Acts 5:12-16 / Apocalypse 1:9-13, 17-19 / John 20:19-31
Yesterday afternoon, most of the world's attention was focused on Rome, or more specifically at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City.
As for us Catholics who couldn't be at the St. Peter's Square, we would be watching the funeral Mass that was being streamed live.
Together with the Church, we want to bid farewell to our beloved Pope Francis and to pray for him.
We want to thank God for Pope Francis who led the Church for 12 years.
We want to thank God for the great blessing of having Pope Francis visiting us in Singapore, and giving us an experience of unity and hope.
Now that the funeral of Pope Francis is over, the attention will be on the coming Conclave.
The Church, and the world, will await the election of the next Pope.
But the memory of Pope Francis will linger on, and the legacy that he left behind will still be remembered.
Pope Francis held the highest office of the Church for 12 years, which was not really a long time.
But his simple, humble and ordinary lifestyle resonated with many of us.
After his election as Pope, he took the bus back together with the other Cardinals instead of taking the papal limousine.
He continued to stay in Casa Santa Martha, which was a guest house for clergy.
That choice of residence symbolized Pope Francis’ papacy, which was defined by humility, accessibility and the rejection of luxury.
He also died there, and the Church, and the world, was reminded of how he transformed the papacy and the Church through his living arrangements as much as through his words.
Little things mattered to Pope Francis.
After his election as Pope, he called up his newspaper vendor in Argentina to tell him to cancel the newspaper subscription.
He also personally called up some people to tell them that he won't be coming back to Argentina, and they all thought it was a prank call.
Pope Francis also taught us that when we give money to the poor, it is not just about putting money into their hands, but also looking into the eyes of the poor.
Pope Francis brought the Church to regain her core purpose and core mission, and to recover the image of a Church for the poor.
Yes, little, simple and humble things matter to Pope Francis.
But, we are tempted and attracted by the big, the grand and the spectacular things.
In a way, we are quite similar to Thomas in the gospel reading.
Thomas was not contented with what the rest said about having seen the Risen Christ.
He not only wanted to see the Risen Christ, he demanded to put his finger and his hand into those wounds.
Thomas was demanding, he wanted certainty, he wanted it to be spectacular, so that it will be like the biggest news, or like breaking news.
So, when Jesus appeared again, He addressed those demands of Thomas.
Whether or not Thomas put his finger into those holes and his hand into the side, the gospel did not say.
But Thomas made this simple and humble proclamation: My Lord and my God.
Pope Francis has taught us to move away from the big, the grand, the spectacular and the attractive, and to go back to the core of our humanity, and to the core of our Christianity.
Like Thomas, we too must say: My Lord and my God.
And with simplicity, humility and with charity, let us say what we mean, and mean what we say, when it comes to those words “my Lord and my God”.