Tomorrow is the Octave day of Easter, the second Sunday of Easter, now known also as Divine Mercy Sunday. One of the prominent themes in our Mass readings for tomorrow seems to be "signs." In the first reading, from Acts, we hear about the "signs and wonders" that "were done ... at the hands of the Apostles" after Jesus' resurrection and ascension and sending of the Holy Spirit, and that led to popular "esteem" for the apostles and to "great numbers" of new "believers in the Lord." In the Gospel, we hear about Jesus' appearances to the Apostles after his resurrection, and about Thomas' initial lack of faith, and Jesus' response. The conclusion to the passage refers to Jesus' "other signs." It seems that we are to think of the appearances of the risen Jesus as "signs."

We might say, then, that one of the messages of these readings is that signs of God's saving presence and activity - and especially signs of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, with its effects on us also - are part of his saving plan, part of his plan for our response of faith, hope, and love, of holiness, of acceptance of the life he offers us. And the problem with St. Thomas' initial response is not so much that he needed a sign, as that he needed to see the sign for himself, rather than relying on the testimony of the other Apostles to what they had seen.

If the appearances of the risen Lord Jesus are God's sign for us, for our growth in faith and holiness, then even though the word "sign" is not used in our second reading, from the book of Revelation, we could certainly think of Jesus' appearance to St. John as a sign. John is in exile for his faith. Others among the very early Christians are at risk of persecution. Jesus comes as a sign to strengthen their faith, through John's continued testimony to what he has seen.

But if God's saving plan, culminating in the resurrection of the Lord, manifests and embodies his mercy, and if signs of the resurrection continue that merciful plan for our faith and holiness and life, then we could say that these signs are also an expression and instrument of his mercy.

In light of the first reading especially, there is a further point to be made also, regarding the range of God's mercy. We hear, as I noted above, how the "signs and wonders ... at the hands of the Apostles" won them favor and won very many new Christians. We sometimes hear that the only sign, as it were, of our fidelity to Jesus Christ and his Gospel and his Church is rejection and persecution. Certainly, the Church - from its earliest days to our own day - has seen much rejection and persecution. The Apostles feared persecution even when Jesus had just risen; hence the locked doors mentioned in tomorrow's Gospel. They were being persecuted even as they were winning new believers; hence the remark in the first reading that "None of the others dared to join them" where they gathered to perform their public ministry of healing. St. John and others were persecuted at the time of his writing of Revelation. Likewise, today, Christ and his Church are rejected and persecuted in many ways, in many places.

But God, in his merciful plan, wants to draw people to himself and to his Church, and he has also always done so, and does and will continue to do so. When we pass on the Apostolic testimony to the signs of the resurrection - when we let our own lives of fidelity and love be a sign of the resurrection - then we should expect, and rejoice in, the sort of response that the Apostles received. Even when that response is only partial - when, for instance, we see countless people somehow attracted to the persons and messages of the Servant of God John Paul the Great, or of Pope Benedict XVI, but failing to embrace their messages about God and human life in their entirety - we should nonetheless rejoice that God's mercy has begun to touch these people's lives, and we should endeavor to continue to tell them of and show them signs of the power of God's mercy in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, and to bring them even closer to Christ and his Church, and never in any way write them off as unimportant and/or lost to God's great mercy.

Let us then, rejoice greatly in the signs of which we have heard and which we have seen of God's glorious and powerful mercy in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and let us continue to offer these signs and this mercy to the whole world.