Second Sunday of Easter, cycle A

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.