April 16, 2023 (Second Sunday of Easter)
/by Fr. Xavier Lavagetto, O.P.
[This is the text composed by the homilist prior to delivering the homily.]
On the evening of the first day of the week, the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear …. for fear!
Who wouldn’t be afraid? … Jesus was crucified as a threat to religion and state. If you were his disciples, you’d be frightened. You might be next! … But isn’t fear our reality too? Fear of what others might say, fear of not being accepted, fear of failure, fear of relationships, and more. Take a few minutes. What fears rule your life? … And if you say none, then ask what anxieties do you have? Anxiety is really fear before an unknown future? Take a moment to name them…. (silence for a time) … Each of us has a personal insecurity!
But the disciples had another fear! They feared facing the painful truth: they betrayed their friend!
No wonder they were slow to believe the women; why they locked the doors. They were locking the doors against facing their own cowardice. … If we had betrayed Jesus, wouldn’t we lock the doors and try to persuade each other we weren’t really that weak? For myself, I would not be so brave; I would’ve locked the door too!
Only the three women and the beloved disciple Jesus proved faithful.
That first sight of Jesus must’ve been terrifying! ... What would Jesus say?
Everything changed with Jesus’ greeting! Shalom! Peace be with you! … A second time, he insists, Peace! … At that moment, mercy flooded over them!
That greeting, shalom, was not simply Hello! … It was a promise of acceptance, an offer of friendship, and a pledge of unity! It was a prayer for every blessing.
Jesus’ shalom was not a trivial, “Hi guys, how’s it going?” … It was mercy extended, forgiveness given, and love renewed.
Have you had a similar experience? You expected reproof but received an embrace instead?
In the risen Jesus, God himself was embracing them. Shalom, peace!
This is God’s surprising justice! Too many assume that God’s justice is distributive, a giving to each person what each person’s actions deserve. In such a world, mercy is a mitigation of justice. But New Testament justice is restorative; it heals and lifts up. Mercy is God’s means for re-establishing wholeness.
Too many imagine God’s justice as harsh instead of healing. … You can’t punish someone into health! … I saw a poster of a pirate with a skull and cross bones with the words: The beatings will continue until morale improves! It… Not a great solution!
St. Paul tells us that God’s justice justifies the unjust; that’s unfair, that’s un-American, but it is the very heart of God. … God’s name is mercy!
No wonder Thomas could cry out, “My Lord and God.”… He experienced in Jesus, the God whose name is mercy!
Let’s use three languages’ words for mercy to scope out its meaning:
The Latin Misericordia means literally having pity or compassion from the heart. … Mercy feels another’s suffering.
The Greek Eleos comes from the word for olive oil, used as a balm for wounds and wearied limbs. …. Mercy comforts and heals.
The Hebrew Hesed, often translated as mercy, means steadfast love. … Mercy is love that doesn’t give up.
Every time we say, Lord, have mercy, we are praying, O Lord, hear me, heal me, love me. … It is what we most want and should most give.
What is the merciful person like? The person (1) who listens and engages others, (2) who reverences the other with God’s care, and (3) who works to heal and lift others up even when they’ve given up on themselves. The merciful person is committed to believing in others’ enduring value.
Isn’t that what Jesus did? He took no revenge; he insisted on loving us. He always offers us the possibility of a new future.
At every Mass, we pray: Peace be with you! We need to hear it, say it, and become it, if only because we all mess up. … It’s easy to box people in judgment and shut them out in anger. So, I ask: are you broken enough to be a Catholic? … The Church is a society of the forgiven sent to be a society of the forgiving. (2x)
Today, Jesus commissioned his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, I send you.” … You are sent too! … Jesus breathed on his disciples. “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, whose sins you retain are retained.”
Rightly we hear the mandate for forgiving sins but don’t limit these words to priests. John has more in mind! What a priest does uniquely in confession, you are to do in a different fashion by becoming mercy! The Church is a society of the forgiven, sent to be a society of the forgiving. Your only weapon is mercy! … Sorry, no guns here! No hunting, except for peace.
We’ve finished Lent, don’t let the Easter season be an afterthought. Commit to being an ambassador of mercy. From now on, “peace” is more than a mere greeting or blessing; it is a [gift] of the Spirit.
God’s name is mercy; make your name mercy too!
