JOHN 20:19-31
AS YOU KNOW I GREW UP IN
MONTANA, WHERE I ATTENDED CATHOLIC SCHOOLS. RELIGION WAS ONE OF THE
SUBJECTS THAT WE HAD TO PASS IN ORDER TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT GRADE.
TO US KIDS, IT WAS ANOTHER SUBJECT, AND MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE REST,
BECAUSE IT TAUGHT US HOW TO APPROACH LIFE IN GENERAL. RELIGION TOLD
US WHY WE SHOULDN'T CHEAT ON MATH TESTS; IT TOLD US WHY WE SHOULD BE
KIND TO THE ODD KID IN THE CLASS WHO WASN'T VERY POPULAR. IT TOLD US
WHY WE SHOULD RESPECT OUR TEACHERS AND OUR PARENTS. HISTORY WAS
TAUGHT FROM A CATHOLIC STANDPOINT; IN ENGLISH WE WERE SHOWN HOW AN
AUTHOR'S RELIGION INFLUENCED WHAT HE OR SHE WROTE. EVEN OUR SCIENCE
COURSES TOOK FOR GRANTED THAT GOD WAS BEHIND THE NATURAL WORD. I
LOOK BACK ON MY EDUCATION AND, YES, THERE WERE SOME FOOLISH THINGS
SAID, AND I'VE CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT SOME THINGS; BUT ALL IN ALL, I'M
SURE THAT TWELVE YEARS OF BEING FORMED THAT WAY, PLUS HAVING PARENTS
WHO TOOK THEIR FAITH VERY SERIOUSLY, HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH WHY I'M
STILL IN THE CHURCH.
IT DIDN'T TURN OUT THAT
WAY FOR A LOT OF MY CONTEMPORARIES. THERE WAS RICKY, A CHILDHOOD
FRIEND WHOSE MOTHER WAS CATHOLIC AND FATHER WAS NOTHING. HE STOPPED
GOING TO CHURCH AS SOON AS HE COULD, AND AS FAR AS I KNOW, STILL
ISN'T GOING. THERE WAS BILL, WHOSE PARENTS SPLIT UP ABOUT THE EIGHTH
GRADE; HE TRANSFERRED TO THE PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL, AND LAST I HEARD, HE
WAS NOT PRACTICING ANY FAITH. AND I COULD GO ON. THE POINT IS,
PEOPLE DON'T AUTOMATICALLY STAY IN THE CHURCH JUST BECAUSE THEY'VE
BEEN BAPTIZED, OR MADE THEIR FIRST COMMUNION, OR BEEN CONFIRMED; IN
FACT, ABOUT 70% DROP OUT – HOPEFULLY NOT FOREVER, BUT THOSE ARE
JUST THE STATISTICS.
TODAY'S GOSPEL IS FROM
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. IF WE HAD BEEN READING THE GOSPEL OF LUKE, WE
WOULD HAVE HEARD THAT WHEN JESUS APPEARED IN THEIR MIDST, THEY WERE
FRIGHTENED, THINKING THAT HE WAS A GHOST. BUT AS WE READ TODAY, HE
GIVES THEM HIS PEACE, AND THEY BECOME GLAD. TODAY'S GOSPEL PASSAGE
SEEMS TO FOCUS ON THOMAS, WHO FOR TWO THOUSAND YEARS HAS BEEN
NICKNAMED “DOUBTING” THOMAS. THAT'S PROBABLY NOT FAIR, BUT I
DON'T WANT TO GET INTO THAT TODAY. INSTEAD, THINK ABOUT WHAT WE'VE
JUST HEARD. JESUS APPEARS TO THE APOSTLES. WHEN THEY TELL THOMAS
WHAT THEY HAVE SEEN AND HEARD, HE REFUSES TO BELIEVE THEM. WHY? THE
OTHER APOSTLES TELL ABOUT HOW JESUS GAVE THEM THE HOLY SPIRIT, TOLD
THEM HE WAS SENDING THEM OUT TO DO WHAT HE HAD DONE – TO BRING THE
GOOD NEWS TO THE WORLD. THEY TOLD THOMAS THEY HAD BEEN GIVEN THE
POWER TO FORGIVE SINS. THEY TOLD HIM THEY HAD BEEN GIVEN PEACE, NOT
JUST ANY PEACE, BUT THE PEACE OF JESUS HIMSELF. AND THOMAS MUST HAVE
WONDERED, IF THAT'S ALL TRUE, WHY ARE YOU STILL UP HERE IN THIS
LOCKED ROOM, HIDING FROM EVERYONE? IF YOU'VE REALLY EXPERIENCED THE
LORD IN THE FLESH AFTER HE WAS PUT TO DEATH AND WAS BURIED, WHY
AREN'T YOU OUT SHOUTING IT TO THE WORLD? YOUR ACTIONS ARE JUST NOT
IN KEEPING WITH WHAT YOU ARE SAYING.
AND THOMAS GOES ON ABOUT
HOW HE ISN'T GOING TO BELIEVE HEARSAY; HE WILL WANT PROOF; HE WILL
WANT TO SEE, HEAR, AND EVEN TOUCH JESUS, AND THEN HE MIGHT BELIEVE.
BUT NOTICE THAT WHEN
JESUS DOES APPEAR TO THEM, THOMAS DOES NOT TAKE UP JESUS ON HIS
INVITATION TO PUT HIS FINGERS INTO THE WOUNDS OF HIS HANDS, AND HIS
HAND INTO THE WOUND IN HIS SIDE. NO, THOMAS FALLS TO THE FLOOR AND
DECLARES, “MY LORD AND MY GOD”. THOMAS HAS BEEN READY TO
BELIEVE; HE WANTED TO BELIEVE. BUT HE DID NOT EXPERIENCE THE LORD'S
PRESENCE IN THE OTHER DISCIPLES; HE SAW NOTHING ABOUT THEM THAT SAID
THEY REALLY BELIEVED IN THE RESURRECTION THAT THEY PROCLAIMED. JESUS
IN HIS MERCY, OFFERED HIM PROOF, AND HE BELIEVED. BUT JESUS WAS NOT
JUST BEING MERCIFUL TO THOMAS, HE WAS BEING MERCIFUL TO THE OTHER
APOSTLES AS WELL, THE ONES WHO SAID THEY BELIEVED BUT DID NOT ACT IN
A WAY THAT WOULD CONVINCE ANYONE THAT THEY WERE BELIEVERS.
AND MAYBE THAT'S ONE OF
THE LESSONS OF THIS GOSPEL. YOU AND I CLAIM TO BE CHRISTIAN, WE
CLAIM TO BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED FOR US, DIED, AND ROSE
FROM THE DEAD. AND THERE ARE LOTS OF PEOPLE, INCLUDING A FAIR NUMBER
OF FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, MAYBE SOME OF OUR OWN CHILDREN, WHO LOOK AT
US AND ARE NOT CONVINCED; THEY DO NOT SEE IN US EVIDENCE THAT WE
BELIEVE CHRIST ROSE FROM THE DEAD. THEY DON'T SEE THAT WE HAVE
BECOME BOLD AND EAGER TO ANNOUNCE THE GOOD NEWS TO EVERYONE. THEY
DON'T SEE THAT WE KNOW HOW TO FORGIVE THOSE WHO OFFEND US; THEY DON'T
SEE THAT WE HAVE A LOVE FOR THE POOR AS JESUS DID. THEY DON'T SEE
THAT WE LEAD LIVES OF JOY, PRECISELY BECAUSE WE ARE SO GRATEFUL THAT
WE HAVE A FATHER WHO FORGIVES US AND CONSTANTLY SEEKS TO DRAW US TO
HIMSELF. THEY DON'T SEE THAT WE ARE LAYING UP TREASURES IN HEAVEN,
WHERE IT REALLY COUNTS.
I WONDER IF THE APOSTLES
EVER REFLECTED ON THIS? CERTAINLY WE FIND THEM BOLDLY PROCLAIMING
JESUS AFTER THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES TO THEM ON PENTECOST. THEY ARE NO
LONGER AFRAID, THEY NO LONGER HIDE IN A LOCKED ROOM. AND BECAUSE
THEY ARE NOW LIVING AS THOUGH THEY BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION, THEY
CONVERT 3000 PEOPLE THAT FIRST DAY THEY BEGAN TO PREACH. BUT THERE
IN THE LOCKED ROOM, THEY WERE STILL AFRAID, BELIEVING, PERHAPS, WITH
THEIR MINDS, BUT CERTAINLY NOT WITH THEIR BEHAVIOR.
JESUS OUR LORD AND GOD IS
MERCIFUL. IF THOMAS NEEDS SOMETHING SPECIAL TO BELIEVE, JESUS IS
WILLING TO PROVIDE IT. AND HE IS MERCIFUL TO US EVEN NOW DESPITE OUR
SINS, DESPITE OUR FAILURES, DESPITE ALL THE DISTRACTIONS THAT KEEP US
FROM LOVING HIM AS WE SHOULD. BUT I WONDER WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED
IF THOMAS HAD VISITED HIS BROTHER APOSTLES AND INSTEAD OF FINDING
THEM IN THE LOCKED ROOM HAD DISCOVERED THEM BOLDLY PREACHING ON THE
GROUNDS OF THE TEMPLE, GIVING NO THOUGHT TO WHO MIGHT BE OFFENDED,
WHOSE FEELINGS MIGHT BE HURT. WOULD HE HAVE THEN DOUBTED? OR WOULD
HE HAVE JOYFULLY JOINED THEM, HAVING BEEN CONVINCED BY THEIR ACTIONS
THAT WHAT THEY SAID THEY SAW HAD REALLY HAPPENED.
LET US PRAY THAT OUR
BELIEF IN THE RESURRECTION WILL SHOW; LET US PRAY THAT GOD WILL GIVE
US HOLY BOLDNESS SO THAT WE CAN BE INSTRUMENTS TO WIN SOULS FOR HIM.
AND LET US ASK HIM FOR MERCY FOR ALL THE TIMES WE COULD HAVE ACTED
BUT DIDN'T. FOR ALL THE TIMES WHEN SOMETHING WE MIGHT HAVE SAID OR
DONE MIGHT HAVE AWAKENED FAITH IN SOMEONE WE KNOW, SOMEONE WE LOVE.
AND LET US PRAY THAT HE WILL MAKE UP FOR OUR FEAR AND TIMIDITY SO
THAT NO ONE WILL BE LOST BECAUSE WE WERE AFRAID TO SHOW THAT WE
BELIEVE JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD.
