2nd Sunday of Easter 2026
Acts 2:42-47; 1Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31
Why is today called Low Sunday? Admittedly, it lacks the razzamataz of last Sunday, but it is still part of the Easter Octave, those eight days which are treated as one, the single day of Resurrection, because Christ is risen, and will always be risen. St. Paul told us at the Easter Vigil that Christ will not die again, that “death has no power over Him any more”. He is risen, and lives for ever and for all eternity. He is risen, and He lives for us.
That is why, after this Easter Octave, of which today is the conclusion, the Easter season continues right through until Pentecost. If you were to be asked to name the longest season of the Church’s year, you might think of Lent, but it isn’t, even though it may seem to last for ever. Eastertide is longer than Lent, the season of joy longer than the season of penitence. There is a sense in which it is always Easter.
Pope St. John Paul II was fond of declaring that “we are the Easter People, and Alleluia is our song”. Yes, there will always be need for penitence, and there will be times of suffering—we are the Ash Wednesday people, the Holy Thursday night people, the Good Friday people; indeed, the Advent people and the Christmas people--but ultimately, the Easter people is our final state.
Why? Because Christ is risen for us, and He wishes to leave us in no doubt. Hence, His interaction with Thomas: “Put your finger here, and see my hands, and put out your hand and place it in my side”. This wasn’t an attempt to humiliate or embarrass Thomas, as the schoolmasters of our youth used to humiliate and embarrass errant schoolboys, so that the latter would see the error of their ways, admit their failings, and decline the offered demonstration.
The Risen Christ’s offer is genuine. He really wants Thomas to touch and feel for himself, in order that Thomas, representing us, may be left in no doubt.
There is something else which the Risen Jesus wants, in insisting on this demonstration. He wants the Church to take a great leap forward in faith and understanding. “My Lord and my God” responds Thomas, the first unambiguous declaration of the divinity of Christ. The title “Lord” may itself express a belief in that divinity, but the second part of that statement leaves no room for doubt: what “my Lord” implies, “my God” makes explicit. This man, Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, is none other than God, the God of the Fathers and Mothers, the God of the Hebrews, the one only true and living God.
As an expression of the faith of the Church, this is unequalled. Nor does Jesus leave it there. It is a statement for all of us: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”. Blessed are you and I, and all believers throughout the ages, because we ae those who have not seen, and yet believe.
This blessing is reinforced in our First Reading, from the First Letter of St. Peter. “Not seeing Him, you love Him. Still not seeing Him, yet believing, you rejoice with an inexpressible yet glorious joy, carrying off as a prize the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
This weekend’s celebration may indeed be less spectacular than last’s. The paschal candle is already alight: it is not lighted from the paschal fire, or carried in procession. There is no Exsultet, no renewal of Baptismal promises. Yet still we sing “Alleluia”; still we rejoice in the Resurrection; still, though seeing through a glass darkly, as St. Paul put it, we believe and, believing, are filled with joy.
