2nd Sunday of Easter, Apr.

15, 2012 (Acts of the Apostles 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31) Today the idealism of the early church (in sharing all things in common) is lived out completely only in the monasteries. However, Papal social teaching often grates at Capitalism (and capitalists) because of the urgency with which that teaching urges a just distribution of the worlds goods. Many who have hailed the holiness of Pope John Paul II grow curiously silent when some of his social teaching comes to the fore. It is the same with all papal teaching and yet arguing for what is necessary for the common good is not an option for understanding the Gospel. Indeed, the common good is at the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. People, in the U.S. especially, think that if there is a conflict between economic policy and the Gospel that there is somehow an option available. Thus, when Pope John Paul II challenged the Communist leaders in Poland there was dancing in the streets. But when that same pope and others challenge the wealthy nations of the world to accept the moral responsibility to provide for the needy nations of the world, they often meet with stubborn resistance. It all stems from the notion of the common good. The early church in time abandoned its experiment in communal living but not the principle behind it. Distributing to each according to need remains a bedrock of social teaching among Christians because it is traceable to Jesus and is in fact derived from the Old Testament law of love of the neighbor (Leviticus 19:18). Now that were deeply into the Easter season, we ought to remember what obligations we accept for believing that Jesus rose from the dead. It falls to us to do as he has done. The Gospel for this Divine Mercy Sunday, as Pope John Paul II named it during his pontificate in 2000, is always from John 20:19-21. It relates Jesus appearance to the disciples on the evening of that same first day of the week, or Easter evening. The first word the risen one brings to them is peace. The actual greeting is Peace to you without a verb, and the you is second person plural. Scholars suggest that anytime Peace in a greeting is used without a verb, it is almost always a declaration rather than a subjunctive. Thus, rather than say Peace be with you, it has more the sense of peace is with you. This happens after John notes they were gathered together in fear, so peace is the antidote to fear. After this he shows them his hands and his side, and at that the disciples rejoice in seeing the Lord. A second time he greets them in peace and then charges them: As the Father has sent me, so now I send you. With that he then breathes on them. This is the same Greek verb which is used in Gen. 2:7 when God breathed into the man the

breath of life. So we have here a new birth of sorts (certainly John made the connection with Genesis). In his farewell speech to the disciples Jesus had promised that the Father would send them the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who would teach them everything and remind them of all that Jesus had said (Jn. 14:26). In that context Jesus had said Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Now Jesus, as the risen one, greets them again in peace. But with the gift of the Spirit comes the responsibility not only to be sent but to forgive sins. As the first responsibility placed upon those who receive the Spirit, it has to assume a more fundamental importance more than all the structure and liturgical formality of the centuries that follow. The forgiveness of sins remains the primary responsibility entrusted to the followers of the risen Jesus. That does not change over the centuries.

Fr. Lawrence Hummer