Second Sunday of Easter/A
Massimo Palombella
In today’s gospel (Jn 20:19-31), the famous story of the Apostle Thomas is recounted, where in the end Jesus declares blessed “those who have not seen and have believed”.
Jesus’ affirmation touches a cardinal aspect of our life with regard to the true quality of life itself. Indeed, all the important and great things that make us grow in our identity require us to ‘trust’. We have to discern, but at some point, if we really want to live, we have to take a step that requires trust. We will never know whether that woman, that man is really the right person with whom to form a family, whether entering the seminary is really the right thing to do, whether changing cities and relationships is really the right way…
There are so many plausible things, but to live, to savour life, one has to trust, to gamble, to commit oneself, to face one’s fears, one’s unresolved issues, to experience our weakness where our strength also lies.
Faith does not diminish life but enlarges it. When it is authentic faith does not diminish our humanity but slowly brings it to fulfilment. It makes us aware of the threads of our history. It brings us to understand that everything was and is only and only “grace”, a free and undeserved gift from a God who wants nothing but our good.
The Alleluia verse in Gregorian chant for today’s celebration is taken from Chapter 20 of the Gospel of John (Jn 20:26) and reads as follows:
Alleluia. Post dies octo, ianuis clausis, stetit Iesus in medio discipulorum suorum, et dixit:
Pax vobis. Alleluia.
(Alleluia. Eight days later, while all the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood in the midst of his disciples and said:
Peace be with you. Alleluia).
The attached music, in Gregorian chant, is taken from the Graduale Triplex published at Solesmes in 1979. The performance is by the “Chœur des Moines de l’Abbaye bénédictine de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac” conducted by André Saint-Cyr. The track can be found on the CD “Pax: Gregorian chant on the theme of peace”, released by Analekta in 2010.
A blessed Sunday and heartfelt greetings.
