Homily , April 12, 2026
From The Pastor
How do we make the Resurrection of Jesus an effective and living reality in our lives? St. John’s gospel today is an essential and transforming account that reveals the early experience of the first disciples. It is clearly intended to be a template for all believers who seek to actively follow Jesus in a living way.
The first disciples not only believed in Jesus, they also personally loved him and placed all their hope and trust in him. They believed and experienced the power of God in Jesus as they came to believe he was the Son of God. Their faith was built on lived experience. Then Jesus was put to death on a Cross.
The trauma these early disciples felt is hard to imagine. They are shattered, scattered, and lost to themselves. Yet, they stick together. They find return to the Upper Room. It was not the same mood or sentiment as three days before when they gathered for the Passover meal. Now they are locked in fear behind closed doors lost in stunned disbelief wondering if their fate would be that of Jesus. If there was ever a definition of post-traumatic stress, this would be it.
Notice how John, the gospel writer, frames the experience. John tells us it is the evening of the first day of the week. ‘Evening’ tells us the disciples are moving in a growing darkness of fear and doubt. ‘The first day of the week’ tells us it is the beginning of a new creation. John frames the before and after of the Resurrection. Before the Resurrection of Jesus, all humanity and the world was in darkness and fear uncertain of the meaning and direction of life with God. After the rising of Jesus, all things are made new. The world is the same as it struggles with the reality of sin and human incompleteness, but there is a new reality that has changed everything.
The Resurrection was/is an action of God. It is transcendent. It did not come from within the world, but from God who is beyond the world, who is now a part of every particle of creation. The experience in the Upper Room was an essential transformation for those present even as it serves as a model for the awakening of our faith.
Revealing his divine transcendence, Jesus appears through locked doors. The man whom they most loved and knew he was dead stood before them. His first words are disarming and warmly consoling: “Peace be with you.” Those present are filled with joy. If only on the level of human emotion, consider how they must have felt. Their fear relaxes into peace. The locked doors of their frozen hearts are unlocked and they can breathe normally again. Jesus repeats, “Peace be with you.”
Now beyond the level of human emotion, Jesus breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” No longer simply a human interaction, the disciples receive the breath of God in the person of the Holy Spirit. Now their responses and perceptions are enlightened with the grace of the Holy Spirit. They become more than they were before. Within themselves they are no longer alone. The Holy Spirit dwells within them and their eyes and hearts are moved to a new level of awareness and belief. The Divine Spirit dwells within them participating with and directing the human spirit.
In the power of the Spirit, they are commissioned to be the presence of Christ in the world. They and each of us who have the same Spirit of God are called to forgive sins as we ourselves have been forgiven. The scene closes with the doubting Thomas who serves as an image of all who struggle with faith, needing some kind of firsthand evidence. Jesus allows his touch and lifts his doubt. Through Thomas, we are invited to surrender our doubts and believe.
This is Mercy Sunday. Mercy is love. Mercy is the divine love each of us has received through the dying and rising of the Lord Jesus. Mercy has several definitions. The reality is that mercy is a person. Jesus is the Divine Mercy. Only through the redeeming love of Jesus are we able to know the true meaning and effect of what mercy means: new life in God through Christ.
How do we find our way there? Like the first disciples love Jesus and believe in him. Ask for and allow yourself to be touched by the Holy Spirit. Live in that love. Invite Jesus into your upper room experiences when you are afraid, hiding behind emotional doors, feeling lost and alone. In those kinds of times the Holy Spirit can be most active. Go to your heart. Believe, trust, ask.
You can also find the Spirit in, with, through, and from those you love and those who love you. If hurts or loss are in the way, forgive. Ask Jesus in the Spirit to help. Take a deep breath and remember today’s gospel.
Father John Esper
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