In a way today’s gospel applies to us. We are those blessed ones who have not seen the Risen Christ, have not touched those open wounds and yet we believe that Christ is risen and is active in our lives as he was active in the lives of the first believers.
We can imagine the joy and excitement that exploded among the followers of Jesus when the news spread that he was alive, rose from the dead. Unbelievable.
We have the disciples gathered behind locked doors. They feared the authorities would come after them for spreading this fake news that he was alive. Jesus comes to them and blesses them with the gift of peace and power of God’s Holy Spirit.
Thomas was not there and he had great difficulty believing this news. Thomas had to see for himself. Jesus comes to them again and invites the speechless Thomas to touch, to feel his wounds. What else to Thomas say but; ’My lord and my God’?
For Thomas, faith came by hearing the voice of the risen one addressing him personally. For we who come centuries after Thomas, our faith comes through hearing the Word of God that comes to us through the Church…
We’re all finding our present situation of isolation and social distancing very difficult. So many of us are suffering from cabin fever. We want to get back with family and friends; we want to get back to work without the fear and anxiety of getting sick. We look forward to the day when we can be together as a parish family and are with one another and sing together and break the bread of the Eucharist again. It is good to remember that we are all in this together and that it is a good idea to pray for those who are touched by this virus and pray for those who have died and those who mourn them. Especially we pray for those we call ‘first responders’, the real heroes in all this.
There is a saying; Oremus pro invicem- let us pray for one another. Pray for the patience we need and the hope we need to live through these difficult times together. And when all this is over hopefully we’ll have a deeper appreciation of how much we mean to one another.
Founded by St. Paul of the Cross, every Passionist takes a special vow to spend his or her energies in promoting remembrance of the sufferings of Jesus, the memory of the Cross, and reflection of the meaning of the Cross for the world.
