THE TEXT BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPTION OF THE VIDEO COMMENTARY BY FR. FERNANDO ARMELLINI

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On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 

A blessed Easter to all. 

In last week’s Easter Sunday evangelical text, three people with a great love for Christ were presented. They went to the tomb at dawn: Magdalen, Peter, and the beloved disciple. They saw the rolled stone, the folded sheet, and the shroud, but not the body of Jesus. 

This happened on Easter morning. Today’s Gospel recounts the Risen One’s appearance to the disciples that same afternoon. It begins by describing where they were. They were locked in at home, with the door locked, because they were afraid of the Jews. Note that it does not say ‘the apostles’ or ‘the Ten’ but ‘disciples’ (Ten because Judas was no longer there, and on this night of Easter, Thomas is also missing). 

While everyone is locked inside the house, Thomas is outside. We begin to like him because he is not afraid to be outside. If the text mentions ‘disciples,’ it means it is not only referring to the men in the Upper Room; it is addressed to all the disciples. Therefore, the experience narrated here is what all the disciples should do. They are afraid of the Jews … We must clarify that, in the Gospel of John, the ‘Jews’ are not all the people of Israel… NO. 

In the Gospel of John, they are portrayed as unbelievers, those who oppose Jesus’ proposal for a new world. They are uncomfortable with Jesus’ light and prefer the darkness of the ancient world. This first community is scared. 

It is the image of the Church afraid of those who do not accept Jesus’ proposal for humanity. The proposal of a new world, of a new society … It is the Church afraid to face those who think and live differently. They lock themselves up and close the doors; she (the Church) sees evil everywhere, even where it does not exist, and isolates herself because she fears not knowing how to answer the questions the world would ask her. The Church doesn’t know how to behave or explain its choices. When the Church is afraid, she closes in on herself. 

Fear is always a poor advisor to the Church because it makes her aggressive, bigoted, and fanatical, as it has in the past. Instead of engaging in dialogue and articulating her convictions, she tries to impose them. 

When we study the history of the Church, we remember some fears: fear of science, the Church’s resistance to rationalism, Galileo’s discoveries, and evolutionary theories. 

There is also fear of democracy and of freedom of conscience. There is fear of Bible studies and of the new interpretations arising from recent historical and archaeological discoveries. It took a Council to cast out all these fears. Fears are not lacking in the Church today, as she must face a society we know well and that is increasingly less inclined to accept the strong proposals of the Gospel: renunciation, sacrifice, and demanding life projects. This is out of style today, and simpler options are preferred… marriage while it lasts… Forming a stable family and committing to a union of faithful, unconditional love isn’t easy. This seems like a proposal from a different time. Many people today prefer what could be called ‘consumerist’: the pleasures I can immediately enjoy; what I like is fine. 

Faced with this society and this world, disciples can be tempted to lock themselves up, to stay away out of fear of confrontation and of being seen as retrograde, medieval people who disagree with the present time, and to renounce what Jesus has said: ‘be salt of the earth and light of the world.’ The disciples must remain in the world. Let us ask ourselves why the disciples were afraid on Easter night. The reason is that they had not yet experienced meeting the Risen One. 

And all our fears have the same origin: the light of the Risen One, who must illuminate the decisions of our lives at all times, is missing. Among us, there are even more admirers of Jesus of Nazareth and his moral proposals than those who truly ‘have seen’ the Risen One. What happens to the disciples in Jerusalem on Easter night because of their fears? Jesus comes and is in their midst. The verbs used by the evangelist John are important. 

We must keep in mind: it does not say that Jesus ‘appears,’ makes himself seen, and then disappears. NO. It is a presence that remains in the midst of the community of the disciples. The event changes everything in this first community of disciples: the presence of the Risen One. It changes everything in the Church today when we realize that the Risen One is still present in the Christian community. The evangelist John uses a particular verb to say that they have had this experience of encountering the Risen One… they have seen him, or, better, he has made himself seen. 

And the verb ‘orao’ is used. Last Sunday, we distinguished three verbs. In our languages, we have only one verb: ‘to see,’ but in Greek, three verbs mean ‘to see,’ and the evangelist uses them. The first is: ‘blepo,’ which is seeing with the physical gaze, which is verifiable. So, Mary Magdalen saw the stone move. Then we have another verb: ‘theorem’: the one who has seen begins to go further, to reflect; it is a seeing that goes beyond, towards the invisible. Then we have another verb: ‘orao.’ 

And this is the verb that the evangelist John uses to describe their experience: they have seen what cannot be verified by physical eyes. They see the invisible. They see the Risen One; this gaze is the gaze of faith and love. The gaze allows us to contemplate what is real, even though physical eyes cannot verify it. The evangelist says that on Easter day, the disciples became aware of a new presence, a new way of Jesus being present in their midst. A presence that exceeds all limits that belong to this world, limits of space and time. And it is a presence that is real today as well. 

If we are unaware of the Risen One’s presence among us, all the fears we have mentioned and experienced throughout the Church’s history will reappear. 

Let us now listen to what these disciples, who are together out of fear rather than out of faith in Christ, see: 

After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ After saying this, he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.’ 

When Jesus appears to the disciples gathered on the evening of Easter, the Risen One says, “Peace be with you,” and then shows them his hands and side. This is not an apologetic gesture, as if Jesus were demonstrating his risen embodiment. We must erase this image from Western paintings: Jesus emerging from the grave with his body and returning to our midst. NO. This is not the resurrection. 

Resurrection is not about returning to this life but about entering the world of God, the definitive world, the world where all of us will enter one day. Why does he show his hands and side? The hands and side do not identify a person; the face does. Instead, Jesus reveals his identity in his hands and on his side. Therefore, we must contemplate those hands carefully because they are the revelation of the hands of God. 

The Old Testament speaks of the hands of God, but the revelation of God’s face and hands is progressive, and the complete revelation of God’s hands is found in the hands of Jesus of Nazareth. What do the hands mean? The hands indicate action, the work that one does. And we, looking at the hands of Jesus, see that he reveals his identity through the works he does with his hands. In general, when the Old Testament speaks of the hands of God, it is in a positive sense: God does good with his hands. But we also have references to punishing hands. When God extends his hand over Egypt, the plagues come. Also, one of the Maccabee brothers issues a threat, saying to the king, “You will not escape from the hands of God.”It’s a threat. Also, in the letter to the Hebrews, we have that expression that reflects the language of the rabbinical homilies… “It is terrible to fall into the hands of the living God….” 

Instead, let’s look at the full disclosure of the works God performed through the hands of Jesus. The crowd marvels at everything done by the hands of Jesus: they heal, and when he meets the leper, Jesus reaches out and caresses him. Also, the beautiful scene of Jesus taking the children in his arms, caressing them, and placing his hands on them. Also, the hands of Jesus, which washed the disciples’ feet. These hands present the proposal of the new world, of service, of the gift of love. 

And these hands were also nailed, blocked by those who wanted to perpetuate the ‘old’ works. They are the hands of the ancient world, of darkness; they were the hands that destroyed, attacked, waged wars, and committed violence. Hands that did not ‘give’ but ‘took’ were selfishly monopolizing. This ancient world wanted to block this new world, made of service and works of love, by nailing them to the cross. Jesus presents these hands as his identity. 

After showing the hands, he shows the side from which blood and water flowed. In Semitic culture, blood signifies life, a life given out of love. Water signifies new life, that of the Spirit. It is the divine DNA we have been given. Therefore, the hands and the side are the identity card of the Son of God. And not just for Jesus. They must be the identity card of all the sons and daughters of God, since having received the ‘Spirit’ of Christ, the life of the Eternal that Jesus brought to the world is now our identity card. And these hands perform only acts of love. 

And when the disciples recognized the Risen One, “they were glad to see the Lord.” Joy brings peace; it is the mark of a person who lives in accordance with God’s design. Sadness arises from believing that the gift of life, as we see it in Jesus, was a mistake. Joy is born of the discovery that the love poured out does not end. Every work of love endures. Then the Risen One says: “As the Father has sent me, I send you.” We have seen these disciples locked up at home out of fear. Now the Risen One invites them out. They should not be afraid. He sends them into the world. 

What is he asking them to do? He sends the disciples to show the world their hands, which should be like Jesus’. He sends the disciples to propose different hands: hands committed to life, not death; hands that do not commit violence; hands that build a world of peace. The Church exists to make the Lord’s hands present and visible, to carry out his works, and to bring to fruition the new world that he has begun. 

The world must see in the works of our hands the works of the hands of Jesus. Why did Jesus do these things with his hands? Why did his hands move that way? Just for love. Because the Spirit guided him, Jesus communicated the Spirit to the community of his disciples on Easter. 

The evangelist John uses the verb “has breathed” on them. It is a very rare verb. It appears only twice in the Old Testament. The first time is during the creation of man: “God has breathed into man his breath.” It is mentioned again in the book of Ezekiel, when this breath gives life to the dry bones on the plain. In the New Testament, it appears only here.

Now we can understand the meaning the evangelist intends to convey in this breath of the Risen One. He is the new man created by the gift of the Spirit; this is divine filiation. And the text continues: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” 

The Council of Trent claimed that Jesus instituted the sacrament of penance with these words. He gave the disciples the power to forgive sins. The sacrament of reconciliation is a precious gift for those seeking to regain a life inclined toward sin. But Jesus’ words have a deeper, broader meaning. ‘To forgive sins’: The verb used here is ‘fiemi’ = to cast out. It means making the unjust world disappear—that world where hands are used to harm people and nature. This is the world of sin. 

Therefore, the disciples have received the Spirit and must cancel, cast out, and sweep away sin in the ancient world. Jesus entrusts our community with enormous responsibility. If sin is not cast out, the responsibility lies with the disciples who do not allow themselves to be guided by the Spirit the Risen One has given them at Easter. 

This was the Lord’s manifestation to the disciples gathered on Easter night. Thomas was absent:

Eight days later, on the Lord’s Day (Sunday), when the community gathered, Thomas was also there: Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the nail marks, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’ 

In the Gospel of John, the characters are real: Peter, John, Andrew, Nicodemus… but, in turn, they become symbols of a different way to relate to the Teacher. Thomas represents those who have difficulty accepting the Risen One. He seeks rational, verifiable proof of the resurrection. All the evangelists note that the disciples did not immediately come to faith in the Risen One. It cost them. They had many doubts. 

At the end of his Gospel, Mark says that when Jesus appeared to the eleven, he reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. When the Risen One appears to them, Luke says, “Why are they troubled? Why do doubts arise in their hearts?” In the last chapter, Matthew recounts the Risen One’s earlier appearance, saying, “Some are still doubting.” 

So, it wasn’t just Thomas who doubted and struggled to believe in the Risen One; they all had doubts and questions. When John wrote his Gospel, around 90-95, Thomas had long since died. Why does John take this figure? Because it costs him more than the others. 

Thomas symbolizes the difficulties the disciples and we have also encountered. They had a hard time believing. They have asked themselves, as we also ask ourselves: What reasons lead us to believe in the Risen One? And is it possible for us today to have this experience? Is there evidence that he is alive? These are the questions we ask ourselves today. 

John also takes Thomas as the symbol of every disciple’s difficulty. Let us now look at Thomas’s figure. When Thomas is introduced, the evangelist always adds: ‘Didymus,’ which means ‘twin.’ It is the third time Thomas appears in the Gospel of John. And it always seems like a ‘twin.’ Someone’s twin … whose? The evangelist insists on this. Twin of every disciple! Now we must understand how we are a ‘twin’ of this Thomas, who has difficulty accepting the Risen One. We are his ‘twins’ because we are like him. 

But first, I want to clarify: Thomas left the community of the disciples, but this is not the same as those who leave the Church and withdraw, despising others because they believe they are the true disciples and feel superior… Thomas is not a ‘twin’ of those who, perhaps shocked by what happens in the Christian community, embrace atheism or become members of another religion. 

Thomas did not leave the group to go his own way; he maintained a connection with those who offered him the option to follow the Master. In fact, after eight days, we found him again in the community. He is a “twin” of those who suffer, of those embittered at times by ecclesial experiences, who leave this community for a time, perhaps because they do not understand specific options. He is a “twin” of someone who has believed in the new world, of those who have given their souls for the proposal of Christ… 

Let us think of the catechists who, for 20 years, insisted on proclaiming the Gospel, dedicating time and energy, only to experience a moment of discouragement and disappointment. Let’s give some clear examples. Even today, some withdraw from the Church because of scandals among the disciples, with devastating consequences. 

Or those disillusioned with a monolithic, centralized, backward ecclesial structure where power still competes. The church still presents itself as having a particular interest in wealth, or, for a Church that is still medieval, as a little Constantinian, clerical, triumphalist, and not evangelical. If one goes away and rejects this Church because of its limits, it is not Thomas ‘twin’… those who leave because of that are on their own. 

Thomas, the ‘twin,’ is the one who has a difficult time. Still, they return to the community because they know someone is there (they will discover later), the Risen One, who holds this community together and, with this community, carries on your new world project. The disciples, the ten, have already seen the Risen One, and they approach Thomas… Interestingly, the verb used here is not ‘they said to him’ or ‘they all tell Thomas’; it is a continuous action: they tried to convince him. ‘We have seen…’. They told him about their experience. 

Thomas would have preferred another kind of proof—rational, verifiable evidence. This is our ‘twin’ because we, too, would like proof of Christ’s resurrection. Yet this is impossible because these experiences are not of our world but of God’s. We can also meet God in our privacy, at home, praying individually. But the Risen One can be seen and found only in the community of the disciples gathered on the Lord’s Day. 

Let’s listen to how the evangelist narrates Thomas’s Easter experience on the day of the Lord: 

Now, a week later, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, though the doors were locked, and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.’ Thomas answered and said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.’ Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name. 

Eight days later, Thomas was also with the disciples. The meeting was on Sunday. Jesus always greets the disciples on the Lord’s Day with the same greeting: Peace be with you. It is the greeting we hear on the Lord’s Day, pronounced by the presiding officer of the Eucharistic celebration: ‘Peace be with you.’ It is the greeting the Risen One gives to the disciples. He has done it with the ten, and now he does it with Thomas. 

The disciples have abandoned him and even reneged on the Master, yet the Risen One does not rebuke them and always offers them his peace. Likewise, we receive no rebuke when we present ourselves on the Lord’s Day with all our weaknesses. The greeting is always peace: “I give you peace.” 

Then he says to Thomas, “Look at my hands and touch my wounds; reach out and feel my side.” This is not a reproach to Thomas. Jesus fulfills Thomas’s desire to touch and see his hands and the wound that has left his side open. It invites Thomas to keep his gaze fixed on Jesus’ hands and side. 

It is precisely the invitation we receive on the Lord’s Day to contemplate his hands and his side. If we always keep before us what those hands have done, then, even when we leave the Church during the week, we will always have in mind the mission the Risen One has given us: show everyone his hands with our hands. How can we observe those hands? How can we keep our eyes fixed on that side of the One who has given all his blood, that is, all his life? 

We have the answer in the Eucharist, in the Eucharistic bread. When Jesus wanted to summarize and present a sign to us, he offered his whole life story in bread. “I became the bread of life; I have donated as the food of life.” On the Lord’s Day, we are invited to do exactly what Thomas wanted: look at those hands and sides. We should always do so, because if we do not keep our eyes fixed on those hands and that side, we will not be able to reproduce Christ’s presence in the world. 

Thomas makes his profession of faith. The most beautiful ever. He, who was presented as having a hard time believing, has on his lips the most beautiful profession of faith: “My Lord and my God.” This expression is important because we are in the time of Emperor Domitian, who wanted to be honored as lord and god. His order was formulated this way: ‘Domitian, our lord and our god orders that…’ Thomas tells us that the disciple of Christ does not have as a point of reference ‘this lord and this god’ who is the emperor of Rome, presented in the book of Revelation as the beast, because it represents the ancient world. Our Lord and our God are the ones who introduce us to those hands that have only built love and that side that indicates the gift of his whole life. 

I wish you all a good Easter and a good week.