Sunday, April 27, is the Second Sunday of Easter; Sunday of Divine Mercy. Mass readings: Acts 5:12-16; Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24; Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31.

The Risen Lord appeared to the apostles, who were gathered in one place. But one of them was not there and thus missed the blessing of seeing and experiencing the Risen Lord — highlighting that Jesus is found in his Church, among those who have gathered. Mass attendance is essential for us to experience the healing and blessing of the Lord, as the Gospel outlines.

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews ...”

These men are frightened, but they are in the right place. It is Sunday, the first day of the week, and they have gathered.

The text from today’s Gospel says,

“Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.”

Suddenly, there is a completely new reality, a new hope, a new vision. Note that there is also a new serenity, a shalom. They receive an inner peace. Observe again that this is only for those who are present. This is a basic purpose of the gathering we call the Sacred Liturgy: to encounter the living Lord, who ministers to us and offers us peace.

Next comes something quite extraordinary, something that simply cannot take place within a private notion of faith. The text says, “And said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.’”

The Lord gives the apostles the power to forgive sin — giving them the juridical power to forgive or, in certain cases, to withhold/delay forgiveness. There are those who deny that confession is a biblical sacrament, but here it is in today’s Gospel. There are other texts in Scripture (Acts 19:18; James 5:14-16) showing confession to be quite biblical.

What can we learn from Thomas’ absence?

“Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’”

Thomas is not with the other apostles on Resurrection evening; thus, he misses the blessing of seeing and experiencing the Resurrection and the Lord. He also refuses to believe the testimony of the Church that the Lord has risen. The Church was established by Christ to speak in his name (e.g., Luke 24:48; Luke 10:16; Matthew 18:17; John 14:26; 1 Timothy 3:15; inter al.).

Praise God, Thomas is back the following week with the others and in the proper place for a blessing. Whatever his struggle with faith, he has returned to work it out with the Church. Next comes the blessing. Now that he is in the room, Thomas sees the Lord. When outside, he did not see, and so he doubted. The eyes of our faith see far more than our fleshly eyes, but in order to see and experience our blessings we must gather; we must be in the Church.