La paix nait de la rencontre avec le Christ

Rite romain – IIème Dimanche de Pâque ou de la Miséricorde Divine – Année B – 7 avril 2024

Ac 4, 32-35 ; Ps l 117 ;1 Jn 5,1-6 ; Jn 20,19-31

 

Rite ambrosien 

Ac 4,8-24 ; Ps 117 ; Col 2,8-15 ; Jn 20,19-31

IIème Dimanche de Pâque et de la Miséricorde Divine

 

1) Paix et pardon 

La liturgie de ce dimanche de Pâques célèbre le Christ ressuscité qui donne paix et pardon. En effet, l’Evangile d’aujourd’hui nous reporte que Jésus entra le soir de Pâques dans le Cénacle où les Apôtres s’étaitent enfermés, et leur dit “La Paix soit avec vous”. En offrant le don de sa paix, le Christ remplit le cœur des Apôtres de sa miséricorde. Dans la bouche du Ressuscité, la salutation traditionnelle hébraïque “shalom”, qui veut dire paix, n’est pas seulement un souhait mais un don : le don de cette paix que seul le Christ peut donner, et qui est le fruit de sa victoire radicale sur le mal. La paix que Jésus offre à ses amis est le fruit de l’amour miséricordieux de Dieu pour les hommes. Cet amour sans mesure a conduit le Christ à mourir sur la Croix, à verser son sang comme Agneau doux et humble, “plein de grâce et de vérité” (Jn 1,14). 

            Cela nous explique pourquoi Saint Jean-Paul II a voulu dédier à la Divine Miséricorde ce Dimanche après Pâques qui célèbre le Christ comme Agneau qui a été sacrifié pour nos péchés, qui est ressuscité et l’a emporté sur la mort et sur le péché. L’amour de Dieu est plus fort que le mal et que la mort. Dans le Christ ressuscité, l’amour a gagné, la miséricorde a gagné. 

            A l’occasion de cette Fête de la Divine Miséricorde, laissons-nous emplir le cœur par la miséricorde de Dieu qui aime, pardonne et donne la paix, gratuitement. En effet, cette paix est le fruit de la victoire de l’amour de Dieu sur le mal, elle est le fruit du pardon. La vraie paix, celle qui est profonde, vient de l’expérience de la miséricorde de Dieu.  

            Comme aux Apôtres il y a deux mille ans, aujourd’hui, Jésus nous offre l’Esprit Saint en même temps que sa paix pourque nous puissions répandre dans le monde sa miséricorde qui pardonne et donne la nouvelle et vraie vie. Aujourd’hui, c’est à nous que le Christ donne le mandat de porter aux hommes la rémission des péchés et faire grandir ainsi le Royaume de l’amour, semer la paix dans les cœurs afin qu’elle s’affirme également dans nos relations en famille et dans la société. 

 

2) Missionnaires sans peur

Aujourd’hui l’esprit du Christ Ressuscité repousse la peur de notre cœur. Jesús nous incite à sortir du Cénacle que la peur a transformé en un lieu fermé. Son Esprit nous pousse à être une “Eglise en sortie” (Pape François) : « De même que le Père m’a envoyé, moi aussi, je vous envoie. » (Jn 20, 21). Lors de la dernière Cène, le Cénacle fut le lieu où Jésus avait donné le pain, mais après la passion et la mort du Messie, cette salle était devenue pour les Apôtres comme un sépulcre. Ils y habitaient dans la peur, la peur de la mort. 

La peur des Apôtres et la nôtre n’arrête pas le Christ. Comme la grande pierre qui scellait son sépulcre ne lui a pas été un obstacle, ainsi notre peur ne lui est pas un obstacle. Il entre dans ce « sépulcre », rempli de peur, dont les portes sont verrouillées. Les portes verrouillées comme la pierre du sépulcre ne lui posent pas de difficultés. Et surtout, il n’a pas de difficulté à venir chez les personnes qu’il a choisies, dont une l’a trahi, l’autre l’a désavoué, les autres ont fuit, et l’ont abandonné. Et de la même manière qu’il entra dans le lieu où ses Apôtres s’étaient réfugiés, ainsi il vient à notre rencontre aujourd’hui, tout en repoussant nos peurs. C’est là, qu’il nous fait ressusciter. 

Donc, après la rencontre du Christ avec Marie Madeleine, dans l’amour et le désir, cette rencontre dans le cénacle est importante parce qu’elle nous fait comprendre que le Christ ressuscité nous rencontre là où nous sommes morts dans nos peurs, nos fragilités, nos péchés, notre égoïsme, pour nous faire ressusciter à travers la joie et la paix. 

Aujourd’hui, c’est à nous que le Ressuscité dit “La Paix soit avec vous” (Jn 20, 19.21.26). Il est évident qu’il ne s’agit pas seulement d’une salutation. Il s’agit d’un don, le don que le Ressuscité nous offre, à nous ses amis. Il s’agit d’un don à partager. Donc, cette paix que le Christ a achetée avec son sang, est également une mission. Elle n’est pas seulement pour nous, elle est pour tout le monde, et c’est à nous, les disciples d’aujourd’hui, de l’apporter partout dans le monde. 

De cette façon, nous participons à la bataille « pacifique » commencée à partir de la Resurrection du Christ et nous l’aidons à affirmer sa victoire avec les mêmes armes que celles qu’Il utilise : celles de la justice et de la vérité, celles de la miséricorde, du pardon et de l’amour. Ces armes ne tuent pas, elles donnent la vie et la paix. 

 

3)    Témoins de la joie

Dans l’Evangile d’aujourd’hui, Jésus nous dit à plusieurs reprises « La Paix soit avec vous » et les disciples « se réjouirent ». La joie et la paix sont les signes de la présence du Christ ressuscité. 

Toutefois, pourquoi l’expérience de Jésus ressuscité parmi nous, Jésus qui nous montre ses mains et son côté, est-elle une expérience de paix et de joie ? Parce que nous prenons connaissance de ce que nous sommes pour le Christ et de ce que le Christ est pour nous. Il est celui qui a ces mains clouées et ce côté transpercé, pour nous. Il est l’amour infini qui s’offre. Et nous, qui sommes-nous pour lui ? Nous sommes amour fini, limité qui se dilate dans son Amour. 

Le côté percé montre le cœur qui aime infiniment, totalement. Les mains clouées montrent que le pouvoir de Dieu est de laver les pieds et d’être cloué au service de l’amour de l’homme. C’est à ce moment que nous connaissons le Seigneur. Dans ces mains, nous voyons toute la vie de Jésus, tout ce qu’Il a accompli au service de l’amour, un Amour si extrême qu’il va jusqu’à la mort pour donner la vie.  Nous tous, nous sommes appelés à répondre à cet Amour ressuscité. Mais comment ? En témoignant du Christ avec joie.  

Prenons exemple des Vierges consacrées à qui il est dit le jour de leur consécration, « Le Christ, Fils de la Vierge et épouse des vierges, sera votre joie et votre couronne sur terre, jusqu'à ce qu'il vous conduise aux noces du ciel, et vous fasse entrer dans son royaume, où vous suivrez l'Agneau partout où il ira, en chantant le cantique » (RCV, projet d’homélie n. 38).

Afin de répondre à l’Amour du Christ, ces femmes s’offrent à lui de façon totale et dans la joie.  La joie, en effet, ne consiste pas à posséder beaucoup des choses, mais à se savoir aimés du Seigneur, à se faire don à Dieu et au prochain et à vouloir le bien en Dieu. La joie vient de l’expérience d’être aimés et de se faire missionnaires de cet Amour, de façon totale. 

La totalité est une exigence profonde de la virginité consacrée, elle n’admet pas la médiocrité. La consécration est, pour sa propre nature, un acte généreux et total d’un amour qui porte la consacrée en haut, sur la croix ; elle est donc élevée en haut et en profondeur dans le cœur du Christ. 

Grace à la consécration, la vierge s’engage à quattre “devoirs” : celui de louer Dieu avec plus de douceur, espérer en Dieu avec plus de joie, aimer Dieu avec plus ardeur, celui d’être missionnaires de la miséricorde et témoins persévérantes de la joie d’être aimées et celui d’aimer de façon pure et gratuite. 

Comme Saint Augustin l’enseignait déjà dans De sacra virginitate « Continuez (dans votre choix), saints de Dieu, garçons et filles, hommes et femmes, vous qui vivez dans le célibat et vous qui ne vous êtes pas mariés. Persévérer jusqu'à la fin. Louez le Seigneur d'autant plus doucement qu'il occupe vos pensées ; espérer plus de bonheur, le suivre fidèlement ; aime-le d'autant plus ardemment que tu prends soin de lui plaire. Louez le Seigneur avec plus de douceur, car vous pensez à Lui avec plus de plénitude ; espérer dans le Seigneur avec une plus grande joie parce qu’il sert avec plus d’attention ; aimez le Seigneur avec plus d'ardeur, afin que vous puissiez l’étudier avec plus de dévouement ».

 

Lecture patristique

Saint Cyrille d'Alexandrie (370 - 444)

Commentaire sur l'évangile de Jean, 12

 PG 74, 704-705.

 

            En entrant dans le Cénacle toutes portes closes, le Christ a montré une fois de plus qu'il est Dieu par nature, et qu'il n'est pas différent de celui qui vivait auparavant avec les disciples. En découvrant son côté et en montrant la marque des clous, il manifestait à l'évidence qu'il a relevé le temple de son corps qui avait été suspendu à la croix, en détruisant la mort corporelle, puisque par nature il est la vie et il est Dieu.

            Mais alors que le moment était venu de transformer son corps par une gloire inexprimable et prodigieuse, on le voit tellement soucieux de fonder la foi en la résurrection future de la chair qu'il a voulu, conformément à l'économie divine, apparaître tel qu'il était auparavant. Ainsi ne penserait-on pas qu'il avait alors un corps différent de celui avec lequel il était mort sur la croix.

            Même si le Christ avait voulu déployer la gloire de son corps devant les disciples, avant de monter vers le Père, nos yeux n'auraient pu en supporter la vue. Vous le comprendrez facilement si vous vous rappelez la transfiguration qui avait jadis été montrée sur la montagne. En effet, saint Matthieu écrit que le Christ fut transfiguré devant eux, que son visage resplendit comme l'éclair et que ses vêtements devinrent blancs comme neige. Quant à eux, ne pouvant supporter la vision, ils tombèrent la face contre terre.

            C'est pourquoi, afin d'observer exactement le plan divin, notre Seigneur Jésus apparaissait encore, au Cénacle, sous sa forme antérieure, et non pas selon la gloire qui est due et convient à son Temple transfiguré. Il ne voulait pas que la foi en la résurrection se porte sur un aspect et sur un corps différent de ceux qu'il reçut de la sainte Vierge et dans lesquels il est mort après avoir été crucifié selon les Écritures. En effet, la mort n'avait pouvoir que sur la chair, dont elle allait être chassée. Car, si ce n'est pas son corps mort qui est ressuscité, quelle espèce de mort a donc été vaincue? Ou encor e, comment le pouvoir de la corruption aurait-il cessé, sinon par la mort d'une créature raisonnable? Car ce ne fut pas l'oeuvre de l'âme, ni de l'ange, ni même du Verbe de Dieu. Donc, puisque la mort ne peut exercer son pouvoir que sur ce qui est corruptible par nature, on aura raison d'estimer que la force de résurrection peut s'exercer aussi sur cela, pour que la tyrannie de la mort soit renversée. 

            Le Seigneur salue ses disciples en disant: Paix à vous. n déclare ainsi que lui-même est la paix. Car ceux auprès desquels il est présent bénéficient d'un esprit parfaitement apaisé. C'est évidemment ce que saint Paul souhaitait aux fidèles quand il disait: Que la paix du Christ, qui dépasse tout ce qu'on peut imaginer, garde votre coeur et votre intelligence dans le Christ Jésus (Ph 4,7). Pour saint Paul, la paix du Christ, qui dépasse tout ce qu'on peut imaginer, n'est autre que son Esprit: celui qui participe à son Esprit sera rempli de tout bien.

La pace nasce dall’incontro con Cristo

Rito Romano – II Domenica di Pasqua o della Divina Misericordia – Anno B – 7 aprile 2024

At 4,32-35; Sal 117;1Gv 5,1-6; Gv 20,19-31

 

 

Rito Ambrosiano 

At 4,8-24; Sal 117; Col 2,8-15; Gv 20,19-31

II Domenica di Pasqua e della divina Misericordia

 

 

 

1)    Pace e perdono.

            La liturgia di questa II Domenica di Pasqua celebra Cristo risorto, che dona pace e perdono. In effetti, il Vangelo di oggi ci racconta che, la sera della sua Pasqua, Gesù entra nel Cenacolo, dove si erano rinchiusi gli Apostoli, e dice loro: “Pace a voi”. Con l’offerta del dono della sua pace Cristo ricolma il cuore degli apostoli con la sua misericordia. Il saluto tradizionale ebraico shalom, cioè pace, sulla bocca del Risorto non è solo un augurio ma un dono: il dono di quella pace che solamente Lui può dare e che è il frutto della sua vittoria radicale sul male. La “pace”, che Gesù offre ai suoi amici, è il frutto dell’amore misericordioso di Dio per gli uomini. Questo amore smisurato ha portato Cristo a morire sulla croce, a versare tutto il suo sangue, come Agnello mite e umile, “pieno di grazia e di verità” (Gv 1,14). 

Questo spiega perché San Giovanni Paolo II ha voluto intitolare alla Divina Misericordia questa Domenica dopo la Pasqua, che celebra Cristo quale Agnello, che è stato immolato per i nostri peccati e che è risorto sconfiggendo la morte e il peccato. L’amore di Dio è più forte del male e della morte e in Cristo risorto ha vinto l’amore, ha vinto la misericordia.

            In questa Festa della Divina Misericordia, lasciamo riempire il nostro cuore dalla misericordia di Dio, che gratuitamente ama, perdona e dà pace.

            In effetti, questa pace è il frutto della vittoria dell’amore di Dio sul male, è il frutto del perdono. La vera pace, quella profonda, viene dal fare esperienza della misericordia di Dio.

Oggi a noi, come circa duemila anni fa agli Apostoli, insieme con la sua pace, Gesù dona lo Spirito Santo, perché possiamo diffondere nel mondo la sua misericordia, che perdona e dona la vita nuova e vera.  

Oggi, è a noi che Cristo dà il mandato di portare agli uomini la remissione dei peccati, e così far crescere il Regno dell’amore, seminare la pace nei cuori, perché si affermi anche nelle relazioni in famiglia e nella società. 

 

2) Missionari senza paura

Oggi, lo Spirito di Cristo Risorto scaccia la paura dal nostro cuore. Gesù ci spinge ad uscire dal “Cenacolo” che la paura ha traformato in un luogo chiuso. Il suo Spirito ci spiange ad essere una “Chiesa in uscita” (Papa Francesco): “Come il Padre ha mandato me, io mando voi” (Gv 20, 21). Durante l’ultima cena il cenacolo fu il luogo dove Gesù aveva dato il pane, ma dopo la passione e morte del Messia quella sala era diventata per gli Apostoli come un sepolcro. Vi vivevano di paura, di paura della morte. 

Ma la paura degli Apostoli e di tutti noi non ferma Cristo. Come la grande pietra che sigillava il suo sepolcro non gli fu di ostacolo, così neanche la nostra paura gli fa ostacolo. Entra in questo sepolcro, pieno di paura, a porte sprangate. Non gli fanno difficoltà le porte sprangate come non gli ha fatto difficoltà la pietra del sepolcro. E soprattutto non gli ha fatto difficoltà di venire con queste persone che Lui ha scelto, delle quali uno lo ha tradito, l’altro l’ha rinnegato, gli altri sono fuggiti, l’hanno abbandonato. E come entrò nel luogo dove i suoi Apostoli si erano rifugiati, così oggi viene incontro a noi, scacciando le nostre paure. E’ lì che ci fa risorgere. 

Quindi, dopo l’incontro di Cristo con Maria Maddalena nell’amore e nel desiderio, questo incontro nel cenacolo è importante, perché ci fa capire che Cristo risorto ci incontra là, dove noi siamo morti nelle nostre paure, nelle nostre fragilità, nei nostri peccati, nel nostro egoismo, per farci risorgere attraverso la gioia e la pace.

Oggi, il Risorto è a noi che dice : “Pace a voi” (Gv 20, 19.21.26). È evidente che non è solo un saluto. È un dono, il dono che il Risorto fa a noi, suoi amici. E’ un dono da condividere. Perciò la questa pace, acquistata da Cristo col suo sangue, è anche un compito. Essa non è solamente per noi, è per tutti, e noi, i discepoli di oggi, dobbiamo portarla in tutto il mondo. 

            In questo modo partecipiamo alla pacifica battaglia iniziata dalla Pasqua di Cristo, aiutandolo ad affermare la sua vittoria con le sue stesse armi: quelle della giustizia e della verità, della misericordia, del perdono e dell’amore. Queste armi non uccidono, ma danno la vita e la pace.

 

3)    Testimoni della gioia.

            Nel Vangelo di oggi, Gesù dice più volte: “Pace a voi” e i discepoli “gioirono”.  E la gioia e la pace sono il segno della presenza di Cristo risorto.

Ma perché  l’esperienza di Gesù risorto che sta in mezzo a noi, e ci mostra le sue mani e il suo fianco, è una esperienza di pace e di gioia? Perchè conosciamo chi siamo noi per Cristo e chi è Cristo per noi. Lui è colui che per noi porta quelle mani inchiodate e quel fianco trafitto. Lui è amore infinito che si dona. E noi, chi siamo noi per Lui? Siamo un amore finito, limitato che si dilata nel suo Amore.

            Il fianco trafitto mostra il cuore che ama infinitamente, totalmente. Le mani inchiodate mostrano che il potere di Dio è quello di  lavare i piedi e di essere inchiodato a servizio d’amore dell’uomo. Ed è lì che conosciamo il Signore. In queste mani vediamo tutta la vita di Gesù, tutto ciò che Lui ha fatto a servizio dell’amore, con un Amore così estremo da morirne per dare la vita.

            Tutti siamo chiamati a rispondere a questo Amore risorto. Come? Testimoniando Cristo con la gioia. 

Prendiamo esempio dalla Vergini consacrate, alle quali –nel giorno della consacrazione – è detto: “Cristo, Figlio della Vergine e sposo delle vergini, sarà la vostra gioia e corona sulla terra, finché vi condurrà alle nozze eterne nel suo regno, dove cantando il canto nuovo seguirete l’Agnello dovunque vada” (RCV, progetto di omelia n. 38).

            Per rispondere all’Amore di Cristo, queste donne si offrono a Lui totalmente e gioiosamente.  La gioia, in effetti, non consiste nell’avere tante cose, ma nel sentirsi amati dal Signore, nel farsi dono a Dio e al prossimo,  e nel volersi bene in Dio. La gioia viene dall’esperienza di essere amati e di farsi missionari di questo Amore in modo totale.

La totalità è esigenza profonda della verginità consacrate, che non ammette la mediocrità. La consacrazione è per sua stessa natura un atto generoso e totale di amore che porta la consacrata in alto, sulla croce, quindi è elevata in alto e nel profondo del cuore di Cristo.

Grazie alla consacrazione la vergine si impegna in tre “doveri”: quello di lodare Dio con più dolcezza, quello di sperare in Dio con più gioia, quello di amare Dio con più ardore, quello di essere missionaria della misericordia, divenendo testimone perseverante della gioia di essere amata e di amare in modo puro e gratuito. Come già insegnava Sant’Agostino nel De sacra virginitate, dove possiamo leggere: “Continuate (nella vostra scelta), o santi di Dio, giovani e ragazze, uomini e donne, voi che vivete nel celibato e voi che non vi siete sposate. Perseverate fino alla fine. Lodate il Signore tanto più soavemente quanto maggiormente egli occupa i vostri pensieri; sperate tanta maggiore felicità quanto più fedelmente lo seguite; amatelo tanto più ardentemente quanto più siete attente ad accontentarlo. Lodate il Signore con maggiore dolcezza, perché a Lui pensate con maggiore pienezza; sperate nel Signore con maggiore gioia perché Lui servite con maggiore attenzione; amate il Signore con maggiore ardore, perché a lui vi studiate di piacere con maggiore dedizione”.

 

 

Lettura Patristica

San Gregorio Magno (540circa – 604)

Hom. 26, 7-9

 

San Tommaso Apostolo, modello di fede per noi

       "Ma Tommaso, uno dei Dodici, chiamato Didimo, non era con loro quando venne Gesù" (Jn 20,24). Questo discepolo fu l’unico assente; al suo ritorno sentì ciò che era avvenuto, ma non volle credere a quel che aveva udito. Il Signore ritornò e presentò al discepolo incredulo il costato perché lo toccasse, mostrò le mani e, facendo vedere le cicatrici delle sue ferite, sanò la ferita della sua infedeltà. Cosa, fratelli carissimi, cosa notate in tutto ciò? Credete dovuto a un caso che quel discepolo fosse allora assente, e poi tornando udisse, e udendo dubitasse, e dubitando toccasse, e toccando credesse? Non a caso ciò avvenne, ma per divina disposizione. La divina clemenza mirabilmente stabilì che quel discepolo incredulo, mentre toccava le ferite nella carne del suo Maestro, sanasse a noi le ferite dell’infedeltà. A noi infatti giova più l’incredulità di Tommaso che non la fede dei discepoli credenti perché mentre egli, toccando con mano, ritorna alla fede, l’anima nostra, lasciando da parte ogni dubbio si consolida nella fede. Certo, il Signore permise che il discepolo dubitasse dopo la sua risurrezione, e tuttavia non lo abbandonò nel dubbio... Così il discepolo che dubita e tocca con mano, diventa testimone della vera risurrezione, come lo sposo della Madre (del Signore) era stato custode della perfettissima verginità.

       [Tommaso] toccò, ed esclamò: "Mio Signore e mio Dio! Gesù gli disse: Perché mi hai veduto, Tommaso, hai creduto" (Jn 20,28-29). Quando l’apostolo Paolo dice: "La fede è fondamento delle cose che si sperano e prova di quelle che non si vedono" (Eb 11,1), parla chiaramente, perché la fede è prova di quelle cose che non si possono vedere. Infatti delle cose che si vedono non si ha fede, ma conoscenza (naturale). Dal momento però che Tommaso vide e toccò, perché gli viene detto: "Perché mi hai veduto, hai creduto?" Ma altro vide, altro credette. Da un uomo mortale certo la divinità non può essere vista. Egli vide dunque l’uomo, e confessò che era Dio, dicendo: "Mio Signore e mio Dio"! Vedendo dunque credette, lui che considerando (Gesù) un vero uomo, ne proclamò la divinità che non aveva potuto vedere.

       Riempie di gioia ciò che segue: "Beati quelli che non hanno visto, e hanno creduto" (Gv 20,29). Senza dubbio in queste parole siamo indicati in special modo noi che non lo abbiamo veduto nella carne ma lo riteniamo nell’anima. Siamo indicati noi, purché accompagniamo con le opere la nostra fede. Crede veramente colui che pratica con le opere quello che crede. Al contrario, per quelli che hanno la fede soltanto di nome, Paolo afferma: "Dichiarano di conoscere Dio, ma lo rinnegano con i fatti" (Tt 1,16). E Jc aggiunge: "La fede senza le opere è morta" (Gc 2,26).

Peace is born from the encounter with Christ.

 

 oman Rite – Second Sunday of Easter or of Divine Mercy - Year B - April 7^th, 2024

Acts 4,32-35; Ps 118, 1 Jn 5.1: 6; Jn 20.19-31

 

Ambrosian Rite

Acts 4.8-24; Ps 118; Col 2.8-15; Jn 20.19-31

Second Easter Sunday and of Divine Mercy

 

1) Peace and forgiveness.

            The liturgy of this Second Sunday of Easter celebrates the risen Christ who gives peace and forgiveness. In fact, today's Gospel tells us that, on the evening of his Easter, Jesus enters the Upper Room, where the Apostles were locked up, and tells them: "Peace be with you". With the offering of the gift of his peace, Christ fills the heart of the apostles with his mercy. The traditional Jewish greeting shalom, that is peace, on the mouth of the Risen Lord is not only a wish but a gift: the gift of the peace that only He can give, and which is the fruit of his radical victory over evil. The "peace" that Jesus offers to his friends is the fruit of God's merciful love for men. This immeasurable love has led Christ to die on the cross and to shed all his blood as a meek and humble Lamb "full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:14).

This explains why St. John Paul II wished to name “Sunday of Divine Mercy” this Sunday after Easter, which celebrates Christ as the Lamb who has been sacrificed for our sins and who has risen defeating death and sin. The love of God is stronger than evil and death, and in the risen Christ love and mercy have won.

 On this Feast of Divine Mercy, let us fill our hearts with the mercy of God who freely loves, forgives, and gives peace.

 Indeed, this peace is the fruit of the victory of God's love over evil; it is the fruit of forgiveness. True peace, profound peace, comes from experiencing God's mercy.

Today, to us, as about two thousand years ago to the Apostles, Jesus gives, along with his peace, the Holy Spirit so that we may spread in the world his mercy that forgives and gives new and true life.

Today, it is to us that Christ gives the mandate to bring to men the remission of sins. Consequently, the Kingdom of love will grow, and peace in the hearts will be sown so that it may also be affirmed in our relationships in the family and in society.

 

 

 

2) Missionaries without fear

Today, the Spirit of the Risen Christ drives out fear from our hearts. Jesus urges us to leave the "Cenacle" that the fear has transformed into a locked place. His Spirit pushes us to be an "outgoing Church" (Pope Francis): "As the Father has sent me, I send you" (Jn 20, 21). During the last supper the cenacle was the place where Jesus had given the bread, but, after the passion and death of the Messiah, for the Apostles that hall had become as a sepulcher. They lived there in fear, and in fear of death.

But the fear of the Apostles and of all of us does not stop Christ. In the same way as the great stone that sealed his tomb was not an obstacle to him, so our fear is not an obstacle for him. He comes into this sepulcher, full of fear and with locked doors. The bolted doors were not an obstacle for him, as the sepulcher stone was not.  Above all, it was not difficult for him to come to these people whom He had chosen and of whom one had betrayed him, the other denied him, and the others fled and abandoned him. In the same way as he then entered the place where his Apostles had taken refuge, so today he comes to meet us driving away our fears. It is there that He makes us rise.

After Christ's encounter with Mary Magdalene in love and in desire, this meeting in the cenacle is important because it makes us understand that the risen Christ meets us there, where we died in our fears, in our frailties, in our sins and in our selfishness, to make us rise through joy and peace.

Today, it is to us that the Risen One says: "Peace be with you" (Jn 20, 19.21.26). It is evident that it is not just a greeting. It is a gift, the gift that the Risen Lord gives us, his friends. It is a gift to share. Therefore, this peace, purchased by Christ with his blood, is also a task. It is not just for us, it is for everyone, and we, the disciples of today, must take it everywhere in the world.

 In this way, we participate in the peaceful battle begun by the Easter of Christ, helping him to affirm his victory with his own weapons: those of justice and truth, of mercy, of forgiveness and of love. These weapons do not kill but give life and peace.

 

3) Witnesses of joy.

            In today's Gospel Jesus says many times: "Peace be with you" and the disciples "rejoiced". Joy and peace are the sign of the presence of the risen Christ.

Why is the experience of the risen Jesus, who stands among us and shows us his hands and his side, an experience of peace and joy? Because we know who we are for Christ and who Christ is for us. He is the one who carries those nailed hands and that pierced side for us. He is infinite love who gives himself. And we, who are we for him? We are a finite, limited love that expands in his Love.

The pierced side shows the heart that loves infinitely and totally. The nailed hands show that the power of God is to wash the feet and to be nailed to the service of love for man. That is where we recognize the Lord. In these hands we see the whole life of Jesus, all that He has done at the service of love, with a Love so extreme as to die for it to give life.

            We are all called to respond to this resurrected Love. How? Witnessing Christ with joy.

Let us take as example the Consecrated Virgins to whom - on the day of consecration - it is said: "Christ, Son of the Virgin and husband of virgins, will be your joy and crown on earth until he will lead you to the eternal wedding in his kingdom, where, singing the new song, you will follow the Lamb wherever he goes "(RCV, homily project No. 38).

To respond to Christ's love these women offer themselves totally and joyfully to him. In fact, joy does not consist in having many things, but in feeling loved by the Lord, in giving oneself to God and the neighbor, and in loving one another in God. Joy comes from the experience of being loved and becoming missionaries of this Love in a total way.

Totality is a profound requirement of consecrated virginity, which does not admit mediocrity. Consecration is by its very nature a generous and total act of love that carries the consecrated woman up, on the cross. Therefore, she is elevated and in the deep of the heart of Christ.

Thanks to her consecration, the virgin engages in four "duties": that of praising God with more sweetness, that of hoping in God with more joy, that of loving God with more ardor, and that of being a missionary of mercy becoming a perseverant witness of the joy to be loved and to love in a pure and free way. It is as St. Augustine taught already in De sacra virginitate: "Therefore go on, Saints of God, boys and girls, males and females, unmarried men, and women; go on and persevere unto the end. Praise more sweetly the Lord, Whom ye think on more richly: hope more happily in Him, Whom ye serve more instantly: love more ardently Him, whom you please more attentively.”

 

 

Patristic reading

Saint Augustin of Hippo (354 – 430) 
Tractate CXXI.on Jn 20:10-29

1). Mary Magdalene had brought the news to His disciples, Peter and John, that the Lord was taken away from the sepulchre; and they, when they came thither, found only the linen clothes wherewith the body had been shrouded; and what else could they believe but what she had told them, and what she had herself also believed? “Then the disciples went away again unto their own” (home); that is to say, where they were dwelling, and from which they had run to the sepulchre. “But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping.” For while the men returned, the weaker sex was fastened to the place by a stronger affection. And the eyes, which had sought the Lord and had not found Him, had now nothing else to do but weep, deeper in their sorrow that He had been taken away from the sepulchre than that He had been slam on the tree; seeing that in the case even of such a Master, when His living presence was withdrawn from their eyes, His remembrance also had ceased to remain. Such grief, therefore, now kept the woman at the sepulchre. “And as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre.” Why she did so I know not. For she was not ignorant that He whom she sought was no longer there, since she had herself also carried word to the disciples that He had been taken from thence; while they, too, had come to the sepulchre, and had sought the Lord’s body, not merely by looking, but also by entering, and had not found it. What then does it mean, that, as she wept, she stooped down, and looked again into the sepulchre? Was it that her grief was So excessive that she hardly thought she could believe either their eyes or her own? Or was it rather by some divine impulse that her mind led her to look within? For look she did, “and saw two angels in white, sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” Why is it that one was sitting at the head, and the other at the feet? Was it, since those who in Greek are called angel" are in Latin nuntii [in English, news-bearers], that in this way they signified that the gospel of Christ was to be preached from head to foot, from the beginning even to the end? “They say to her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.” The angels forbade her tears: for by such a position what else did they announce, but that which in some way or other was a future joy? For they put the question, “Why weepest thou?” as if they had said, Weep not. But she, supposing they had put the question from ignorance, unfolded the cause of her tears. “Because,” she said, “they have taken away my Lord:” calling her Lord’s inanimate body her Lord, meaning a part for the whole; just as all of us acknowledge that Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, our Lord, who of course is at once both the Word and soul and flesh, was nevertheless crucified and buried, while it was only His flesh that was laid in the sepulchre. “And I know not,” she added, “where they have laid Him.” This was the greater cause of sorrow, because she knew not where to go to mitigate her grief. But the hour had now come when the joy, in some measure announced by the angels, who forbade her tears, was to succeed the weeping.

2. Lastly, “when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing Him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, Sir, If thou hast borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto Him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master.” Let no one speak ill of the woman because she called the gardener, Sir (domine), and Jesus, Master. For there she was asking, here she was recognizing; there she was showing respect to a person of whom she was asking a favor, here she was recalling the Teacher of whom she was learning to discern things human and divine. She called one lord (sir), whose handmaid she was not, in order by him to get at the Lord to whom she belonged. In one sense, therefore, she used the word Lord when she said, “They have taken away my Lord; and in another, when she said, Sir (lord), if thou hast borne Him hence.” For the prophet also called those lords who were mere men, but in a different sense from Him of whom it is written, “The Lord is His name.”1 But how was it that this woman, who had already turned herself back to see Jesus, when she supposed Him to be the gardener, and was actually talking with Him, is said to have again turned herself, in order to say unto Him “Rabboni,” but just because, when she then turned herself in body, she supposed Him to be what He was not, while now, when turned in heart, site recognized Him to be what He was.

3. “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; to my God, and your God.” There are points in these words which we must examine with brevity indeed, but with somewhat more than ordinary attention. For Jesus was giving a lesson in faith to the woman, who had recognized Him as her Master, and called Him so in her reply; and this gardener was sowing in her heart, as in His own garden, the grain of mustard seed. What then is meant by “Touch me not”? And just as if the reason of such a prohibition would be sought, He added, “for I am not yet ascended to my Father.” What does this mean? If, while standing on earth, He is not to be touched, how could He be touched by men when sitting in heaven? For certainly, before He ascended, He presented Himself to the touch of the disciples, when He said, as testified by the evangelist Luke, “Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have;”2 or when He said to Thomas the disciple, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and put forth thy hand, and thrust it into my side.” And who could be so absurd as to affirm that He was willing indeed to be touched by the disciples before He ascended to the Father, but refused it in the case of women till after His ascension? But no one, even had any the will, was to be allowed to run into such folly. For we read that women also, after His resurrection and before His ascension to the Father, touched Jesus, among whom was Mary Magdalene herself; for it is related by Matthew that Jesus met them, and said, “All hail. And they approached, and held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him.”3 This was passed over by John, but declared as the truth by Matthew. It remains, therefore, that some sacred mystery must lie concealed in these words; and whether we discover it or utterly fail to do so, yet we ought to be in no doubt as to its actual existence. Accordingly, either the words, “Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father,” had this meaning, that by this woman the Church of the Gentiles was symbolized, which did not believe on Christ till He had actually ascended to the Father, or that in this way Christ wished Himself to be believed on; in other words, to be touched spiritually, that He and the Father are one. For He has in a manner ascended to the Father, to the inward perception of him who has made such progress in the knowledge of Christ that he acknowledges Him as equal with the Father: in any other way He is not rightly touched, that is to say, in any other way He is not rightly believed on. But Mary might have still so believed as to account Him unequal with the Father, and this certainly is forbidden her by the words, “Touch me not;” that is, Believe not thus on me according to thy present notions; let not your thoughts stretch outwards to what I have been made in thy behalf, without passing beyond to that whereby thou hast thyself been made. For how could it be otherwise than carnally that she still believed on Him whom she was weeping over as a man? “For I am not yet ascended,” He says, “to my Father:” there shalt thou touch me, when thou believest me to be God, in no wise unequal with the Father. “But go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father.” He saith not, Our Father: in one sense, therefore, is He mine, in another sense, yours; by nature mine, by grace yours. “And my God, and your God.” Nor did He say here, Our God: here, therefore, also is He in one sense mine, in another sense yours: my God; under whom I also am as man; your God, between whom and you I am mediator.

4. “Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and He hath spoken these things unto me. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when He had so said, He showed unto them His hands and His side.” For nails had pierced His hands, a spear had laid open His side: and there the marks of the wounds are preserved for healing the hearts of the doubting. But the shutting of doors presented no obstacle to the matter of His body, wherein Godhead resided. He indeed could enter without their being opened, by whose birth the virginity of His mother remained inviolate, “Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said He unto them again, Peace be unto you.” Reiteration is confirmation; for He Himself gives by the prophet a promised peace upon peace.4 “As the Father hath sent me,” He adds, “even so send I you.” We know the Son to be equal to the Father; but here we recognize the words of the Mediator. For He exhibits Himself as occupying a middle position when He says, He me, and I you. “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” By breathing on them He signified that the Holy Spirit was the Spirit, not of the Father alone, but likewise His own. “Whose so-ever sins,” He continues, “ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever ye retain, they are retained.” The Church’s love, which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, discharges the sins of all who are partakers with itself, but retains the sins of those who have no participation therein. Therefore it is, that after saying “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” He straightway added this regarding the remission and retention of sins.

5. “But Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe. And after eight days, again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God.” He saw and touched the man, and acknowledged the God whom he neither saw nor touched; but by the means of what he saw and touched, he now put far away from him every doubt, and believed the other. “Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed.” He saith not, Thou hast touched me, but, “Thou hast seen me,” because sight is a kind of general sense. For sight is also habitually named in connection with the other four senses: as when we say, Listen, and see how well it sounds; smell it, and see how well it smells; taste it, and see how well it savors; touch it, and see how hot it is. Everywhere has the word, See, made itself heard, although sight, properly speaking, is allowed to belong only to the eyes. Hence here also the Lord Himself says, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands:” and what else does He mean but, Touch and see? And yet he had no eyes in his finger. Whether therefore it was by looking, or also by touching, “Because thou hast seen me,” He says, “thou hast believed.” Although it may be affirmed that the disciple dared not so to touch, when He offered Himself for the purpose; for it is not written, And Thomas touched Him. But whether it was by gazing only, or also by touching that he saw and believed, what follows rather proclaims and commends the faith of the Gentiles: “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” He made use of words in the past tense, as One who, in His predestinating purpose, knew what was future, as if it had already taken place. But the present discourse must be kept from the charge of prolixity: the Lord will give us the opportunity to discourse at another time on the topics that remain.

1 Ps 68:4
2 Lc 24:39
3 Mt 28:9
4 Is 26:3