April 12, 2026 Low Sunday/Divine Mercy Sunday

April 12, 2026

Low Sunday/Divine Mercy Sunday

Who really shot JFK? Were the moon landings real or staged? Did Elvis really die in 1977, or did he fake his death in order to get some privacy? Was Paul McCartney actually replaced by a look-alike when he allegedly died in 1966? Was 9/11 staged by the U.S. government? Did Trump win the 2020 elections?

Are all these questions crazy?

Maybe it depends on the thickness of your tinfoil hat.

Americans love a good conspiracy theory, and our weakness for paranoid fantasies is actually embedded in our history from the very beginning. Let’s face it; we all love The National Inquirer – fake news.

For example, some historians speculate that the Founding Fathers were moved to write the Declaration of Independence because they believed that Britain was about to enslave American colonists. The idea that there is some shadowy cabal, or a mystical Kabbalah inspired small secretive group pulling strings behind the scenes in our history has been a constant theme for theorists who believe things are not as they appear. Whether it’s “black helicopters,” “Illuminati,” “Pan Am Flight 103” or “Roswell,” many people are willing to believe that there’s something rotten in Denmark … or Des Moines, or Dallas or wherever.

The 21^st century has seen a rise in conspiratorial thinking with the internet being an unfiltered clearinghouse for theorists. “Truthers” continually look for new information to explain what really happened.

Their conspiracy theories usually gel around events of historical significance or the deaths of famous people. When someone famous (or infamous) dies, the thinking goes, there has to be a reason behind the reason..

Jeffrey Epstein is a classic example of a Conspiracy theory. While some of it is obviously factual, there is so much in the news that one cannot help but wonder how much of it is.

Conspiracy theorists have a reputation for being a little nuts, but the truth is that we always need people who are looking for the truth.

When it comes to the most famous death in history, the death of Jesus Christ, conspiracy theories abound, but in the center of the story we see someone who is really trying to get at the truth. And this figure is no outsider but one of Jesus’ own disciples: Thomas.

The death and resurrection of Jesus have long been the target of conspiracy theorists trying to explain it away. The general tenor of these theories is that the disciples acted in concert to claim that Jesus was alive when he really wasn’t; that he died and the disciples “helped” him become “alive” again.

Why they would do this, however, seems to be a more elusive question.

Some theorists, for example, speculate that Jesus didn’t actually die but just “swooned” on the cross and eventually staggered out of the tomb. There are just a few problems with that theory as we all know.

Others suggest that the disciples took the body of Jesus and hid it (a genuine concern of the chief priests, according to Matthew 28:62-66), and then claimed that he was alive.

Some speculate that the disciples had a mass hallucination of Jesus after his death caused by grief, or that they actually saw a ghost.

Despite 2,000 years of conspiracy theories, however, disproving the rumor of the resurrection has proven elusive. Indeed, it seems as though the Gospels themselves embed an answer to the conspiracy theorists in the text, and one of the places we see this most clearly is in the Apostle John’s account.

After the death of Jesus, the disciples are hiding behind locked doors in fear of the Jewish leaders. They have just heard from Mary Magdalene that morning that she had “seen the Lord,” but they could have easily dismissed her words as fake news (v. 18). Women were not considered reliable witnesses in a court of law in the first century, thus they may have chalked up her claim to hysteria.

But then, suddenly, Jesus appeared among. And then he shows them the evidence of the wounds in his hands and side. It’s a strange combination: Jesus is risen in a physical body and yet can also appear through locked doors. It’s clear that this is a different kind of body, but a body nonetheless. The disciples “rejoiced” after seeing the evidence. Mary’s testimony had been vindicated.

All of this happens without the disciple Thomas present, however.

When the others tell him, “We have seen the Lord.” Thomas is rightly skeptical. He’s not taking their wild speculation for Gospel truth just yet. After all, they had the benefit of seeing the nail marks. Why shouldn’t he?

Thomas may have thought his friends were engaging in their own collective conspiracy theory, and he was out to bust it. We know Thomas was a thinker, a questioner. Earlier, he pressed Jesus on his statement about where he was going. It wasn’t that Thomas was afraid — after all, he has said earlier that he was prepared to go with Jesus to a dangerous place, even if it meant his own death. It’s just that he wasn’t going to buy into any kind of fake news. He wouldn’t sell his own life cheaply based on false information or wild speculation.

We often call Thomas a “doubter,” but the truth is that we all need a Thomas in our community, someone who is willing to push back on what, at times, seems to be craziness. Thomas isn’t a doubter. He simply wants the truth, which is something all of us want. Thomas doesn’t reject the idea of resurrection outright; he simply wants more evidence — the same evidence the other disciples had apparently received. He wants to experience the risen Christ for himself.

And then, suddenly, he has the opportunity. The pattern repeats: a locked door, an appearance by Jesus. Jesus seems to know that Thomas had expressed some skepticism and offers the evidence that Thomas was looking for.

We should note that Jesus never refers to Thomas as a doubter. Keep in mind that the other disciples had the benefit of evidence which they saw with their own eyes — evidence that was not available to Thomas.

Jesus says to Thomas, “Do not doubt but believe,” he is not saying that Thomas has a problem with belief. He’s really saying, “Thomas, it’s me, in the flesh. Don’t doubt. Believe. It’s okay.”

All of the disciples believed that Jesus was alive only because they saw Jesus in the flesh. Like Thomas, they did not believe the reports of Jesus’ resurrection at first either. Thomas didn’t believe the report of the disciples, and the disciples did not believe the report of the women. They were all doubters, and their doubt was only suspended when they saw Jesus alive with their own eyes.

Thomas responds to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” It’s a confession of faith. Note that John doesn’t tell us that Thomas takes Jesus up on his offer and actually touches his wounds. It seems that the presence of Jesus is finally enough for Thomas.

And what John implies, powerfully, is that the presence of Jesus should be enough for us, too John is speaking to his audience and to future generations like us about the truth of the Gospel. He is giving us the evidence and asking us to believe it, but not just on the basis of the evidence itself. He wants us to believe also because the Holy Spirit given to us continues to act as a witness to the resurrection and ongoing presence of Jesus with us. 

Some books I would recommend for anyone wanting to read about “proof” of Jesus:

“Atheist to Catholic, Stories of Conversion” Rebecca Vitz Cherico (Editor) *

“I Want to Believe, But… A Navigator for Doubters” Boyd Wright

“The Case For Faith – A journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity” Lee Strobel

“The Case For Christ – A journalist’s Personal Investigation of the Evidence of Jesus” Lee Strobel with Jane Vogel (There are copies of this title in the bookcase in the back of the church.)

“The Case For Jesus – The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ” Brant Pitre *

It’s not that the evidence is unimportant and that this is just a leap of faith. Quite the contrary. The evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is quite compelling from a historical perspective.

If you were going to make up a story to impress others in the first century, for example, you wouldn’t have a woman as your primary witness.

You wouldn’t proclaim that a body had risen from the dead in a Greco-Roman world that devalued the body. The pagans already believed in the immortality of the soul; that theory they would’ve easily bought. But to claim that a dead body was alive again? Tinfoil hat time!

And Jews would say that anyone who was crucified was cursed and that resurrection was a distant hope. This message would have been virtually unintelligible, ludicrous and historically untenable in the first-century world, the equivalent of claiming you’d seen a UFO.

And yet there was a large body of people who claimed that the impossible had become possible and despite all kinds of efforts to quiet them, they wouldn’t shut up about it. St. Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians 15:6 that Jesus was seen by more than 500 people at once.

Charles Colson, who was special counsel and “hatchet man” for President Richard Nixon, was indicted in the Watergate scandal (an actual conspiracy) and went to prison for seven months. While in prison, Colson became a Christian and remarked that it was his own criminal conviction that proved the resurrection to him. He put it like this:

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Everyone was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world — and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 Apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”

We have the eyewitness testimony of the Gospels, the evidence of the early church’s growth despite all the factors arrayed against it, and the witness of subsequent generations of Christians and martyrs. All attest to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

If it’s a conspiracy theory, it’s one that has actually stood the test of time and the scrutiny of generations of debunkers.

John wrote his Gospel not only to give us evidence for Christ, but also to bring us to faith in Christ. As he puts it later in the text: “But these things are written so that you might come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”

Ultimately, our belief in the resurrection of Jesus is a matter of faith, backed by evidence. When we believe, we begin to see all that God has done, all that God has made possible through the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

And when we live out that belief, it’s then that we become living examples, proving that the Gospel is more than a theory. It’s a way of life and the way to life!

Let us pray.

In today’s gospel, Jesus’s first message to the frightened apostles is one of peace   “Peace be with you”. We pray for a world where peace is our first priority – peace in our families, in our communities, in our world and peace with our God and his creation.  We pray to the Lord.               

On today, Divine Mercy Sunday, let us renew our commitment to compassion, love, mercy and forgiveness in all our dealings with our family, neighbours and particularly those who may have injured or offended us in the past. We pray to the Lord.               

Today we read how Thomas doubted the resurrection of the Lord until he himself could see the wounds in his hands and side. We pray to our Father in heaven that he bless us with faith and that we, without seeing Jesus’s wounds, can be firm in our belief and loyalty to Him. We pray to the Lord.               

We pray for the people of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, where Jesus lived, died and rose again, that it may be for them a place of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation. We pray to the Lord.                       

We pray with Pope Leo for an end to the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine; that those who have weapons lay them down! that those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace, not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to seek mutual understanding and respect. We pray to the Lord.     

We pray for new vocations to the priesthood. We pray to the Lord.

We pray that those with ample means may be led to our parish where they will be inspired to give generously. We pray to the Lord.

For those on our parish prayer list, that they may receive swift answers to their needs and that they may find consolation through Christ’s healing presence. We pray to the Lord.

We bow our heads and remember in silence our own personal intentions and the intentions of those who have asked for our prayers (pause). We pray to the Lord.        

O God, like Thomas, we want to believe, but we often doubt. When we awake to news of new deaths in Iraq or Afghanistan, another natural disaster somewhere, stories of people still struggling in the economic crisis — we have to work to find hope. As we walk alongside family or friends suffering from illness or addiction, dealing with the pain of broken relationships, we aren’t always confident of your presence. The shadow of the gloom obscures our sight.We are thankful for the work of your Spirit in those people who encourage us and speak your presence into our lives, who help us remember your love story (with and without words), who remind us that you haven’t abandoned us, who are present in the suffering — gathering us in your arms and crying with us. Help us trust that doubt is a part of faith — and not a lack of faith.Open the eyes of our hearts so we might see you. Kindle in our hearts a desire to know you better and renew our spirits. Help us grow in our faith and build our lives on the sure foundation of the risen Christ. As we sing the joyous Easter refrains, may our ears truly hear the mystery of our faith proclaimed. Let our minds and our hearts truly take in the good news of your presence among us. We pray in the name of the risen Lord. Amen.

God Love You +++

The Most Rev. Robert Winzens

Pastor – St. Francis Chapel

San Diego, CA.

As a small parish, we come to you all as beggars! Share with us this Christmas, a little sacrifice for the Christ Child. Your generous support also allows us to continue these important projects that fuel the movement of progressive Christianity. Thank you and God bless you! +++

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