First Reading (Acts 5:12-16)
Reading of the Acts of the Apostles.
Many signs and wonders were performed among the people by the hands of the apostles. All the faithful gathered, with great unity, in Solomon’s Portico. None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them very much. The number of those who adhered to the Lord by faith grew and grew; it was a crowd of men and women. They even transported the sick to the squares on beds and stretchers, so that when Pedro passed by, at least his shadow would touch some of them. The crowd even came from the cities neighboring Jerusalem, bringing sick people and people tormented by evil spirits. And everyone was healed.
– Word of the Lord.
– Thank God.
Second Reading (Revelation 1,9-11a.12-13.17-19)
Reading of the Book of Revelation of Saint John.
I, John, your brother and companion in tribulation, and also in the kingdom and perseverance in Jesus, was taken to the island of Patmos, because of the Word of God and the testimony I gave about Jesus. On the Lord’s Day, I was in the Spirit and heard a loud voice behind me, like a trumpet, saying, “What you will see, write it down in a book.” Then I turned to see who was speaking; and when I turned back, I saw seven golden lampstands. He placed his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, the one who lives. I was dead, but now I’m alive forever. I have the key to death and the region of the dead. Write down what you saw, what is happening and what will happen later.
– Word of the Lord.
– Thank God.
Gospel (John 20,19-31)
Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John.
— Glory to you, Lord.
At dusk on that day, the first day of the week, the doors of the place where the disciples were being closed for fear of the Jews, Jesus entered and standing in their midst, said: “Peace be with you.” After these words, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced to see the Lord. Again, Jesus said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And after he had said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whoever you forgive their sins will be forgiven; whoever you do not forgive, their sins will be withheld.” Thomas, called Didymus, who was one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples later told him: “We have seen the Lord!” But Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the prints of the nails in his hands, unless I put my finger in the prints of the nails and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Eight days later, the disciples were gathered at home again, and Thomas was with them. When the doors were closed, Jesus entered, stood among them and said: “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Stretch out your hand and place it in my side. And do not be unbelieving, but faithful.” Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Did you believe because you saw me? Blessed are those who believed without having seen!” Jesus performed many other signs before the disciples, which are not written in this book. But these were written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, believing, you might have life in his name.
— Word of Salvation.
— Glory to you, Lord.
Reflecting the Word of God
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Have you ever felt so transformed by an experience that you became almost unrecognizable to yourself? Imagine the apostles in those first days after the resurrection. These men who had hidden behind locked doors out of fear are now performing miracles in the streets of Jerusalem. Simple fishermen and tax collectors, now transmuted into channels of divine grace, with even their shadows healing the sick!
Our first reading of the Acts of the Apostles reveals to us a Christian community on fire with the power of the Holy Spirit. “By the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were performed among the people.” What we witness here is not just the birth of the Church, but its baptism of fire—a transformation so radical it defies our understanding.
What changed these men? What transformed Peter from a frightened denier into a leader so powerful that the sick were brought into the streets in the hope that his shadow would touch them? The answer lies in our Gospel today.
While fear still kept them locked up, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” He said, and showed them his hands and his side. Those wounds, far from being signs of defeat, became emblems of the greatest victory ever achieved. And then, in a gesture of divine intimacy, He breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Let’s imagine this moment. The same breath that animated Adam in the Garden of Eden now recreates these men. The breath of Christ transforms them from ordinary followers into apostles invested with heavenly authority. “Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; whoever you retain, they will be retained.” This is not just a new beginning for them, but the beginning of a new creation for all humanity.
But there is one absent from this transformative encounter. Thomas wasn’t there. And when he hears the feverish testimony of his brothers, he responds skeptically: “Unless I see the print of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
How many of us recognize ourselves in Thomas? We live in an age of skepticism, where doubt is often valued more than faith. We demand proof, tangible evidence before we believe. “Show me,” we say, “and then maybe I will believe.” Like Thomas, we want to put our fingers in the wounds before we surrender to the truth.
But notice Jesus’ response to Thomas. Eight days later, He appears again and immediately addresses Thomas’ doubt: “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not be an unbeliever, but a believer!” Jesus does not condemn Thomas for his doubt; He goes to meet Thomas exactly where he is.
And this is what Christ does for each of us. He comes to meet us in our doubts, in our struggles, in our moments of disbelief. He shows us his wounds—not to shame us, but to invite us to deeper faith.
Thomas’s reaction is transformative: “My Lord and my God!” This is not just a confession of belief, but a declaration of total surrender. Thomas not only recognizes that Jesus was resurrected; he recognizes the full divinity of Christ. It is one of the most profound confessions of faith in the entire New Testament.
Jesus then offers a blessing that echoes down the centuries to us: “Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed.” This is the blessing for all of us who cannot place our fingers in the wounds of Christ or see with our physical eyes the risen Lord. Our faith, although not based on physical vision, is no less real or powerful than the faith of the apostles.
This truth is beautifully illustrated in our second reading of Revelation. John, exiled to the island of Patmos “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus”, has a vision of the resurrected and glorified Christ. This is no longer the Jesus who walked through Galilee, but the cosmic Christ, with “hair as white as wool, as snow,” a voice “like the rushing of many waters,” and a face “like the sun when it shines in all its splendor.”
Before this overwhelming glory, John falls “as if dead at his feet.” But notice Jesus’ response: “Fear not!” And He places His right hand on John, the same gesture of intimacy and blessing that He offered to Thomas.
This is the same message that Christ offers to each of us: “Fear not! I am the First and the Last, the Living. I was dead, but behold, I am alive forever and ever.”
My brothers and sisters, this is the central truth of our faith. Christ, who was crucified, is alive. And not only alive, but reigning in glory and power, holding “the keys of death and the abyss.” The same Christ who transformed the frightened apostles into fearless heralds of the resurrection, the same Christ who met Thomas in his doubt and John in his exile, is the Christ who comes to meet us today.
He comes to us not only in moments of spiritual ecstasy, but in our locked doors of fear, in our moments of doubt, in our places of exile and solitude. He comes bringing peace, offering his wounds as signs of love, breathing his life-giving Spirit into us.
And just as He transformed the apostles, He wants to transform us. The account in Acts is not just a story of the past, but a promise for the present. The same power that flowed through the apostles is available to us today. The same Spirit that empowered Peter to heal the sick and boldly proclaim the resurrection is the Spirit that indwells us as the Church.
But this transformation demands our response. Like Thomas, we are invited to move from doubt to faith, from unbelief to confession: “My Lord and my God!” Like John, we are called to hear and write what we see—to be witnesses of the resurrection in our world.
And like the first Christians in Jerusalem, we are invited to live with such fullness of the Spirit that others are drawn to the light of Christ in us. Our calling is not simply to believe in the resurrection as a historical fact, but to live as resurrected people, bearers of the peace of Christ, agents of His forgiveness, channels of His healing.
May we, who celebrate the resurrection in this Easter season, be transformed by the encounter with the living Christ. May those who watch us see not just our shadows, but the reflection of Christ’s light in us. And may our response to doubt—whether in ourselves or others—always be Jesus’ loving invitation: “Stretch out your hand… do not be unbelievers, but believers.”
For blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Blessed are we who, although we have not seen with our physical eyes, yet confess with our lips and our hearts: “My Lord and my God!”
May the peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds this day and always. Amen.
