Second Sunday of Easter

Readings of the Day

The earliest written records about the Church in Rome indicate that newly baptized persons (“Neophytes”) would don their white baptismal garments from Holy Saturday through the Sunday after Easter as a public expression of their new status as Christians. In the mid-fourth century, Neophytes in Rome would make a pilgrimage to a different church each day and take part in special instructions and dialogs with master teachers to “unpack” their experience of baptism. Over the centuries this custom was lost as the majority of those being baptized were babies, and baptism became more of a family obligation and social expectation rather than a choice made by an adult.

For contemporary Christians, the first week of Easter is a time to reflect on the joy of the Resurrection. In our COVID-19 world, the challenge for us is to find that joy while sheltering in place, even as our neighbors, friends and family have lost work and many of our clients do not have health coverage, sick pay, or legal residency. Like the disciples in today’s gospel, we are shut in our houses with doors and windows closed.

This Sunday’s gospel provides what we need now: a model for overcoming fear. The gospel opens up with the disciples locked inside with the doors and windows shut, but somehow the Risen Lord broke through their isolation and stood in their midst. He bid them “shalom,” which means healing and peace, and then “breathed” on them, a gesture that symbolized that Ruach HaKodesh, (Holy Spirit) was flowing in and through them, recreating them from the inside out. Imagine the power of Resurrection that transformed the disciples’ fear into joy!

The gospel also addresses those who do not believe at first but need a little nudge to push them in the right direction. Thomas needed to touch Christ’s wounds in order for him to believe. By touching the nail marks in Christ’s hands and the wound in Christ’s side, Thomas tapped into his own woundedness and immediately believed that despite the wounds of the Crucifixion, Jesus was Risen and standing before him. When Thomas connected Christ’s wounds to his own wounds, he realized that he, like the Risen Christ, was a “wounded healer.” Henri Nouwen wrote, “As followers of Jesus we can also allow our wounds to bring healing to others.” By embracing our imperfections and our mutual need for healing, we become wounded healers to a world that is struggling to bring this virus under control.

May our Catholic Charities ministries bring love and healing, and may the Risen Christ show himself in the wounds of those whom we serve.

Fr. Jon Pedigo is the Director for Advocacy and Community Engagement at Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County and is currently a part of CCSCC’s COVID-19 Disaster Relief team in transforming parishes into drive-through food distribution centers serving over 12,000 families.

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