My Lord and my God: Act 2, 1; 1 Pt 1 and the Sunday of Mercy in Jn 20

**Text from the Catholic Theology on Mariology, Angelology, Demonology, and Josephology**

**Quote:** “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

**Paragraphs:**

The second Sunday after Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, weaves together three texts focusing on the pascal faith and the community born of the Resurrection. Acts 2:42-47 describes the early Christian community gathered around the breaking of bread, prayer, and sharing. 1 Peter 1:3-9 praises God for the new life received through the Resurrection and celebrates the unfailing love that characterizes the faith of those who did not know Jesus in the flesh. John 20:19-31 narrates two appearances of the Risen Christ to the community: first on Easter Sunday night, without Thomas present, and then eight days later, with Thomas present, culminating in his confession, “My Lord and my God.” The three texts depict paschal faith not as sensory evidence but as an encounter that fosters community, sharing, and worship.

**I. First Reading: Acts 2:42-47**

The Jerusalem community is defined by four characteristics: “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). Paschal faith has an immediately communal structure; it is not a private experience but shared life. “All the believers were together and had everything in common… They broke bread from house to house with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God” (vv. 44-45). They attended the Temple daily and partook of the Eucharist in each other’s homes with joy and simplicity of heart, giving thanks to God. “Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved” (v. 47). Easter is not just a one-day feast; it marks the beginning of a way of life that the Risen Christ continues to build each day.

**II. Second Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9**

“Praise be to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given birth anew to us for a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). The Resurrection is the generative act; Christians are not merely taught about it but born by it. The inheritance they receive is imperishable, unstained, and everlasting, reserved in heaven (v. 4). Faith is tested like gold in a furnace: present sufferings do not contradict hope but purify it. “You love him though you have not seen him… with an inexpressible and glorious joy” (v. 8). Love without seeing is the fundamental form of paschal faith since the disciples could no longer be with Jesus in the flesh. This is the beatitude that Jesus will proclaim in John 20:29.

**III. Gospel: John 20:19-31**

On Easter Sunday afternoon, with doors shut for fear of the Jews, Jesus appears among his disciples: “Peace be with you” (Jo 20:19). He shows them his hands and side. The disciples are filled with joy. Jesus says again, “Peace be with you,” sends them as the Father sent him, breathes on them, and says: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whoever forgives sins will have forgiveness of sins” (vv. 22-23). Thomas, who was not present, denies that he can believe without seeing and touching. Eight days later, Jesus appears again. He addresses Thomas: “Put your finger here and see my hands. Stretch out your hand and place it in my side. Do not be an unbeliever but a believer” (v. 27). Thomas exclaims: “My Lord and my God!” Jesus responds: “Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (v. 29). The evangelist concludes that he wrote so that the reader might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing they may have life in his name (v. 31).

IV. Mary and love without sight

The beatitude of Jo 20:29, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” applies especially to Mary. During the thirty years in Nazareth, while the Son grew in wisdom and grace, Mary did not see miracles or public proclamations; she loved and believed in what had not yet been manifested. On Holy Saturday, she loved without seeing the resurrection that had not yet occurred. 1 Peter 1 speaks of a new generation through the resurrection: Mary is the one who was “born anew” most fully, as she was associated with the Son’s resurrection through her Assumption. Acts 2 describes the first community gathered around the breaking of bread and prayer; Acts 1:14 informs that Mary was in the Cenacle with the apostles and women before Pentecost, at the heart of this first community. The Sunday of Divine Mercy finds in Mary its most perfect icon: she who received mercy in a unique way, “to whom all humanity finds grace” as the liturgy sings, and who intercedes for the world as Mother of Mercy. Thomas’s faith needed hands and side to be touched. Mary’s faith did not need such; she was blessed above all.