Hope

The events that transpired this past week in and near Boston were like a zit on top of a wart - there was no ignoring them!  That is, unless one has the ability to ignore the most painfully obvious things, but then again most of us wonder about the people who have such an "ability" and just shake our heads in pity for their general ineptitude.  Well, anyway, some of the events, such as a bombing and an execution-style shooting, showed the deepest and darkest side of humanity.  They exposed a certain ugliness and profound evil.  For those affected by the lockdown, it was almost as if our lives just came to an eerie standstill.

But something beautiful happened in the midst of all the ugliness.  People reached out to help those in need, beyond what they normally would have done.  They even put their concern for their fellow man ahead of their concern for their own safety.  These people were mostly complete strangers to one another - not likely to have met before nor ever again.  Yet they reached out anyway with no expectation of any personal gain.  Each one acted as a gift of self rather than serving oneself.  In the midst of all the cold blood, a warm ray of hope came shining through, showing the pure goodness of humanity, showing that it could never be taken away from us no matter how bad things got.

Revelation 7: 9, 14b-17
John 10: 27-30

Divine Mercy Sunday

Divine Mercy Sunday:  That's what this and every Second Sunday of Easter is known as.  We need His Divine Mercy because we are never good enough on our own.  It's only by the grace of God that we ever keep ourselves together so as to be in good standing with Him.

An example of our human frailty is shown in today's Gospel.  Our Doubting Thomas said he would not believe that Jesus returned unless he had proof.  When Jesus offered him the opportunity, Thomas did not actually need to stick his finger into Jesus's hand nor did he need to stick his hand in Jesus's side.  He came to believe right on the spot in spite of what he had said earlier.  But nevertheless he still failed to believe without seeing.  The other disciples did not fare any better the previous time.  Jesus showed them His hands and His side before they rejoiced.  The only reason they knew and believed before Thomas did was because they had the benefit of seeing the proof first.

Given our frailty, the best approach is to just focus on loving Jesus and trust in Him.  Matters such as discernment and other related life decisions are things we ought not to stress over excessively or over-analyse.  These decisions are ultimately not ours to make.  We just do not see the big picture adequately enough to deal with these matters extensively.  It's not what we're made for.  All that is expected of us is to trust that we are being guided in the right direction and to focus on loving the one who is guiding us.

John 20: 19-31