Second Sunday of Easter

Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

The Apostle Thomas could not believe what he did not know. He had been at the last banquet with Jesus. His execution on a cross did not make sense based on what he remembered of Jesus whom he followed. Then, Jesus invited him to touch his body. His sudden response to his merciful friend, Jesus Christ: “My Lord and my God!” He overcame his fear and resistance and began his missionary discipleship which took him to India. From then till now, the Church of India has given witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ.

In 635 BCE, the Eastern Syriac Monks also experienced an encounter with their merciful friend Jesus Christ. They too must have responded, ‘My Lord and my God!’ They overcame fear and resistance and began their missionary discipleship, introducing the Good News to the people of China. From ancient times, the wisdom of Chinese sages prepared Chinese people for the revelations of Christ. This made it possible for the monks to write in Chinese, the Good News reflecting the Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist heritage. An example of how the Monks introduced the Messiah is “Through the holy wonders of the Messiah, all can escape becoming ghosts. All of us are saved by his works. You don’t need strength to receive him, but he will not leave you weak and vulnerable without qi.” (life breath) (Sutra 4:22-24, Martin Palmer Translation)

Today, the Chinese Catholic Church has experienced many dark nights of suffering and death. A friend of mine, Simeiqi He, Ph.D., is a laywoman from China. She says that some Catholics have experienced the loving gaze of God giving birth to virtues of patience and forbearance which has enabled them to overcome fear and resistance and become witnesses–sometimes only in silence–of Christ’s love. Her friends in China “…urge the Chinese Church to move on in hope to a vision of reconciliation that is being realized through its good work, while its full fulfillment may very well lie past the horizon of the present time.”

Simeiqi invites concerned Catholics to encounter Christ. ‘My Lord and my God!’ Then, like the Apostle Thomas, take up the work of missionary discipleship encouraged by Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti.

”The Chinese Church echoes [Pope] Francis’s plea and asks all its concerned parties to be the neighbor who will not abandon it to the underside of geopolitics while ‘pursu[ing] the thieves’ and thus leaving it to be ‘the justification’ for the world’s ‘irreconcilable divisions,’ ‘cruel indifference,’ and ‘intestine conflicts’ (FT, 72). The Chinese Church calls for the cultivation of kindness that is capable of transforming lifestyles, relationships, and the nature of dialogue (ibid. 224). As a member of the Chinese Church, which is journeying through the dark night, I dream of a day when all the concerned parties of the Church can ‘become stars shining in the midst of darkness’. For this reason, I dare to invite on behalf of the Chinese Church, people who are concerned with it to build peace through their daily actions; and to commit themselves tirelessly ‘to recognize, protect and concretely restore the dignity, so often overlooked or ignored, of our brothers and sisters, so that they can see themselves as the principal protagonists of the destiny of their nation’. Together with [Pope] Francis, the Chinese Church appeals for a ‘global ethic of solidarity and cooperation in the service of a future shaped by interdependence and shared responsibility in the whole human family’ to make possible a real and lasting peace.”

• “Love, Dark Night, and Peace: The Chinese Catholic Church in Dialogue with Fratelli Tutti”, Simeiqi He, Ph.D., Journal of Catholic Social Thought, 19:1, 2022, pages 159-72