From: joachim omolo ouko
Sunday, April 27, 2014

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, a Roman Catholic solemnity celebrated on the Sunday after Easter Sunday, the Octave of Easter. It is originally based on the Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy that St Faustina Kowalska reported as part of her encounter with Jesus, and is associated with special promises from Jesus and indulgences issued by the Church.

We are also privileged to celebrate St. Mark’s Obambo Catholic Church for the first time since Obambo became a Parish. The day would have been celebrated on April 25, the feast day of St Mark, but because it has coincided with our mini harambee we decided to push it for today.

It is quite encouraging that St Mark, the patron saint of Obambo Church was a native of the North Africa county of Libya. He was born in the city of Cyrene in Pentapolis, The western part of Libya, west of the border of Egypt by Jews parents, Aristopolos and Mar three years after the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He was the preacher of the Christian faith in Africa.

He was martyred in 68 AD when pagans of Serapis (the Serapion-Abbis Greek Egyptian god) tied him to a horse’s tail and dragged him through the streets of Alexandria’s district of Bokalia for two days until his body was torn to pieces. His feast takes place on April 25.

The Gospel today taken from JN 20:19-31 is indeed a challenge to us all. It is talking of doubting Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve. He was not with the rest of disciples when Jesus came in the house. When the disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord,” 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.”

This skeptical has become almost universal in our daily usages: A doubting Thomas, a skeptic who refuses to believe without direct personal experience. This is a person who has doubts about the accuracy of a statement or claim. These are people who try not to accept ideas or assertions automatically but on the basis of testable, consistent, rational evidence.

Doubts can cause people many problems. They lead to a host of feelings including insecurity, reduced self esteem, frustration, depression and despair. Doubts can make life more complicated, such as worrying about the integrity of other people, the reality of our personal beliefs and whether or not we’ve made the right choices.

Many young people today doubt whether they have made right choices in their relationships. Even those with faith in God struggle with doubt on many occasions. Married couples doubt whether their partners are faithful.

Satan introduced doubt into Eve’s mind when he asked, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” He wanted her to lack confidence in God’s command. When she affirmed God’s command, including the consequences, Satan replied with a denial, which is a stronger statement of doubt: “You will not surely die.” Doubt is a tool of Satan to make us lack confidence in God’s Word and consider His judgment unlikely.

The first reading is taken from ACTS 2:42-47. It talks of how the Christian communities devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.

All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

The second reading is taken from 1 PT 1:3-9: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith, to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time.

In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail obolobeste@gmail.com

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