Homily of the Rector, Sunday, April 12

Sunday, April 12, 2026
2nd Sunday of Easter – Year A
Divine Mercy Sunday

Notre-Dame de Paris
Homily of Canon Emmanuel Schwab

1st reading: Acts 2,42:47-XNUMX
Psalm: 117 (118), 2-4, 13-15b, 22-24
Second reading: 1 Peter 2:1,3-9
Gospel: John 20,19-3

Jesus burns with love for us… Look at his adorable Face!…
Look at those lifeless, downcast eyes!… look at those wounds… Look
Jesus in his Face… There you will see how he loves us. (LT 87 of 4)
April 1889, to Céline)
Thus exclaimed Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus in a letter to her sister Céline:
Look at his wounds… then you'll see how much he loves us.
We can finally be grateful to Thomas, our twin, for having
I wanted to touch those wounds, I wanted to see those wounds of the risen Lord. Yes
It was indeed Jesus who gave his life for us. It was indeed he who engraved us.
in the palms of his hands, to borrow an expression from God in the
Prophet Isaiah: See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands (Isaiah 49:16).
His wounds are each of our names, inscribed in the body of Jesus. And he...
We must contemplate this love; we must be able to exclaim with Saint Paul in
The letter to the Galatians: "The Son of God loved me and gave himself up for me" (5:22).
Saint Peter explained to us in the second reading how this is about
to live now by faith, and this faith allows us to welcome the joy of the Risen One.
in the very midst of trials. This is the whole spiritual exercise of Eastertide, the
The longest liturgical season of the year, it lasts 50 days: it is about learning to
to welcome a joy whose source is not within us, the source being Jesus,
victor over death. It is about living in this joy even though we can
to be in a state of trial, even as our life of faith often unfolds tentatively,
in the twilight and sometimes in darkness. But faith consists precisely in
to remain as if “clinging” to Jesus in absolute trust. And since by
Baptism united us intimately to Jesus, whom we became
members of his body, it is now a matter of living the new life of children
of God. Let's be clear: it is not through a virtuous life that we
will gain salvation: it is by welcoming salvation that we will learn to lead
a virtuous life. It is because Christ saved us and because we
Let us strive to live in this faith, so that then we can learn to adjust our
to act on the Lord's teaching in the Gospel. It is not through our
observance means that we gain salvation; it is by welcoming salvation that we
we can make progress in observing the commandments.
The mercy we celebrate today is precisely this: from us
to give salvation. But it is not a question, since we are saved, then of
to move on and live without paying attention to what we do: it
On the contrary, since we have received this treasure, it is about being placed with Jesus, this
treasure that is the Holy Spirit with which we have been filled in the sacrament of
Once this is confirmed, the next step is to implement this treasure on a daily basis. It involves
in a beautiful expression, which Thérèse of the Child Jesus likes, to render
Love for love. As she wrote in another letter to her sister:
Love can only be repaid with love, and the wounds of love cannot be healed.
They heal only through love. […] all the blood of a God has been shed
to […] save [souls]… (LT 85 of March 12, 1889, to Céline)
It is by constantly returning to this source, the risen Christ who presents
His wounds to his disciples, so that we may progress in the Christian life.
And what does it mean to progress in the Christian life?
This means progressing in faith, that is, in unwavering trust.
in the loving presence of Jesus by our side who never abandons us.
It is progressing in hope, that is to say, desiring Heaven, and living in the present moment.
from our exile on earth, keeping our eyes fixed on this Kingdom which is already
present in Christ, and towards whom we walk without fear of death,
because we are saved in Christ.
Finally, it is growing in charity so that we can manifest our love for
Jesus and returning love for love; of course we must do it, I was going to say “in
direct” on Jesus — and this is a whole dimension of the prayer life of life
prayer, a life of adoration, coming to spend some time regularly
before the tabernacle in this extraordinary presence of Christ in
The Eucharist… But it is also about growing in fraternal charity. And that is what
that we heard in the Acts of the Apostles earlier. The second
characteristic of the first Christian community, after listening to
The teaching of the apostles is fraternal communion, fraternal charity.
So that we may show Jesus our love, which is what he asks of us,
It is to love one another as he loved us. He is the only one
a new commandment from the Gospel. If you want to show me your love, he tells me
Jesus, love the one who is next to you as he is; do not choose those whom you
Love, but also all those around you. It is those I ask you to love.
to show me your love.
But to experience all this, brothers and sisters, we must dare to be humble.
In closing, I will once again give the floor to Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus.
in one of her last letters; it is addressed to Abbé Bellière, a
seminarian. It is dated July 26, 1897, two months before Thérèse's death.
In this long letter, of which I am only reading a small passage, she tells him this:
"The Divine Heart is more saddened by the thousand little indiscretions of
his friends than even serious mistakes that people commit
of the world" but, my dear little brother, it seems to me that it is
only when his own people, not noticing their continual
They make a habit of being insensitive and don't ask Him.
Forgive me, that Jesus can say these touching words which are
placed in the mouth by the church during Holy Week: "These
The wounds you see in the middle of my hands are the ones I have
received into the home of those who loved me! For those who
They love him and come after every indiscretion to ask him
Apologizing, and throwing himself into his arms, Jesus leaped for joy, He said to his
angels, what the father of the prodigal son said to his servants:
"Dress him in his first robe, put a ring on his finger,
Let us rejoice. Ah! my brother, how goodness, how love
The merciful nature of Jesus is little known!… It is true that to enjoy
From these treasures, one must humble oneself, acknowledge one's nothingness, and that is it.
that many souls do not want to do. (LT 261 of July 26, 1897)

Amen.