Sometimes people say that they wish they could have lived at the time of Jesus because they could really see Him and hear His voice. We hear in the reading that Jesus said even more blessed are those who believe without seeing.
We are even more blessed than the disciples were. The reality is that Jesus continues to appear to us throughout the ages. We are here right now in the Basilica of St. Claire where He spoke to St. Francis.
He appeared to him through that cross and said: “build my church.”
We are here on this feast day of Divine Mercy Sunday when Jesus appeared to St. Faustina. He actually told her to paint the image that she saw. She was not a very good painter. She tried to paint the image but realized she could not do it, so she had to commission an artist to paint the image. That is the image you see of the rays that are coming forth from His hands.
Thomas himself could not see Him and demanded that unless he saw the Lord and put his fingers in His side, he would not believe. So, what do we see on this pilgrimage? The finger of St. Thomas. Jesus will go to any end to help us believe.
There are people right now (even people on this pilgrimage) whose hearts are hardened and are having a difficult time believing. Maybe you are here on this pilgrimage for someone else: for your spouse, a family member, or for your children who are having difficulty believing. The Lord has His ways.
What I love about this passage is He went through locked doors. When I was in the seminary, our chapel had a famous image (one that you have probably seen), of a door that Jesus is knocking on. He is holding a lantern and knocking on the door. There is no handle on the outside – only a handle on the inside.
The idea of that image is that we have to let Jesus in. We have to turn the handle and let Him into our hearts. There is some truth to that. What I love about this gospel is that Jesus can even walk right through that door. He can go through the locked door. Even if our hearts are locked to Him, he is able to enter. That is the message of Divine Mercy.
The Lord is so merciful that He can get into the hardest heart, the most locked heart. He is able to penetrate that.
What I want all of us to do right now is take a moment of silence.
If it is our own heart the Lord needs to penetrate, invite Him in. Open that door, and He will walk right through it. If it is someone else you are praying for, ask through this wonderful gift of Divine Mercy that Jesus enter even the hardest of hearts, right now, at this very moment.