Acts 5:12-16
Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19
John 20:19-31
So we have crossed over from Lent to Easter, and we are already at the 2nd Sunday of Easter.
So Good Friday is over, we have had people being baptized at Easter, we are relieved that the period of fasting and penance and the Way of the Cross is over.
So now should be a time of rejoicing, a time of celebration, a time to take a deep breathe and to take it easy for a while.
So while we are in this rejoicing and celebrative mood, let me share with you an Easter joke, a so-called Easter joke.
A small boy came back home after a long day at school, and he told his mother that he was having a stomachache.
His mother said to him : Oh, that’s because you got nothing in your stomach. You got to put something in there. Go and have your dinner and you will be ok.
The small boy did that and true enough, his stomach was ok.
Now on Easter Sunday, the small boy went with his parents for the Sunday evening Mass.
After Mass, the small boy and his parents happened to meet the priest, and the priest said to them:
Whew! It was a long and busy weekend. I am having a headache now.
When the small boy heard this, he suddenly remembered, and he said to the priest:
Father, that’s because you got nothing in your head. You got to put something in there, ok.
Well, today’s gospel is not about the Sunday after Easter.
Rather it is still dwelling on the evening of Easter Sunday and the disciples were hiding behind locked doors.
There was nothing left in their minds and nothing in their guts, and they were having the greatest heartache of their lives because there was also nothing in their hearts.
For the disciples, it was a dark, a very dark Easter Sunday evening.
It was into this darkness and heartache that the Risen Christ came and offered them peace and joy.
And there was one more thing – Jesus showed them His hands and side, the wounds of His crucifixion, to show that He was also offering them healing.
Well, if I may say it, this particular Easter, is for the Catholic Church, a bit like that Easter evening for the disciples.
The celebration of Easter was dampened and marred by a certain darkness and heartache.
I would like to think that we have read about the reports of the scandals that have surfaced in Europe.
It is a horrible scandal. And to make matters worse, it involved the clergy, it involved priests.
The media is having a field day, whereas we are reeling from the shock waves.
So we know about it, we have read about it, and yet we don’t know what to think or what to say about it.
This has shocked us. The Catholics in Europe are shaken and shattered.
We don’t feel like talking about it, maybe because we don’t know how to talk about it.
Like the disciples on that Easter Sunday evening, we are just hanging on in the darkness and hanging on with a heartache.
Maybe I am just speaking for myself, but I sigh in pain and in shame.
I wonder how many will lose faith in the Church and even leave the Church. How many will even lose faith in God?
I also wonder what’s going to happen to the dignity of the priesthood, and what will people think of priests now?
And what about promotion of vocations?
I don’t dare think about these questions, and I don’t know what the answers will be like.
But today’s gospel gives us a glimmer of hope in the darkness.
Today’s gospel mentions that eight days later, Jesus came back, and He came back just for Thomas, to strengthen his faith.
In this time of distress and darkness, of pain and shame, let us stay united with each other and together let us wait for the Lord.
I wonder if you know about the story of a dog called Hachiko. By the way, Hachi in Japanese means eight.
Hachiko was an extraordinary dog.
Back in 1924 in Japan, its owner Ueno took it as a pet.
Everyday, Hachiko would accompany Ueno to the train station and see him off to work.
At the end of the day, Hachiko would wait at the station to greet Ueno as he comes back from work.
All went on happily until one day, when Ueno suffered a heart attack, and died at his workplace.
He never returned to the train station where Hachiko was waiting.
Yet everyday, Hachiko would wait at the train station for his master’s return.
And each day, he did not see his master among the commuters at the station.
Many of the commuters who frequented the train station had seen Hachiko and Ueno together.
When they heard of what had happened, they brought food for Hachiko to nourish him during his wait.
This went on for nine years, and the story became a national sensation.
Hachiko’s faithfulness to his master impressed the Japanese people, and his legendary faithfulness became a national symbol of loyalty.
To date, two movies had been made about this true story of a dog’s loyalty.
Hachiko died on the steps outside the train station where he had waited for his master, on 8 March 1935.
For nine long years, Hachiko waited faithfully for his master, although it was a wait in vain.
In this troubled and distressful time of the Church, let us also understand the meaning of Easter in all this.
Christ died but He rose from the dead. He came back for His disciples. He even came back just for Thomas.
The Risen Christ will come back for us.
Today as we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, let us pray for God’s mercy on the Church and that Jesus will come into our hearts to strengthen us with His love.
Our wait will not be in vain. Like Hachiko, we will be loyal and we will wait in faith.
And blessed are we who do not lose faith, in God, and in the Church.