The Easter Season lasts seven weeks liturgically because the Church wants to make the point that the Easter Mysteries are a disclosure of Divine love and seven is a biblical number assigning the fullness of something.  A week is a fullness of time but it isn’t “big enough” to fully celebrate this ultimate fullness of time, so we have a full week of weeks – a fullness of fullness.

Easter Sunday celebrates the fullness of life that only God brings.  There is no death finally – life overcomes it completely for those who embrace the fullness of God.

The Second Week of Easter challenges us to discover the fullness of God’s Mercy – the victory of God’s forgiveness over every possible harm or sin that humans can engage – except presumably the refusal of humans to accept God’s mercy. God will invite, challenge, lure and even seduce, us into relationship but never coerce us.  But for those who respond to the power of God’s seduction there is no sin so terrible it can’t be overcome by mercy.

There are no readings from the Old Testament during the Easter Season because the whole season is about the fulfillment of God’s promises from the Old Testament.  So, we hear passages from the book of Acts during these seven weeks.  Today’s reading invites us to experience the Mercy of God made present in the Church through the healing of the sick when the “Apostolic Shadow” fell on them.  This is a strong statement about God’s mercy being granted through even weak agencies that are related to God’s desire for compassion on His people.  Remember, Peter was the great denier just a short time ago – and yet through God’s forgiveness of Peter the apostle is able to extend that mercy throughout Jerusalem and to the whole world, wherever the Church is faithful to the mission of mercy.

The Mystical Writer of the book of Revelations shares this wonderful vision of being raised in Christ’s risen glory and hearing the Lord tell the visionary (and us) to not be afraid, for death has no power that the Risen Christ cannot overcome.  The Lord holds the power of total forgiveness and the ending of all death which the earlier biblical texts ascribe to human sin.   If we too stand before the power of Christ – in the Church, in the Sacraments, in our personal prayer, and offer ourselves, we will be touched by Christ and brought to the fullness of life – both here and hereafter.

Finally, we hear the wonderful story of Jesus’ mercy to the twin who doubts the truth of the apostolic witness.  He must see for himself the Jesus he knew and loved.  Jesus gently comes to him and shows himself – his wounds, his new life – and Thomas believes.  In so many ways, Thomas is the twin of each of us – the part of ourselves that does not want to believe the witness of brothers and sisters who have allowed the Good News to become their deepest truth.  Today is the day to throw ourselves on the mercy of Jesus and ask for the grace of belief and freedom from our sin and potential death.  God’s mercy is for each one and for all – we become agents to that as Peter, the mystic John and now Thomas, who show us that through the very broken human tendency to sin, and therefore to illness and death, God acts to deliver us with the blessing of Divine Mercy.

May God’s abundant mercy forgive and heal us and show us the way to the Father of all mercies where joy and abundance spring up as from a fountain giving us life and perfect joy to share with others.  May Easter continue to burst forth from our lives and hopes.