We are sent by the Risen Christ to continue his mission.
Listening the Spirit
"Heavenly Father, I come before You longing to strengthen my faith. Help me to trust You with all my heart, even when doubts and uncertainties arise. Fill me with Your peace and give me the strength to believe that You are working all things for good. Renew my spirit and help me stand firm in faith, even when I feel weak. Amen."
Listening the Word: John 20:19-31
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.”
When he had said 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.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
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
and put my finger into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Now a week later his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst 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.
Reflection
According to the Gospel of St. John, on the evening of Easter Sunday Jesus appeared to the apostles for the first time. After the greeting – “Peace be with you” – he entrusted them with the mission he had received from the Father: “As the Father has sent me, so I send You”. This sentence is the key that opens the true meaning of the words that follow: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained”.
At a superficial reading, it seems that Jesus gave the apostles the authority both to forgive and to retain sins, but it is not so. In fact, the Father had sent Jesus into the world not to condemn the world, but to save the world (Jn 3:17 and 12:47). And so Jesus never condemned anybody. On the contrary, he always forgave sinners, even the people who put him to death on the cross (Lk 23:34). He did not condemn Judas, either, but treated him as a friend even after revealing that he was the traitor, when he gave him the mouthful to eat, a gesture that is still done nowadays in some countries, like in Bangladesh, to intimate friends or relatives. And again, when Judas kissed Jesus in the Gethsemane, Jesus called him “friend” (Mt 26:50).
It is clear, then, that Jesus entrusted the apostles – and in them all Christians, especially the priests and bishops – with a mission of forgiveness (see also Lk 24:47), the same mission that he had received from the Father.
If that is so, what is the meaning of the sentence “…whose sins you retain are retained”? I understand this as a strong warning not to betray the mission received by Christ. If I, as a priest, refuse to absolve a penitent, the sin of that penitent will remain, but it will remain as a sin of mine. It will become my sin.
Reflection Questions
- How do I understand my responsibility in the mission of forgiveness: do I sometimes “retain” sins through judgment, indifference, or refusal to reconcile, and what does this reveal about my own conversion?
- If Christ’s mission is always to forgive and not to condemn, in what ways am I truly reflecting this mission in my attitudes and actions toward others—especially those who have hurt or failed?
