His love has no end!
At the heart of today’s Easter liturgy, we witness God’s unending love and mercy at work in the midst of very human doubt and weakness.
In the Gospel, the risen Christ appears amongst the disciples in their hiding place. Blessed with the Holy Spirit, they are sent out to spread Christ’s message of love, forgiveness and peace. Thomas is not with them and cannot believe what they tell him, but eight days later, Jesus returns and the reality of resurrection is revealed to Thomas in a personal way.
The Second Reading reminds us that the resurrection has reclaimed our birth-right as children of God. We are encouraged to be mindful and joyful at this reality. This changes us and everything forever. Even in the trials and anxieties of the times we are living though, faith will always be enough.
The First Reading shows how the Early Church, filled with the Spirit of the risen Christ, lived out its faith. Its members are united in the breaking of bread, communal prayer, a spirit of shared generosity, and in compassionate acts of love. This is the life we are called to live too, even as today we face the challenge of maintaining our bonds of fellowship when we can no longer safely gather as a community. Christ is with us totally in the suffering of our longing to be together again.
United with Christians everywhere, and against a tide of doubt and scepticism, our faith-filled actions, expressed in small acts of kindness will declare with the Psalmist: ‘His love has no end’.
At one with the Easter spirit of the Early Church, let’s pray for each other, and especially for those facing trials because of their health or isolation. May we remain joyful in the certain knowledge of God’s great mercy that has made us his children.