Love in the heart-peace in the soul.

The sight of our sins makes us sad, disappointed, questioning… How quickly we can fall into sin, why are we so weak and corrupt again and again, when we offend God so much when we realize the greatness of our sins, our unbelief, our indifference, the unrequited love of God …will God forgive us, will we find grace in God’s eyes…?

In meeting the risen Jesus, the Apostle Thomas said: “My Lord and my God” (Jn 20:28). The problem of Thomas, who did not believe the apostles that they had met the living Jesus, ends beautifully. Thomas’s normal condition for thinking: “Unless I see in his hands the marks of the nails, and put my finger into the nail wounds, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (Jn 20:25), is answered by Jesus himself on the eighth day, when, after Jesus’ greeting, “Peace be with you” (Jn 20:26), without Thomas’ condition being uttered by anyone or communicated to Jesus, Jesus said to Thomas: “Put your finger here and see my hands! Put out your hand and put it in my side! And do not be an unbeliever, but a believer” (Jn 20:27)! Thomas did not put his finger or his hand into his wounds. Thomas, however, spoke historic words: “My Lord and my God” (Jn 20:28).

These words of Thomas, spoken in faith, become hope and mercy again. Jesus can thus bestow upon the confessor of his divinity the forgiveness of sins and new graces.

In the first words after the resurrection, “Peace be with you,” Jesus points to the irreplaceable value of living a sinless life. Only Jesus can forgive us, give us peace, and bestow His love and mercy on us.

The words “see and believe” and “believe and see” remind us that no man lives alone, and no man believes alone. Jesus addresses his word to us, and when he speaks it, he calls us into communion – he forms us into his community, his people, his Church. And the Church, through the priest, until the end of time, has the power to forgive sins. Jesus “in the evening of that first day… came and stood in the midst and said to them: “Peace be with you!” … And again, he said to them: Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and spoke to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you will be forgiven, and whose sins you retain will be retained” (Jn. 20:19, 21-23).

Jesus gives his power to the frightened disciples. So we believe that Christ’s death is a sacrifice, an act of love for our sins, and Jesus’ victory over death is our greatest hope for new life. He adds the sacrament of Reconciliation after his resurrection to the gifts he gave us before his death, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of the priesthood, the Holy Mass.

A student asked the priest: “Are you saying that a person who had lived in sins all his life and asked God for forgiveness before he died that he would be saved. And you claim that a person who would commit just one serious sin in his lifetime and not repent of it and die would end up in hell. Is that fair? Are a multitude of sins lighter than one sin?” The priest gave this answer. “If I put one pebble on the lake’s surface, will it sink or stay afloat?” “It will sink,” was the answer. And if I take a hundred large stones and put them in a boat and sail out on the lake with it, will they sink, or will they remain on the boat’s surface?” The answer is, “They will not sink.” “Are a hundred heavy stones and the boat lighter than one pebble?” The priest explained to the student. “Even a man who, though he has sinned greatly, leans on God, will not go to hell. A man who has sinned only once and does not ask for God’s mercy will be damned.”

Today – the example of St. Thomas the Apostle – strengthens us not to despise God’s mercy. God is infinite in His mercy, but also His justice. Our sins have their number and measure, but God’s mercy has no action.

A man watched a little boy flying a kite in a meadow. However, it was strange that he never looked up to see the kite floating in the clouds. So he came closer and found that the little boy was blind. He asked, “Do you like to play with the kite?” Yes, I like it very much.” But the man could not suppress his curiosity. He asked, “How so? You can’t see it…” The boy replied: “I can’t see him, but I can feel him tugging at the string.”

While we cannot always see God’s love and mercy in this world, we can recognize it through its many effects. Let us pray that the Lord may also fill us with His peace, love, and mercy so that we may experience the foretaste of heaven already here on earth.