Today’s gospel (Jn 20:19-31) proclaims, as it were, the Easter beatitude: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (v. 29). Clearly this speaks to Christian believers who have not been eyewitnesses to the marvellous event of Jesus’ resurrection but have, nonetheless, demonstrated an unwavering faith in Him as Lord and God.
The recent Holy Week celebration I had opened my eyes to the truth that indeed there are communities even of today, with its ever strengthening trend of secularism, that continue to live up to the spirit of this “last beatitude.” The gospel today allows me to articulate in its light a very inspiring Easter experience as an invited priest in a chapel community in Upper Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City. I suggest that today’s gospel presents three significant elements of Easter faith through which I would like to appraise the community’s experience: First, the enthusiasm and zeal in spreading the good news; second, faith in the forgiveness of sins; third, unwavering faith in the Risen Lord.
Enthusiasm and Zeal in Spreading the Good News. The death of the Master on the cross on Good Friday sent the disciples to hiding. Out of fear, they holed up in a room afraid of a possible crack down on the followers of the crucified Messiah. Today’s gospel, however, recounts how Jesus dispels their fear by offering them his peace: “Peace be with you.” Jesus’ appearance throws away the paralysis caused by fear and, once again, enables them to rejoice in freedom. Then Jesus, after overcoming the obstacle of fear, sends them to for the mission of proclaiming the gospel. The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us that the apostles become the adhesive force of the community, gaining respect from people, and attracting a great number of converts. Their enthusiasm and zeal in proclaiming the gospel becomes a mark of their Easter faith as they form the early Christian communities.
This is the same mark I’ve recognized among the leaders and members of the chapel community that I had celebrated Holy Week with. I was amazed at how they organized themselves proving to their parish priest that they were worthy of a presence of a priest to celebrate holy week with them. They went out of their way to ensure that everyone participated in the many and varied activities of Holy Week, and to make sure that, despite short preparations, the chapel was always filled with people. What I’ve seen is a burning zeal to make the Easter proclamation reverberate in their community through the liturgical celebrations. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed!
Faith in the Forgiveness of Sins. As Jesus dispels the fear of the disciples, he breathes on them and says: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (v. 22-23). Another obstacle to faith is sin. Sin causes disharmony in our relationships. First, it disrupts our relationship with God, second, with others, and third, with ourselves. Hence, Jesus empowers the apostles to overcome the power of sin by forgiveness. Hereafter, the apostles and their successors will be Jesus’ representatives in the world to impart his peace by absolving the sins of those who repent.
When I offered to give some time for the sacrament of reconciliation, the people, starting from the leaders of the chapel community lined up and waited for their turn to confess. In that celebration of the sacrament of God’s mercy, I’ve witnessed the faith of people in the forgiveness of sin. They refused to allow sin to dominate them. They wept and repented. They emerged as a new creation. Truly, they have embraced the mercy of the Risen Lord and experienced how to rejoice and chant the hallelujahs because of the bliss brought by the mysteries of Easter. Blessed indeed are those who have not seen and have believed!
Unwavering Faith in the Risen Lord. The third obstacle to Easter faith is doubt. The encounter between Jesus and Thomas in today’s gospel demonstrates how Jesus overcomes doubt. Jesus yields to Thomas’ obstinacy showing the latter the evidence he is looking for as a requirement for his belief. Thomas goes down in history as the doubting apostle; yet when we come to think of it, his skepticism saves us from our own doubts. Thomas has disproved any theories that suggest the resurrection as mere hallucination of the part of the apostles. He has seen the Risen Lord in his own eyes in the very terms he demanded. Hence, his proclamation of faith, “My Lord and my God!” can also be ours. Our only difference with him: without seeing we believe. Blessed are we.
At the end of a well-attended “Sugat” and the early Easter Sunday Mass, I was invited by the chapel leaders to join them at breakfast. There they expressed gratitude to me for having accompanied them throughout the Holy Week celebrations. They were filled with energy and joy relishing that brief experience of God’s mercy and victory. Looking at them with a silent joy in my heart, I cannot but thank God too for showing me how happy indeed are those who have not seen but have believed.
This Easter season, we are invited to live up to the spirit of the “Easter beatitude,” allowing the Risen Lord to free us from the paralysis of our fears, to restore the harmony lost by our sins, and to cast away our doubts in the mystery of his resurrection. This season reminds us of our calling to become a community with a burning zeal to proclaim the Good News, a community who celebrates God’s mercy in forgiving one another, and a community with an unwavering faith in the victory of the Risen Lord. So as we chant with unconditional conviction the hallelujah, let it be our celebration of the happiness of a people who believe even without seeing.
