祂的慈爱永远常存

复活期第二主日——救主慈悲主日

我们在《若望福音》的开始听到了对基督的见证：“看，天主的羔羊，除免世罪者”（若1:29）。“世界的罪恶”，指对基督及其救赎工程缺乏信心（参阅若16:8-9）。今天，复活的主赐予门徒们赦免和保留罪的权柄。罪导致死亡，但天主父，因着祂的仁慈，借着在祂圣子耶稣基督内的信德，恩赐我们生命（若20:31）。

“就如父派遣了我，我也同样派遣你们”（若20:21）。复活的基督显现于恐惧战栗的门徒们面前，并用以下的话问候他们：“愿你们平安！”他们的确需要这种平安，超越一切认知的平安（斐4:8）。虽然他们已经听到有关坟墓已空的消息，但他们的心仍因外界的恐惧而迟钝。

耶稣向门徒们吁气，让他们领受圣神的恩赐；借着这份恩赐，他们接受了赦免和保留罪的使命。在地上有赦罪权柄的那一位（谷2:10），如今赋予教会这种权柄。“天主曾借基督使我们与祂自己和好，并将这和好的职务赐给了我们……所以我们代基督请求你们：与天主和好”（格后5:18、20）。

“吁气”一词让我们想起，在《创世纪》中，天主将生命的气息吹入以灰土所形成的人内（创2:7；格前15:45）；它也让人想起，在《厄则克耳先知书》中，由天主而来的气息进入枯干骨骼，从而使他们复活（则37:9）。《智慧书》解释了这种“吁气”的含义：天主造了人，“并且赋给他一个行动的灵魂，向他吹了生命的气息”（智15:11）。今天，复活的基督向门徒们吁气，赐予他们圣神，从他们的心中要流出活水的江河（参阅若7:37-39）。天主向任何相信基督的人都应许了这份恩赐。

“世界的罪恶”，指对基督及其救赎工程缺乏信心，因为在耶稣内的信仰能征服世界。这种信仰表现为对天主诫命的彻底遵从；这种遵从不是出于对惩罚的恐惧，而是完全源于爱。圣神使我们意识到，天主父比我们更认识我们自己，而且祂比我们更爱我们自己。因此，祂赐给我们的诫命，乃是为了我们的益处，“祂的诫命并不沉重”（若一5:3）。

在今日福音中，我们看到将自己关在门窗紧闭的房屋中的门徒们，他们恐惧惊慌。而在读经二中，仍然是这些门徒们，但他们却“以大德能作证主耶稣的复活”（宗4:33）。他们的无畏见证吸引他人归向信仰，教会便如此形成。教会被描绘为一个家庭；在这个家庭中，没有分裂，人人富足，因为天主的子女——信徒们互相支持。这是天主仁慈的胜利。信徒们凭借自己的信德，全心全意地践行爱天主的诫命，并通过对他人的关怀，实践爱近人的诫命。我们的天主委实美善！祂的慈爱永远常存（咏118:1）。

His Merciful Love is Everlasting

Second Sunday of Easter – Sunday of Divine Mercy

Readings: Acts 4:32-35; Psalm 118; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31

At the beginning of the Gospel of John, we hear this testimony about Christ: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The “sin of the world” refers to the lack of faith in Christ and His saving work (see John 16: 8-9). Today, the risen Lord gives His disciples the power to forgive and to retain sins. Sin leads to death, but God the Father, in His mercy, gives us life through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ (John 20:31).

“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). The risen Christ appears before the fearful disciples and greets them with the words: “Peace be with you!” It is this peace that they need, a peace that transcends all understanding (Philippians 4: 8). Although they have already heard the news about the empty tomb, their hearts are still paralyzed by the fear of the outside world.

Jesus breathes on the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit, and with this gift they receive the mission of forgiving and retaining sins. He who had on earth the power of forgiving sins (Mark 2:10) now gives this power to the Church. “God reconciled us to himself through Christ and entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation. (…) We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God! “(2 Cor. 5:18.20).

The word “breathed” brings to mind the book of Genesis, where God blew the breath of life into man formed from the dust of the earth (Gen. 2: 7; 1 Corinthians 15:45), and also the book of the prophet Ezekiel, where the breath from God enters dry bones making them alive (Ezek 37: 9). The meaning of this “breathing” is explained in the book of Wisdom. God molded man, “and infused him with an active soul, and filled him with the breath of life” (Wisdom 15:11). Today, the risen Christ, breathed the Holy Spirit on the disciples and rivers of living water flow out of their hearts (see John 7: 37-39). This gift is promised to everyone who believes in Christ.

The “sin of the world” refers to the lack of faith in Jesus and His saving work, but faith in Jesus conquers the world. This faith is expressed in obedience to God’s commandments, which does not spring from fear of punishment, but from love. The Holy Spirit makes us aware that God the Father knows us better than we know ourselves and loves us more than we love ourselves. Therefore, the commandments which He gives to us are for our good, “and His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5: 3).

In the Gospel, we meet fearful disciples hiding behind the closed doors. In the second reading, those same disciples “witnessed to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power” (Acts 4:33). Their courageous testimony drew others to faith and so the Church is being formed. The Church is portrayed as a family in which there are no divisions and nobody lacks anything, because the believers – God’s children – support each other. This is the triumph of God’s mercy. By their faith, the believers practice the commandment of loving God with all their minds, hearts, and strength, and through their concern for others, they practice the commandment of loving one’s neighbor. Our Lord is indeed good, and His merciful love is everlasting (Psalm 118: 1).