, our Risen Savior visited his disciples in the Upper Room.

He visited; then, he repeated the visit and appearance, one week later.

And so we read the words

This repetition is Good News. It is especially Good News for Thomas the apostle by whom certain conditions for faith had been articulated.

Thomas stated, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and place my finger in his side, I will not believe.”  (John 20:25)

For Thomas, the repeat visit was the ALERT and NEWS for which he had been waiting.

[__02___]      Do we welcome repetition into our lives?

Sometimes, we object to and would rather avoid repetition.

To some person, place or thing which is very familiar or very frustrating, we we might say, in our slang and vernacular -  “been there, done that, got the T-shirt”

Repetition is, at times, tedious.

[__03___]     Repetition is, at times, objectionable with certain family members or close friends. We may avoid repetitions which would stir controversy at the dinner table or in the car ride home.

With certain people in our lives, we may even anticipate certain actions or reactions or words based on their facial expression or gesture.

I may also reveal what I am going to say or do in the same way. We all, at times, wear our hearts on our sleeves.

Is a repeat good news?  Some episodes are repeated more than others. Check your local listings.

[__04___]     The Easter message of resurrection is also about a repetition and a demonstration of God’s mercy.

Paul wrote, in 2^nd Corinthians, about our dependence – our reliance – on the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ:

 Paul observed that our Savior’s power … “[was made] perfect in weakness.” Therefore, [Paul himself boasts]  all the more gladly of  …. weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon [him].”

Paul invites all of us to consider –

”For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

[__05___]      Every moment, every day is a gift of God’s creation, mercy … his repeated gift to you and me.

We are alive physically because of God’s creation. But, don’t we need repeated nourishment, nutrition and perhaps also – medicine – to remain alive physically.

A repeat is Good News.

We are alive and we renew our lives spiritually also by God’s mercy and love and forgiveness.

A repeat of God’s Divine Mercy is Good News.

[__06___]      This repeat can also be challenging, because with each successive gift of God’s mercy, we examine and know more about ourselves .

To seek a repeat of God’s mercy is not a click or an act of remote control or the flip of a switch.

To seek a repeat of God’s mercy, we are called to make repentance part of our daily life, our discipline.

We believe that the … “The confession (or disclosure) of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such an admission man looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible.”  (CCC 1455)

In this regard, God’s power is also made perfect – and apparent – even amid my weakness, even amid a moment of personal fault.

As Paul wrote,  “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

[__07___]     This repetition – of our repentance – enables us to open the Upper Room door where we may have hidden as well.

We welcome Christ’s forgiveness and peace through the sacrament of penance and reconciliation so that we can recognize the gift of God’s mercy in words of absolution which we recognize and know – and have perhaps heard before either recently or some time ago – is good news.  [__fin__]