An unexpected light from the heart of darkness
By Simone Riva - Il Sussidiario
"On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord."
The Gospel of John, as presented in the Liturgy on this second Sunday of Easter, captures a scene that mirrors the situation we are experiencing in the world and, often, in our everyday lives. The apostles, under threat, are locked tight in the Upper Room. Everything seems like a colossal failure. Fear dominates, and nobody dares to move. Yet, in the heart of this darkness, something unexpected happens: Jesus arrives. John details this visit through locked doors, He stands among them, brings peace and shows the signs of His passion.
Firstly, the details of the locked doors are important. Having entered the definitive dimension of humanity, the risen Christ is no longer bound by space and time as we are. What is closed to us is open to Him. He positions Himself among the disciples. From now on, that will be His place: among them. From any angle, He can be seen if one looks for Him. As Chiara Lubich wrote, "It's not just about believing in His presence by faith because He said so. No: Jesus among us, if He is there, makes Himself felt, can be experienced" (Conversations, Città Nuova, 2019, pp. 580-1).
Moreover, the first words of the risen Lord are to ensure the gift of peace. It's not a mere greeting but possesses all the characteristics of a gift. These are words He hadn’t spoken before: only with the resurrection can we believe that peace is ’t just an illusion or, worse, the fruit of our efforts. To confirm this, He shows His pierced hands and sides, thereby removing any distance between Him and His followers by indicating the physical place where all human wounds find peace: His wounds. He chose to keep them as an undeniable sign of the truth of His identity and as a conduit of mercy, signaling not that He fixed a ruined world but that He inaugurated a new one, the civilization of love.
Saint John Paul II wanted this Sunday to be dedicated to Divine Mercy. In 2001, during the homily for this occasion, he said, "You burn with the desire to be loved, and whoever aligns with the feelings of your heart learns to be a builder of the new civilization of love. A simple act of surrender is enough to break through the barriers of darkness, sadness, doubt, and despair. The rays of your divine mercy restore hope, especially to those weighed down by the burden of sin."
The resurrection is for bold men and women who yearn to be loved. Thus, the doors open, we’re no longer the center of the world, peace isn’t an illusion, and our wounds have a home. When grasped by this presence, all our challenges can no longer scare us except for the fear of preferring the sealed rooms of our darkness. The joy of the disciples upon seeing the Lord will become ours.
Unrevised translation by the author - Il Sussidiario
