Sunday, April 19, 2020 - Second Sunday of Easter - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 20, 19-31 -Thomas, because you have seen me, you believe, says the Lord. Blessed are those who believe without having seen!

We have just heard that Jesus appears to His disciples. By showing them his pierced hands and his open side, he made himself known to them that the Crucified One is also the Risen One, and the wounds on his hands and side are nothing but a testimony of his love for them. So when He invites Thomas to no longer be unbelieving but believing, He asks him not only to believe that He has risen but also to believe in the love that was the deep motivation for his life, his death on the cross and his return to his disciples once he has risen. And Thomas' response: "My Lord and my God" is an affirmation of faith; he acknowledges that the death and resurrection of Jesus reveals to us God's most intimate love for humanity.

After showing his hands pierced by the nails of the cross and his side opened by the soldier's spear, Jesus sends his disciples on a mission. He emphasizes that the mission he entrusts to them is of the same kind that he received from the Father who sent him to them. That is to say, a mission centred on the forgiveness of sins which is the source of peace for the whole world.