First Reading
Acts 4:32-35
1. The early Church’s response to Christ’s life, death, and resurrection was their treatment of possessions. Compare your attitude toward possessions with theirs.
2. Who are the disadvantaged people in your immediate life? Can you take care of at least some of their needs? What, if anything, can you do about the basic necessities of people in your extended world? If you joined forces with another person or group could you do anything to alleviate the suffering of these people?
Second Reading
1 John 5:1-6
1. Does what you have done make you a Christian, or what Christ has done? Which is more important, belief in Jesus or performance of good deeds? If you believe deeply and personally in Jesus will good deeds spring from that belief and love?
2. “ … We know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments.” Love of God presumes love for others. If the two love are so connected and if one form of love always results in the other, does it matter which comes first?
Gospel
John 20:19-31
1. Genesis 2:7 says “God blew the breath of life” into the nostrils. … In John 20:22 Jesus breathes on the disciples. Could we pray for the breath of the Spirit to help with problems today? What about police kneeling on a person’s neck like with George Floyd? And problems with breathing due to climate change?
2. Pope Francis reminds us that Thomas arrived late but that the Lord did not abandon him. He came back the next week. Will God abandon us in our slow recovery from the pandemic? Can we forget those left behind?
Dear brothers and sisters, in the time of trial that we are presently undergoing, we too, like Thomas, with our fears and our doubts, have experienced our frailty. We need the Lord, who sees beyond that frailty an irrepressible beauty. With him we rediscover how precious we are even in our vulnerability. … And if, like crystal, we are transparent before him, his light—the light of mercy—will shine in us and through us in the world.
Feast of Divine Mercy, April 19, 2020
