Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We all know what the resurrection is intellectually, although I would like to hear how you explain it. But not all of you have seen or touched the Risen Lord! This is the main point of what I want to say today. You would know when you have seen the Risen Lord, because your life is changed, transformed and restored.
Christ appears to those who are most in need; the ones who most need his mercy. The apostles were encircled in fear, behind closed doors, as we were for many months. The women who went to the tomb thought someone had stolen the body, and Peter spent the night fishing and caught nothing. The Risen Lord does not appear to super-men but to those who are stuck, those who doubt or don’t believe. Those who need his mercy.
Also, when we go on our own as Thomas did, it is more difficult to see Christ. We don’t know where Thomas went, but he was not there Easter Sunday night when the Lord first appeared in the upper room. When we are separated from the others, we cannot see Christ. Thomas doubts, but he also says the truth, which people are often reluctant to do. And he has the most profound experience of Christ in all the gospels. No one else says what he said in reference to Christ: “My Lord, and my God!”
Christ does not come with violence. He does not break down the doors. He comes quietly and often they do not recognize him. How can you know that he is present? The best indication is: you have peace, even in the midst of great suffering, you are not anxious or worried.
His body does not have the marks of the passion, only the five wounds. There are no marks of the scourging, of carrying the cross; it is a renewed body. So why are the wounds still present? I think to help us realize what he did for us. It helps us to see what it cost him to save us. And he continues to give your life. He continues to love, pardon, and show us mercy through these wounds.
You may have two or three cornerstones in your life, for example, your family, your house, your job. But be careful because these cornerstones can disappear very easily as we have seen this last year. Make the Risen Lord your true cornerstone. This is the only one that cannot be taken away. This love of God, the mercy of God is greater than all our sins. It is not just a little forgiveness here or there; Jesus Christ gives us a completely new life, totally changed and transformed.
This happens in every Eucharist. This mercy is made present again, and again, and again, every day, just as St. Faustina saw him at some points in her life in every Mass. The same reality of God’s mercy is true for all of us.