2^nd SUNDAY OF EASTER

 

Readings: Acts 2:42-47
                1 Peter 1:3-9
                John 20:19-31

 

 

"Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive
are forgiven, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

 

 

On Easter Sunday, we meditated on the all-embracing significance of the resurrection. It is the strongest foundation of our faith. It is also an indelible trademark of our religion. Had Christ not risen from the dead, Christianity might have long been forgotten. Or at most, it could just be remembered as one of the tales of the past. But because Christ triumphed over sin and death, time has set Christianity's foot on all four corners of the world. Even today, we preach a crucified and a risen Christ.

 

In today's gospel, the apparitions of Jesus sustain the fact of the resurrection. But as he appears to his disciples, he brings and bestows on them his Easter gifts. One of these is the gift of reconciliation. Let us try to center our thoughts on it.

 

1.  Reconciliation is the fruit of the resurrection. First and foremost, reconciliation must rightfully be understood in the context of Christ's triumph. It is true that by Christ's death, death was put to death and by his resurrection, life is given a new beginning. By the mere word “triumph," we cannot do away with the idea of conquest. And indeed, the resurrection was a great conquest. But such conquest was never meant to shame and discriminate persons. Rather, it was meant to restore man from a fallen order. Thus, this idea of conquest is actually that of reconciliation. And if ever there is a concept of defeat in it - for indeed, sin was defeated - it is all because with such a defeat something is restored.

 

In other words, Christ suffered and died not to surrender to sinners. And he rose from the dead not to shame them either. He suffered, died and rose again in order to bring back a broken world to its original gracious state. This is the truth and the meaning of what we are accustomed to singing: "God and sinners reconciled.”

 

2. Reconciliation is a sacrament. Reconciliation as a sacrament is consistent with our fundamental understanding that it is the fruit of Christ’s resurrection. This has a two-fold sense.

 

First, it is consistent with our concept that sacrament is the tangible representation of what is hidden. Reconciliation is precisely that thing. It is a tangible representation and in fact a very concrete disclosure of God’s holy mysteries. And it has become so tangible because of the Calvary event and the triumph there from. The mysterious designs of God’s love have been made manifest most profoundly in the crucified and the risen Christ. This alone is so great a sacrament for the whole world to see.

 

But not only that. The second sense is also consistent with our understanding of the sacrament of reconciliation as institution. In fact, this evangelic mandate has become the foundation of our catholic belief that Christ himself has so willed it that every reconciliatory event done through his ministers on earth shall be the basis of reconciliation in heaven. “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, and whose sins you retain are retained.” This is a strong statement, which cannot just be taken as simple admonishment. It is a mandate, a command. And our catholic faith makes us understand and accept the authority of our priest to forgive sins not because they are sinless, but because it is trying to be faithful to Christ's uncompromising instruction. Indeed, the sacrament has finally been instituted on that glorious Easter when he too has bestowed upon his disciples the most precious gift of his Holy Spirit. By his spirit, the priest - who himself is not free of sin - becomes a wounded healer, a visible channel of God's love, a tangible instrument of Christ’s sacrament of reconciliation.

 

3. Because of this, reconciliation is fundamentally personal. Here, reconciliation is not simply between states but between persons. Meaning, it is not only a restoring of a particular state from what is sinful to that, which is gracious. But more profoundly, it means a personal experience of God’s love reaching out to retrieve a fallen man. True, when the sinner goes to the sacrament of reconciliation, he experiences the instrumentality of the minister. At times, he even feels inadequate and awkward. But a truly contrite heart looks beyond formalities and embraces totally and honestly at the loving invitation of his personal savior. Thus, the experience that flows from it becomes deeply personal. It becomes an intimate encounter between man and his God. An encounter so likened to that of a prodigal son who repents and goes back to the arms of his loving father, or that of a loving father who reaches out so compassionately to his repentant son. No wonder, the fruit of such reconciliation is peace, which is also personal. It is the real peace of mind and heart, which every soul craves for and only the Lord can ever fill and satisfy. That is why he who undergoes such tremendous an experience cannot help but bend his knees with Thomas and, in unison with him, profess: "My Lord, and my God!"

 

4. But reconciliation is also social. It does not and must stop in the person. It reaches out to the world and society where man is only a segment. In fact, it is in the social order that personal conversion and reconciliation is finally tested. That is why Jesus, while letting the apostles experience the profundity of his easier gifts of peace and reconciliation, instructs them to be messengers and instruments of these same Easter gifts to all the world. "Peace be with you…As the Father sent me, so am I sending you."

 

That reconciliation, which is social, is an evangelic imperative. This is something crucial and decisive. And he, who misses this point, misses what the gospel is trying to convey. The reason why the apostles must preach the gospel of peace throughout the world is the fact this peace can be given by and only by Christ himself. The world is simply incapable of giving it. Why? Because while this peace respects and works with human conventions, this peace also goes beyond any human compromise especially when the situation is dictated by the demands of the gospel. While this peace is the fruit of justice, this peace also surpasses the standards of justice by resorting to the measure of mercy and love. And this is precisely so because while peace must be carried out by human efforts, this peace is basically a gift, a gratuitous Easter gift at that. Thus, no one can demand of it by justice. It can only be begged by love.

 

"Peace I leave with you: my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” As the world has no capacity to give the true meaning of peace, the task of establishing peace on earth is a mission demanded of our faith. No Christian, therefore, is excused nor can escape from this social responsibility.