DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY
WE HAVE SEEN THE LORD
Greeting (cf. the Gospel)
To the disciples gathered as a community
Jesus appeared and wished them peace.
To all of you gathered here
as the community of the Lord,
we wish you Jesus’ own greeting:
“Peace be with you.” R/ And with your spirit.
Introduction
We know how discouraged and passive the apostles and disciples of the Lord were when Jesus had died on the cross. When they experienced that he was risen, they knew he was alive and present among them. Their faith in the risen Lord made them one in heart and soul and prompted them to care for one another. What about us? We have come together here in the presence of the risen Lord. Are we all one in him? Do we care for one another? Let us pray to the Lord in this Eucharist that he may be real and alive to each and all of us.
Penitential Act
Are we a community in which Jesus is alive?
Let us examine ourselves before the Lord
and before one another.
(pause)
Risen Lord, you are present
where people are united heart and soul
in one faith and one love:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Risen Lord, you are present
where people see each other’s needs
and care for one another:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Risen Lord, you are present
where communities share with the needy
and serve one another:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
and forgive us all our sins.
May we be known by our love
as communities in which you live.
Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray that the Risen Christ
may stay with us and work in us
(pause)
All praise and thanks be to you,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You have given us your risen Son
to be alive in our communities.
Make us see him with eyes of faith,
that he may unite us, heart and soul.
May his dynamic presence among us
move us to become with him
each other’s bread of life,
that no one among us may live in need
of food or love or help in need.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading: One Heart and One Soul
The early Christian communities strongly believed that the risen Lord was alive among them. Because of this faith, they were “one heart and one soul” and shared with the needy. Do we too have this faith and love?
1 Reading: ACTS 4:32-35
The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favour was accorded them all. There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
R. (1) Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, his love is everlasting. or: Alleluia.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His mercy endures forever.” R.
I was hard pressed and was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just: R.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it. R.
Second Reading: A Life of Faith and Love
Those who believe in God and in his risen Son Jesus Christ also love their neighbor. They belong to God’s family, just as we do, even though at times we find them strange relatives.
2 Reading: 1 JOHN 5:1-6
Beloved: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God, and everyone who loves the Father loves also the one begotten by him. In this way we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith. Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ, not by water alone, but by water and blood. The Spirit is the one that testifies, and the Spirit is truth.
Alleluia: JOHN 20:29
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord; Blessed are those who have not seen me, but still believe!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: From Doubt to Faith
For people like us who have not seen the risen Christ, John tells us the story of doubting Thomas who became the believing Thomas.
Gospel: JOHN 20:19-31
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
Commentary
Mary Magdalene was told by the Risen Lord (verses 17 and 18, just before the beginning of this reading) to go and find the others. Obviously, she found them here, in “the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews.” “The fact that none of the disciples is mentioned by name and no number is given indicates that disciples as such are implied here, and the scene that follows is addressed to all disciples of Jesus” (F. J. Moloney, The gospel of John, Sacra Pagina Series, 4, 1998, p. 534). But this is a disputed point among scholars, so we tread carefully! Fear had locked the disciples in, but he sent them out to the whole world: “As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” “He breathed on them.” This is seen as an evocation of Gen 2:7, where God “breathed into [Adam’s] nostrils the breath of life.” Jesus’ gift of the Spirit makes us a new creation. As he came through locked doors, we are empowered to walk through the fetters of sin and death; he is the one who opens the way before us. “It is the task of disciples, precisely because the holiness of the Spirit gives them a sensitivity to evil, to say and to insist that sin is sin, evil is evil: ‘…whose sins you retain, they are retained.’”
Intercessions
Let us entrust to Christ, our Risen Lord, his Church and the whole world with all people and their needs. Let us say:
R/Lord, let your peace be with us.
– That Christ really may be to all Christians really their Lord and their God whom they follow and trust and love, let us pray to the Lord:
R/ Lord, let your peace be with us.
– That the Lord may gather around his one bread and cup all Christians now divided by both their beliefs and their prejudices; that all Christians may learn from the Lord to share with one another what they have, let us pray to the Lord:
R/ Lord, let your peace be with us.
– That the Lord may bring to us and to all sinners the peace of his forgiveness and new life; that he may give to those whose task it is to be peacemakers and reconcilers the tact, understanding and patience to unify, let us pray to the Lord:
R/ Lord, let your peace be with us.
– That Christ may always be found in his communities great and small, and make them one heart and one mind, let us pray to the Lord:
R/ Lord, let your peace be with us.
Lord Jesus, give us eyes to see you, ears to hear you, hearts that understand and love you, for you are our Lord for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Our God and Father,
we ask you for food and drink
and you give us your Son.
May no one in our communities go hungry
or feel abandoned in distress,
but may we learn from your Son
to be faithful companions to all who need us.
With our solace and support
may we also give them ourselves,
as Jesus did and still does for us,
he who is our Lord for ever. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
Every time we celebrate the Eucharist we profess our faith in Jesus, our risen Lord in the acclamation after the consecration. Let us do so consciously and gladly.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
As a community of faith and love
made one heart and one soul by the Spirit
we can pray to the Father of all
the prayer of Jesus our Lord: R/ Our Father…
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and grant to us in our day
the peace and reassurance
which your risen Son brought to his disciples
in their hour of fear and anxiety.
In your mercy keep our faith free
from hesitation and doubt,
as we wait in joyful hope
for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom…
Invitation to the Sign of Peace
We try to be a community which is of one heart and soul. Let us express this in our greeting of peace.
Invitation to Communion
St Paul says:
“The fact that there is one loaf (of bread) means
that, though there are many of us,
we form a single body,
because we all have a share in this one bread.”
This is the body of Christ
who comes to make us his body, his living community. R/ Lord, I am not worthy…
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
we have encountered your Son in faith
in this Eucharistic celebration.
With him by our side,
may we be a deeply believing community
in which love and sharing
are not empty words,
a community which keeps dreaming
that we can find one another
and create a new future together
in Jesus Christ, our risen Lord,
who lives with you and with us for ever. R/ Amen.
Blessing
Our task is not easy.
We are utopians, people dreaming great dreams
of being a real community,
of building a new and better world in Christ.
These dreams will never be realized in full
because we are limited, human, weak,
but we can go on trying and growing.
This is the challenge of our faith.
We can do it if Christ is really alive among us.
May God bless you for this task,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in the peace of Christ and be one heart and one soul.
R/ Thanks be to God.