Readings and meditation on the Word of God on the second Sunday of Easter, Sunday of Divine Mercy, April 27, 2025

Delivered by Cendadi Budi from the Parish of Assumption of Mary, Shendy and Andrew Jost from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great, and Stella Wijaya from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 5: 12-16; Rs psalm 118: 2-4.22-24.25-27a; Revelation 1: 9-11a.12-13.17-19; John 20: 19-31.POSITIVEENERGY Thetitle of our meditation on this 2nd Sunday of Easter is: PositiveEnergy. In a family there is often conflict between the husband and his wife. Oneoften shouts at another so loudly over normal things that happen daily or thoseproblems that happen accidentally. One exchanges slander at another that can beseen and heard every day. One can throw any object that is found nearby to hurtanother’s body. One has intention to do any physical violence at another tosatisfy each one’s anger and hatred. Inother words, both husband and his wife often exchange each ones’ negativeenergy in their moments of conflict. It is rare to see them as one withnegative energy to fight another with positive energy. Or one comes out as fireto meet another as water. Their neighbours hope to see them like flower andbutterfly, and yet they see only anger and violence.  Thisillustration of the negative experience in the family can also be found in manyfamilies around us. Besides, we also find in our communication through socialmedia today that shows the spread of negative energies by words and deeds thatthreaten to our common life as believers and citizens as well. TheRisen Christ carries out the mission from the Heavenly Father aiming to bringpositive energy. According to the scriptures and our faith, it is the HolySpirit who brings this positive energy. It is the true Spirit of God the Fatherand the Son. In His great mercy and compassion, God does not allow world’sconflicts and chaos to continuously trouble us humans.  God does not let all negative energiesuncontrolled without His intervention. We must agree and convinced that becauseof our conflicts and problems, God comes to intervene. On the contrary, if weare already good, righteous, safe, joyful, peaceful and happy, it is impossiblefor God to sacrifice Himself to save us. TheLord Jesus has the power to resolve all our sadness, fragility, and sinfulnesswith the energy of the Holy Spirit and that is why He says: "Peace be withyou!". He overcomes our fear and confusion with the energy of commissionand He says: "Just as the Father has sent me, so also now I sendyou." He strengthens our knowledge and wisdom with the energy of the HolySpirit thus, He says: "Receive the Holy Spirit." He gives each one ofus complement with the energy of divine mercy so that our world be renewed,therefore He says: "If you forgive the sins of others, their sins areforgiven, but those who are not forgiven, their sins are not forgiven". Oneconcrete example of the person who had received positive and new energy fromGod was the Apostle Thomas. Another example is the sick people in Jerusalem whowere healed by the apostles. Once the energy of the Holy Spirit entered intothem, the most obvious result was that their lives became new. Their past liveswere left behind. This new and positive energy is very clearly spoken by God tothe Apostle John in this way: "I have died, but behold, I live forever andever.” It is true: our positive energy is the Spirit of the Risen Jesus Christ.Let's pray. In thename of the Father ... Our Risen Lord Jesus, make us bearers of the Easter joyand hope to the world of today, to make all people your beloved children. OurFather who art in heaven ... In the name of the Father ...