Jesus cares for his friends, acquaintances and strangers

Homily for Easter – 2^nd  Sunday Year C 2016

Acts 5:12-16; Revelation 1:9-11a,12-13,17-19; John 20:19-31

Introduction

Friends, acquaintances and strangers: these are three types of people we have in our lives, people we treat differently.  We might say "hello" to a stranger, chat about the weather with an acquaintance, and perhaps give a kidney to a friend. 

For example, when Americans tell me that I have an accent, although my mother doesn't think so, the clarity of my speech depends on who I am speaking to.  .

1.    When I am speaking with strangers, I am very clear; I take great care to articulate my words, because these people don't know me.

2.    I am slightly less clear when I speak to acquaintances, because I know them a little; I expect them to do some work and listen a little more carefully.  Even then, because our conversations are usually short and usually about superficial topics like the weather, I am still fairly clear.

3.    It is my friends, my close friends, who suffer most with my accent.  Because we know each other very well, I let my guard down and speak I naturally, like I am at home in Uganda.  Moreover, our conversations are usually longer and more passionate; so that what I gain in passion and informality, I lose in clarity.

How does Jesus treat his friends, his acquaintances and perfect strangers?  He treats them all with mercy, as today's gospel shows us.

Scripture and theology

"I call you friends" Jesus had had told his close disciples.  But as we heard during the Passion story, what terrible friends they turned out to be.  One betrayed him, another denied him and rest ran away from him when he was arrested.  They had given up on the Lord, because they thought that Project Jesus had failed.  But after his resurrection, Jesus seeks them out.  We heard that "On the evening of that first day of the week [Sunday], 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.'"

Think about that for a moment.  If you were the one who had been betrayed by your friends; I am guessing that your first words would have a few choice words among them, for which you would have to go to confession.  But Jesus first words to this bunch of cowards were "Peace be with you;" "Shalom aleichem" in Hebrew; "Salaam alaykum" in Arabic. The Lord greets his disciples with words of peace, words of welcome, words of reconciliation.  That's how Jesus treats his friends, even disloyal friends, showering God's mercy upon them.  For as the saying goes: "a true friend is one who, when you've made a fool of yourself, doesn't think that you've done a permanent job."

The second group, the acquaintances, is represented by Thomas, who was playing hooky on the first Sunday when Jesus appeared to the community.  Why was Thomas absent on that Sunday?  Let's speculate.  Perhaps he was caring for his sick mother; or his horse, his only means of transport, was at the vet’s.  But we know why he was absent; the Jerusalem Football team were playing at home that Sunday; or he was sleeping in, Sunday being the only day when he did not have to get up early to get to work.  Like an acquaintance, Thomas was not really invested in the Jesus project; he was happy to hang around if it was fun and going well, but as soon as it started to crumble he bailed.  Thomas even refused to believe his friends when they told him that they have seen the Lord.

But even to Thomas, the acquaintance-like disciple, Jesus has mercy to share.  On the next Sunday when Thomas cares to show up, Jesus once again appears to the disciples.  And after greeting them with shalom as usual, he tells 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.”  If for the larger group of disciples the mercy of Jesus was to let bygones be bygones, for Thomas the Lord shows him mercy by providing him with the evidence he needed to believe.  Thomas saw and believed and expressed his faith crying out: “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus still has mercy left over to share it with the third group, the strangers, those whom he does not yet know.  To do this, he enlists the help of the first two groups, the disciples.  He tells them: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  Jesus turns the disciples into apostles to go and share the Good News with others.  He even empowered them to do this, by breathing his Spirit on them and saying: “Receive the Holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”  These words of Jesus have been understood in the Church as referring to the sacrament of confession, where the priest forgives sins, in the name of God the Father of mercies, and God the Son whose death and resurrection brought mercy, and the Spirit the agent of mercy.  Just as Jesus personally shared his mercy with the disciples, now he wants the disciples to go and do likewise, and be the instruments of his mercy with others. 

Christian Life

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, we should be consoled by these merciful actions of Jesus to the friends that failed him, to the acquaintance that doubted his mission, and most of all to perfect strangers.  To be honest, you and I at one time or another, are these three types of people to Jesus.

Our baptism made us friends of Jesus.  And most of the time, we are good friends, especially when we do as he taught; when we love God and our neighbour.  But often, like the disciples we abandon Jesus when we sin.  And yet, to us he says, "Peace be with you."  And when we go to confession and change our lives, like the Prodigal Father he says: "let us celebrate with a feast, because this son [daughter] of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found" (Lk. 15:23-24).  As the response to Psalm said, "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting."

Perhaps there are times when we act like we are merely acquaintances of the Lord.  We don't come to Sunday Mass, except perhaps at Christmas, Easter and the Friday fish fry.  Our relationship with the Lord stops at the level of appearances.  In our prayer we don't really talk about anything profound, perhaps only about the weather.

But even when we are in this state, like he did to Thomas, Jesus comes and shows us evidence of his presence, in the people around us, who have seen the Lord.  And like Thomas we can turn our doubts into belief, our struggles into joys.  And because of his mercy we confess: "My Lord and my God."

Perhaps at one time, either before we became Catholic or even after, we are strangers to the Lord.  We don't know who he is, what he teaches, what he has to offer us; or we completely forgotten.  Even when we are in this state, to us the Lord shares his mercy, by sending us messengers, in the example and the words of his disciples who are around us; the preaching and liturgy of his Church.

Conclusion

Like human friendships, our friendship with Jesus has its ups and downs, its highs and lows.  But the Lord does not give up on his friends; neither should we.  Whether we have become strangers to him by unfriending him, whether we have downgraded our status to that of acquaintance, or whether we have become untrue friends, he still wants us as his friends.

But having received the Lord's mercy, we must in turn share this mercy with others.  The Lord sends us out to our friends both the faithful and unfaithful ones, to our acquaintances, and even to the stranger.  As Jesus tells us, whatsoever you to do my brothers and sisters, you do unto me.