2nd Sunday of Easter, Cycle B
Let us pray:
O God of mercy and life,
remind us always that Jesus is not found
among that which is dead.
Breathe on us.
Let your breath-giving Spirit fill us
and create us anew.
Let our love for you bind us to each other.
Help us know that we touch your wounds
when we help those in need,
those who hunger, those who are still lonely and lost.
Help us spread your peace throughout the world. AMEN
1st Reading: The Acts of the Apostles 4: 32-35
Every Easter season we read from Acts; it is the ‘Part-2’ of Luke’s story. It is a
very idealistic and dramatic narrative of the early community. Through the
power of the Risen Lord, we are empowered to share life and possessions,
rather than horde ‘things.’ Luke in these types of summaries is holding up an
ideal for all of us to consider. Historically, we know that in these early
communities all private ownership was NOT utterly renounced. Sharing and
caring for each other was the way, however, for the Christian to ‘live’ Jesus’
resurrection. It still is today. (Celebration, April, 2000)
A triumphal picture is painted in Acts. Such an ecclesiology, taken in isolation,
will leave Christians perplexed when their institutions begin to close, when their
churches are being abandoned for lack of members, and when their overall
numbers in the world begin to get smaller (Brown, Raymond, The Churches the
Apostles Left Behind, p. 70-71). Not to be a party pooper, but we know from
Paul’s letters that there was discord and difficulty behind the success of the
growing community. Isn’t there always? It is Christ that gives us strength and
hope…as Psalm 118 says this week, “His mercy endures forever.”
2nd Reading: 1 John 5: 1-6
John’s community was not only persecuted, it was divided. It was being split by
people who could not believe in the Incarnation (the Gnostics). Those who
broke away did not believe that the human Jesus could be one with the powerful
Presence and Spirit of God, both through his baptismal calling and power (the
water and the Spirit) and through his humanness and suffering (the blood, his
life-force). Further proof of their error was their behavior and lack of love shown
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toward one another. They would not accept the reality of Jesus Christ nor his
way of love. (Mary Birmingham, W& W for Year B, 355-356)
Reflect on that word ‘begotten’. The word is based on the Greek word
monogenes, which means "pertaining to being the only one of its kind or class,
unique in kind." John was primarily concerned with demonstrating that Jesus is
the Son of God and he uses monogenes to highlight Jesus as uniquely God's
Son—sharing the same divine nature as God—as opposed to believers who are
God's sons and daughters by adoption. Jesus is God’s “one and only” Son.
But this is also speaking about US. This is the kind of intimacy God wants with
us. We enter into this relationship. We are one of a kind, unique, and loved by
our Creator.
The Gospel: John 20: 19-31
Belief isn’t something we have and then that’s it. There is always room to grow
in our belief – or our unbelief. The story of ‘doubting Thomas’ is the story of all
of us. May we all come to a profound faith in “Our Lord and our God” as
Thomas did. Note also that it says the ‘disciples’ were behind closed doors. The
Spirit is given to all those gathered, not just the Twelve. The mission of all
disciples, empowered by the Spirit, is to extend to others the forgiveness and
life that Jesus offers us through his death and resurrection. Where the Spirit is
present, the Risen Christ becomes visible. (Living Liturgy, 2003, 116-117)
The faith of Thomas was not based on an empty tomb, but on an encounter with
the living Lord. We can learn from Thomas:
1st, we see the importance of community – we can miss a lot if we separate
ourselves from community. When sorrow overwhelms us, it is then that we need
to seek that we can “seek the heart and mind of Christ” in other believers.
2nd, Thomas was honest – and even bold. When he had doubts and questions
he did not deny his doubts “by pretending that they didn’t exist.” He took them
directly to Jesus. In John’s Gospel when all of Jesus’ followers agreed that it
was dangerous to go back to Jerusalem, Thomas says: “Let us go also to die
with him (11:16).” Yet, when Jesus tries to warn his friends at the Last Supper
that he would have to leave them -- that he would go to his Father’s house and
that they knew the way -- Thomas spoke up: “We do not know where you are
going; how can we know the way (14:5)?” After demanding his own experience
of the Risen Lord, he is the one who gives the ultimate faith statement: “My Lord
and my God!” (Celebration, April 2005, and Quest, Spring 2005)
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Note: Jesus is recognized by his wounds. How many of us have come to ‘see’
Jesus because of our wounds? We do not often see auras or visions or angels.
If we are indeed Christ’s body in this time and place, then our wounds, too, have
meaning and can be “luminous signs.” Perhaps it is in our woundedness that we
are most like Jesus and most like one another. Our ‘witness to resurrection’ may
be our willingness to embrace all of life – even our wounds and difficulties. We
do this not to be masochistic, but rather to show that we are in the midst of
being healed, of being forgiven, of receiving peace. We can become healers,
too, for one another -- “wounded healers” like Henri Nouwen would say -- so
Jesus can continue to work through us and through our simple wounds.
(Celebration, April 2002)
At the end of this gospel story, John writes that he has told this story so that
“you may come to believe . . . and that through this belief you may have life.”
But the word John uses for belief is not a noun – but a verb! In fact, John never
uses the noun faith or belief; he uses the verb 98 times! John is not concerned
with an inward system of thoughts, but an active commitment to trust in Jesus
and in his word. This is what it means to be a disciple. It is the very reason the
Father sent Jesus and why Jesus came: “that everyone who believes in him
may have eternal life (John 3:15). Jesus’ whole life, ministry, death, and
resurrection are oriented to this one outcome. This is why Jesus persisted in the
face of conspiracy, rejection, abandonment – and it is why Jesus came that
Easter morning to those who were locked in fear – and then again to Thomas. It
is also why he continues to come to us offering us his peace. (“Working with
the Word”, Zimmerman, http://liturgy.slu.edu 2006)
Let us pray:
O Risen Lord, come into our lives.
Unlock the doors of our heart and minds.
Breathe on us – and in us.
Fill us with your peace.
Let our doubts bring us into your presence.
May our wounds help us to show your love to others. Amen.
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