Second Sunday of Easter, cycle C

JOHN 20:19-31

SOME OF US OLD FOLKS REMEMBER WHEN MAHATMA GHANDI WAS MAKING THE NEWS. HE WAS A HINDU HOLY MAN WHO LED INDIA TO INDEPENDENCE IN A PEACEFUL REVOLUTION. AS A YOUNG MAN HE STUDIED LAW IN ENGLAND, WHERE HE EXPERIENCED DISCRIMINATION. AS A YOUNG MAN HE HAD LIVED IN SOUTH AFRICA, WHERE HE SPENT TWENTY YEARS FIGHTING FOR INDIAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA, BEING JAILED AND BEATEN ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION, AND ONCE BEING SENTENCED TO A FORCED LABOR CAMP. HE THEN WENT BACK TO INDIA AND SPENT THE REST OF HIS LIFE WORKING FOR INDIAN INDEPENDENCE. HE REFUSED TO CONDONE VIOLENCE ON THE PART OF HIS FOLLOWERS. GHANDI PROVED TO THE WORLD THAT NON-VIOLENT RESISTANCE COULD CHANGE THINGS THAT SEEMED UNCHANGEABLE, A LESSON LEARNED AND APPLIED BY PEOPLE LIKE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., AND LECH WALENSKA OF POLAND. GHANDI WROTE THAT AS A YOUNG MAN STUDYING LAW IN ENGLAND, HE HAD READ THE BIBLE, AND HIS IDEAS ABOUT NON-VIOLENT RESISTANCE CAME FROM THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST. BUT IT WAS NOT LOST ON HIM THAT THE OPPRESSORS OF HIS PEOPLE WERE CHRISTIANS. HE WAS ONCE ASKED WHAT HE THOUGHT OF CHRISTIANITY. HE REPLIED, “I LIKE YOUR CHRIST, I DO NOT LIKE YOUR CHRISTIANS. YOUR CHRISTIANS ARE SO UNLIKE YOUR CHRIST.” GHANDI HAD LEARNED ABOUT CHRISTIANITY FROM CHRISTIANS, AND DECIDED THAT WASN'T FOR HIM.

WHEN JESUS FIRST APPEARED TO THE APOSTLES, YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THEY WERE IN A LOCKED ROOM, FOR FEAR OF THE JEWS. THAT WAS WHEN JESUS GAVE THEM HIS PEACE, AND TOLD THEM HE WAS GOING TO SEND THEM FORTH AND THAT THEY HAD THE POWER TO FORGIVE SINS. PRETTY EXCITING, RIGHT? THE TEACHER WHO HAD BEEN CRUCIFIED HAD COME TO LIFE, AND NOT ONLY THAT BUT HAD GIVEN THEM THE POWER TO CARRY ON HIS WORK.

BUT THEY DIDN'T RUSH OUT AND START PREACHING AND CONVERTING AND CARRYING OUT JESUS WORK. A WEEK LATER, THOMAS WAS WITH THEM, AND THEY WERE STILL IN THE LOCKED ROOM. AND THOMAS DIDN'T BELIEVE. WHERE HAD HE BEEN BEFORE? DO YOU REMEMBER THE OTHER TIMES WE HEARD FROM THOMAS? ONCE WAS WHEN JESUS WAS TALKING ABOUT HIS FUTURE, THOMAS SPOKE UP AND ASKED, “LORD, WE DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING; HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WAY?” AND ANOTHER TIME, WHEN JESUS WAS INSISTING THAT THEY GO TO JERUSALEM WHERE HE WAS A WANTED MAN, THOMAS TOLD THE OTHER APOSTLES, “LET US GO DOWN WITH HIM AND DIE WITH HIM.” AND OF COURSE TODAY WE HEAR THE STATEMENT WHICH WE REMEMBER BEST OF THOMAS, AND IT ALSO IS BOLD, IN KEEPING WITH HIS OTHER STATEMENTS, “UNLESS I PUT MY FINGERS IN THE NAIL-HOLES IN HIS HANDS, AND MY HAND INTO HIS SIDE, I WILL NOT BELIEVE.” I THINK THOMAS, UNLIKE THE OTHER APOSTLES, HAD NOT BEEN AFRAID; HE HAD BEEN OUT AND ABOUT, IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM. IF HE WAS GOING TO BE PUT TO DEATH BECAUSE HE WAS A FOLLOWER OF JESUS, SO BE IT. AFTER ALL, HE WAS THE ONE WHO HAD SHORED UP THE COURAGE AMONG THE OTHER APOSTLES SO THAT THEY WOULD GO WITH HIM TO JERUSALEM.

WHY SHOULD THOMAS BELIEVE? BECAUSE THE APOSTLES SAID THAT JESUS HAD APPEARED TO THEM? WELL, IT DIDN'T SEEM TO MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE; THEY WERE STILL COWERING IN THE LOCKED ROOM, FEARING THE KNOCK ON THE DOOR WHICH WOULD SIGNAL THAT THE ROMAN SOLDIERS HAD ARRIVED TO TAKE THEM AWAY. THEY HAD TOLD THOMAS THAT THEY HAD SEEN THE LORD, AND THAT HE HAD GIVEN THEM HIS PEACE, AND HE HAD SENT THEM FORTH INTO THE WORLD TO PREACH HIS GOSPEL, AND HE HAD GIVEN THEM THE GIFT OF FORGIVING SINS – BUT THEY WERE STILL SITTING IN THE LOCKED ROOM. THOMAS LOOKED AT HIS COMPANIONS AND TOLD HIMSELF, IF WHAT THEY WITNESSED WAS ANYTHING OTHER THAN A HALLUCINATION, THEY WOULDN'T BE SITTING HERE FULL OF FEAR.

AND THAT'S A BIG PROBLEM WITH OUR MODERN CHURCH. WE MAY TELL OTHER PEOPLE ABOUT JESUS, WE MAY INSIST THAT WE BELIEVE HE IS LORD, WE MAY CLAIM THAT OUR WHOLE LIVES HAVE BEEN CHANGED BECAUSE OF HIM – BUT WHY ON EARTH SHOULD OUR FRIENDS BELIEVE US? BECAUSE WE GO TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY? BECAUSE WE DROP A LITTLE MONEY IN THE COLLECTION PLATE? DO OUR LIVES REALLY SHOW THAT JESUS HAS MADE A DIFFERENCE?

“WE HAVE SEEN THE LORD!” WE PROCLAIM. BUT WHAT ARE WE DOING FOR THE LEAST OF OUR BRETHREN? ARE THERE HUNGRY PEOPLE THAT WE HAVEN'T FED? SICK PEOPLE THAT WE HAVEN'T VISITED? WHEN PEOPLE SEE US, DO THEY SEE JESUS CHRIST? OR DO WE LIVE PRETTY MUCH LIKE EVERYONE ELSE – NOT TOO CONCERNED ABOUT THE FACT THAT 25-50% OF ALL PREGNANCIES END IN ABORTION; THAT THERE IS A GROWING MOVEMENT TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE WHO ARE SICK, OR OLD, OR HANDICAPPED TO SUBMIT TO PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE; AND WE AREN'T TOO UPSET ABOUT THE FACT THAT OUR SOCIETY HAS DEVALUED MARRIAGE SO MUCH THAT THE DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO SAME SEX COUPLES, AND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO BOTHER TO GET MARRIED BEFORE LIVING TOGETHER OR HAVING CHILDREN HAS DECLINED REMARKABLY. AND WE VOTE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE – WE CATHOLICS ARE THE DECIDING VOTE IN ELECTING PEOPLE WHO PROMISE US THAT THEY WILL OPPOSE WHAT OUR CHURCH TEACHES.

AND WHEN JESUS SHOWS HIMSELF TO THOMAS, THOMAS ANSWERS WITH “MY LORD AND MY GOD!” HE COMMITS HIMSELF COMPLETELY TO JESUS' LEADERSHIP – HE SAYS “MY LORD”. FROM NOW ON WHAT YOU ASK OF ME I WILL DO; I WILL LIVE TO CARRY OUT YOUR WILL. AND WHEN HE SAYS “MY GOD”, HE IS THE FIRST TO RECOGNIZE THAT THE GOD WHO HAS BEEN WORSHIPED BY THE JEWS AND BY THEIR ANCESTORS, ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB, IS THE GOD WHO IS THIS MAN STANDING THERE, AND THAT HE IS WORTHY OF WORSHIP. IN THIS PROFOUND ACT OF FAITH, THOMAS PROVES HIMSELF THE FIRST TO TOTALLY COMMIT. AND INDEED JESUS COMMENDS THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN BUT BELIEVE – BUT I DON'T THINK THAT IS AN INSULT TO THOMAS. RATHER IT IS A RECOGNITION THAT BELIEF IS NOT JUST WORDS LIKE “WE HAVE SEEN THE LORD!” TRUE BELIEF IS THE ABILITY TO HONESTLY SAY, FROM THE DEPTH OF MY BEING, “MY LORD AND MY GOD!” BECAUSE IF YOU SAY THOSE WORDS AND BELIEVE WHAT YOU SAY, YOUR WHOLE LIFE HAS TO CHANGE.

IN TODAY'S GOSPEL I THINK WE SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FAITH IN THE HEAD AND FAITH IN THE HEART. FAITH IN THE HEAD HAS NO TROUBLE BELIEVING IN THE RESURRECTION, IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST, IN THE TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH. SURE, I BELIEVE, THOSE THINGS ARE TRUE. BUT FAITH IN THE HEART IS FAITH THAT COMMITS, FAITH THAT IS WILLING TO GO DOWN TO JERUSALEM AND DIE WITH HIM, FAITH THAT WILL LEAD THOMAS TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, TO BRING THE GOSPEL TO INDIA, TO DIE A MARTYR FOR DOING THAT.

SO LET US THIS SUNDAY REMEMBER THOMAS NOT AS THE DOUBTER, BUT AS THE ONE WHO, UNLIKE THE OTHER APOSTLES, WHEN CONFRONTED WITH PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION, COMMITS. AND LET US ASK SAINT THOMAS TO HELP US BE PEOPLE WHO ARE COMPLETELY CHANGED BY THE RESURRECTION, PEOPLE WHO TURN OUR OWN LIVES OVER TO OUR LORD – PEOPLE WHO WILL CONVINCE OTHER GHANDI'S THAT CHRISTIANS ARE LIKE CHRIST.