Acts 5:12-16; Rev. 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; Jn. 20:19-31
During the first part of today's Gospel Reading, we heard that the apparition of Jesus to His disciples took place on the first day of the week, that being a Sunday. The apparition took place on the evening of the same day that Jesus had resurrected. It is important to notice on which day of the week that these events were instituted by the Lord Jesus in order to understand how, in the early days of the Church, the Sabbath was replaced with Sunday.
On that evening, living in fear of the authorities, the disciples had gathered together in a house and they had locked the doors. Suddenly, Jesus stood among them.
Then Jesus said, "Peace be with you." And He showed His hands and His side to His disciples. This Bible passage is very important. It is explicit proof from the Gospel of John that Jesus was truly nailed to the cross. He was not tied to the cross as was often the custom in those days.
Having said this, Jesus breathed on the disciples and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." (Jn. 20:22-3)