It was the evening ([ὀψίος] opsios) of the resurrection. The anxiety caused by the death of Jesus was subsiding as the apostles became more aware of how dangerous the Jews who crucified their master could be. They were overcame by fear ([φόβος] phobos). A shadow of gloom hung all over them. (Jn 20:19). Consequently, they sequestrated themselves in a corner and shut themselves behind the walls. It could be said that the circumstance of the time forced them into self-imprisonment, into a state of loss of liberty. Then came Jesus with the easter greeting: Shalom! “Peace be with you. He showed them his hands and side. They recognized him and were filled with joy.

What was in those hands and side that Jesus showed the apostles? The wounds. It is as if Jesus was telling them. I am he. See my wounds. These, I endured because of you. Jesus won credibility by his wounds (cf. Is 53:4-6). Hence, the resurrected Lord is our wounded Messiah. This is how Jesus won his credibility, by his wounds. What an oxymoron! In Jesus seemingly contradictory things get accustom to living with each another without destroying themselves: a Catholic with a Protestant, a Muslim with a Jewish person. The apostles saw these signs in those hands and they rejoiced.

The same argument could be made about the conversion of the doubting Thomas in the truth of the risen Lord. Our Blessed Lord returned a week later, and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Put your hands into my side. But which side and why his side? The evangelist, John tells us that one of the soldiers thrusted his lance into the side of Jesus, and immediately blood and water flowed out (Jn 19:34). The same John wrote: “who, indeed, is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? He is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ, not by water alone, but by water and blood.” (1Jn 5:5-6)

1Jn 5:5-6) It is very interesting to note how the holy men and women who took their relationship with God seriously have shared with us the fruit of their spiritual journey and experience with God. Here, the likes of St Faustina comes to mind. Her vision and message of the merciful Jesus has brought so much comfort and hope to many. Jesus told her: “My mercy is greater than all the miseries of your soul and the miseries of the whole world. My heart was pierced to open the fount of my mercy. I am love and Mercy. Whenever you approach me, entrust yourself with great confidence in my mercy. If your confidence is great, my generosity will have no limit”

What a beautiful message so biblical as it is real and dynamic. That is why following Jesus cannot be reduced to a mere book religion. The revelation of the power of Divine mercy, the power of the wounded Messiah is the core message of the evangelist John. It is the power that restored, saved and secured the faith of one of the greatest empiricist and practical atheists the world has ever known, the faith of St Thomas, the apostle (Jn 20:19-29). From Thomas, the doubter, we received the simplest but most profound act of faith: “My Lord and my God.” We profess it at every holy Mass. We will profess it again at this Mass. May God grant us the grace to profess it always with all our heart, with all our strength, with our mind. O blood and water, which gushed out from the heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for all. I trust in you.

Brothers and sisters, Christ has taught us that mercy is not only something we receive from God, but it is also something we are called to practice. Mindful of the fact that peace is the greatest need of our time, let us invoke the intervention of the Divine Mercy to manifest in our conflict ridden community of nations, peace, clemency, compassion, and forgiveness. Amen.