Most Reverend José H. Gomez Archbishop of Los Angeles
St. Anthony Croatian Catholic Church Los Angeles, California April 16, 2023
My brothers and sisters in Christ,1
As I said, I’m very happy to be with all of you today for this special celebration of the Eucharist and as you conclude your gathering this year, especially for the young people who are here for that special gathering.
I pray that this has been a beautiful time of renewing your friendship with Jesus Christ and your awareness of the great dignity and mission that we have as disciples.
As we know, I just also mentioned it, today is the “octave” of Easter. That means it’s been eight days since Jesus rose from the dead, as we know, as we celebrate on Easter Sunday.
When we reflect on that, we have to — the first thing that seems to me that is good to reflect on is that our Lord’s Resurrection changed the whole world — and it also changed what is possible for all of us during our lifetimes and then, obviously, going to heaven by the mercy of God.
So today when we listen to the words of those disciples and Jesus — the men and women who first met Jesus after he rose from the dead — they describe feelings of amazing joy and gratitude. And they talk about having discovered the greatest treasure they could ever imagine.
The Apostle Peter met Jesus on that first Easter night. And we heard his words in our second reading today, he said:
“In his great mercy, [God] gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you!”
St. Peter and those first disciples, as we know, found an empty tomb and they realized that from that moment on their lives would have a whole new beginning — a new purpose, a new direction, a new destiny.
And my dear brothers and sisters, this is true for all of us, also.
And as we know, the Church calls this second Sunday after Easter “Divine Mercy Sunday,” I mentioned at the beginning of Mass, too. That is because in his great mercy, God has given us that new beginning, that “new birth,” that St. Peter talks about. This is the promise of Easter, the promise of the Resurrection.
Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we can also be raised to a new life! Our whole life now can become a beautiful adventure. We can walk with Jesus every day for the rest of our lives, following our risen Lord and living with him as our friend and companion.
It’s amazing. It’s beautiful.
And Jesus wants to have the same friendship that he had with his apostles and disciples with each one of us.
Our Gospel passage today takes us back to that first week after the Resurrection. And as we heard, the disciples were scared. They are hiding out in an upper room and, the Gospel tells us, “the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear.”
And when we think about it, it kind of makes sense. Because they were friends and followers of Jesus, of a Man who had just been crucified by the government at that time. So the disciples must have been thinking that the authorities were coming next to arrest them.
So, they’ve got the doors closed, but somehow Jesus gets into the room. Suddenly he appears. And the Gospel says: “He showed them his hands and his side.”
Now, why did he do that?
Because Jesus wanted them to know, and he wants all of us to know — that he is alive.
So my dear brothers and sisters, there is nothing more beautiful and more important to know — that Jesus really died for us — for you and for me. And now, this same Jesus is alive in the world, and his calling you to a new life with him.
And he says to the disciples in the Gospel today, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And again, he is speaking these same words also to each one of us — to everyone who believes.
So my dear brothers and sisters, his Resurrection is our mission! We are to live for him, as he lived and died for us. Jesus is sending each one of us into the world — to be his disciples, to spread the joy and promise of his Resurrection.
This is our mission, all of us.
And it’s interesting because Jesus was having challenges at that time. Obviously to the point that some people didn’t like what he was saying and he ended up giving his life for us.
So, nowadays, again, Jesus is sending us out in this new generation to change the world. Not by force or by imposing things on other people. We change the world, just as those first disciples did: By walking with Jesus and loving Jesus, and showing our love for Jesus in the way we treat other people.
We change the world by living our faith in the Resurrection! As we heard in today’s first reading, the first disciples lived their faith with joy and confidence and generosity. They shared what they had with the poor. They came together to pray, to listen to the word of the apostles, to celebrate the Eucharist, which they called “the breaking of the bread.”
And that’s what we are called to do too. And that’s what we are doing this morning, and that’s what we try to do every day in our lives. This is how the children of God are called to live — nourished by the Word of God and the Eucharist, serving our brothers and sisters in love.
It is a beautiful call. It is a beautiful vocation. It is really bringing to the people of our time the beauty of the life, the teachings, the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that’s really what can change the world.
So we know that Mary the Mother of Jesus was there with those disciples in those days after the Resurrection. And as we know, in his dying words on the Cross, he asked Mary to be the Mother of the Church and the mother of each one of us who believes in him.
So, let us always go to our Mother Mary. Let us ask her today in a special way to help all of us to live the “new birth” that we have by the great mercy of God, and by the Resurrection of her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Readings (Sunday of Divine Mercy): Acts 2:42–47; Ps. 118:2–4, 13–15, 22–24; 1 Pet. 1:3–9; John 20:19–31.