Sunday, April 16, 2023

 SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER – DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY

(Acts 2:42-47; I Peter 1:3-9; John 20:1-9)

Today, the Second Sunday of Easter, has been called by various names. In some places it has been known as “Low Sunday”, with the First Sunday of Easter being the “High Feast of Easter”. In recent times it has been named “Divine Mercy Sunday”. It has been given this name because of the writings of the Polish mystic, St. Faustina Kowalska, and also because in the gospel passage for this Sunday Jesus initiates the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It can also be called "Doubting Thomas Sunday" for another part of the passage. In it the apostle Thomas expresses doubts that Jesus rose from the dead. The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles suggests yet another title. Always on the second Sunday of Easter the reading recounts how the community of believers in Jerusalem lived in harmony. So, "Sunday of the Primitive Church" would not be inappropriate. Today we are going to limit our reflection to this last theme.

The first reading says that the community "devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers." It has been the work of the Holy Spirit that the Church has mostly maintained these characteristics for twenty centuries. However, there have been deviations at different times. How well does the contemporary Church shape up to this list?

The teachings of the apostles were not ideas invented by the twelve but the revelations of Jesus Christ adapted for particular communities. They included both morals and doctrines of faith. Recently the bishops of Germany have approved resolutions that undermine some of the morals taught by the apostles. They want to bless homosexual unions, recognize genders other than male and female, and even admit the possibility of a woman claiming that she has changed her gender to be ordained to the priesthood. If these kinds of ideas take root, it seems that the Church would no longer conform to the teachings of the apostles.

The reading gives an example of “communal life” when it says that landowners sold their properties and offered the proceeds for distribution according to each person’s need. From time to time we hear claims that this practice amounts to communism. However, there is a big difference between the two systems. The practice of sharing in the apostolic community was voluntary. With communism sharing is forced. Interestingly, Acts later mentions a problem with the system, and no other New Testament book recommends it. Rather, most of the books insist that those with means, be they communities or individuals, help those without. Today the Church has organizations like Caritas International that distribute donations to peoples experiencing need.

The “breaking of bread” seems like code words for the Eucharist. According to the reading, the followers of Christ in the Jerusalem community joined their Jewish sisters and brothers in the Temple to pray daily. But when they returned home, they shared the Eucharist with each other. The sad situation today is that many Catholics do not see the need to attend Sunday Mass, nor do they recognize the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

No doubt the early Church in Jerusalem continued to pray Jewish prayers, particularly the psalms. Also, there is testimony in the New Testament that they introduced new prayers like "Maranatha" which means, "Come, Lord Jesus." Of course, they also prayed the "Lord's Prayer" with the same desire that the end of time may come soon. We continue to pray like this today, but with less awareness of the promised coming of the Lord in glory.

The Church has not changed in the essentials. As has been shown, for the most part it continues to display the characteristics of the early Church. Certainly there have been changes in the ways of expressing these characteristics since then. In the first century there were no newspapers, much less the mass media to propagate the teachings. It is urgent that we do not lose these characteristics. When Christ comes, we want him to recognize us as his own.