April 28th (Divine Mercy)

Post date: Apr 29, 2019 10:55:19 PM

Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Homily by Fr. Karl Schray

When tourists visit some famous place, they feel the need to take photos,

buy postcards and so forth. You see this especially with pilgrims

in the Holy Land. They buy lots of souvenirs.

They collect lots of things to take back home with them

from the various places they visit—a leaf, a flower, a pebble, a little soil.

They want to have something tangible to take home to show their friends

and which will serve as a visible reminder to themselves of their trip.

This expresses the universal human need of the visible, the concrete,

and the tangible. Hence, we can sympathize with Thomas

when he declared that he would not believe the Lord was risen

unless he touched him. He was merely echoing the human cry

for certainty. Where faith is concerned, we must go beyond this.

Because here on earth there is no such thing as absolute certainty

about spiritual things. If there was, faith would not be necessary.

The fact that we may have a strong faith doesn’t mean that life

will be clear sailing for us. What faith does it gives us bearings,

thus enabling us to live in this sometimes-crazy world

without getting lost or giving in to despair.

Just as swimmers trust that if they don’t panic, and

if they do a few simple things, then the power of the sea will uphold them,

so believers entrust their lives to a power greater than themselves.

That power is the power of God, who brought his Son, Jesus, back from the dead.