Our Easter Faith: On The Eighth Day

The gospel reading from John 20:19-31 can be divided into three parts: Jesus’ appearance to the disciples on the evening of the first Sunday (19-23); Jesus’ appearance on the eighth day (24-29); and the original conclusion of the book of John (30-31). The selection is made for the baptismal anniversary of the faithful, the eighth day after Easter Sunday. The gospel reading is combined this year for Year B with Acts 4:32-35 and 1 John 5:1-6.

Relevant Articles

• My Lord and My God
• Belief and Unbelief
• Not Seeing Yet Believing
• Mag-aral Tayo: Sa Ikawalong Araw
• Nagulat Nga Ba Si Tomas?

Reading Guide

After making your sentence flow of John 20:19-31, take note of the following:

1. When Jesus comes that evening, he has already ascended to the Father (cf. John 20:17)

2. “Peace be with you” is a standard Jewish greeting. But now, coming from the Risen Lord, it takes on a different meaning and force. It is the peace of the Resurrection. What was for the Jews a gift from God’s future is now a reality because of the Risen Lord.

3. Jesus breathes the Spirit upon the disciples. As God breathed upon the man he formed from the earth to make it a living soul, so now Christ, in the act of recreating, breathes new life upon the disciples. John Paul II was thinking about this passage when he writes that Jesus re-expresses man.

4. Jesus sends his disciples with words that echo Luke 24:47.

5. Thomas was absent from the assembly of disciples and therefore would not believe that the Lord has risen. He wanted to see a Jesus that really died and really rose from the dead, not one who appears to have died and now presents himself as alive.

6. “My Lord and my God” is a confession of faith, and not an exclamation¹

7. The macharism at the end of the narrative is the point of the story: “Blessed are they who have not seen yet believe.” The macharism answers a question about the quality of the faith of succeeding generations who have not seen nor touched the Lord as the apostles did.

Comparing the Readings

Please read the observations made here.

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles (4:32-35) describes the life of the first Christian community which Luke presents as the model for all Christian communities. The description should be read in parallel with the one given in Acts 2:42-47. The selection from 4:32-35 focuses on the social dimension of community life. No one was in need because everyone shared what they had. Thus community life in this selection is characterized by a life of communion built around the proclamation of the apostles and the sharing of goods. Life in Christ affects even the socio-economic order.

The second reading from 1 John 5:1-6 is explained in this article. As the risen Jesus showed his hands and his side to give evidence of the reality of his death, so in the first epistle of John this reality is emphasized against a teaching that denies the death of Christ.

Suggestions for the Lesson

Dominica in albis is the baptismal anniversary of all the faithful. The macharism at the end of the Gospel narrative (v. 29) is the focus of the liturgy but two things are also emphasized:

1. Absence in the assembly makes one like Thomas, unbelieving. Presence in the assembly allows one to encounter the Risen Lord. One of the things that need to be emphasized is the importance of the Sunday assembly for it is there that the Risen Lord stands “in the midst” of his brothers.

2. Jesus is the one who comes from the Father. He is after all the Bread that comes down from heaven. Each time that the Church assembles for the Eucharist, the Lord is truly present among them. Like in the first Sunday, every Sunday is an occassion for encountering Him and receiving the life and peace that He alone can give.