Sunday Gospel Reflection (04/12/15)

Gospel – John 20: 19-31

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But he said to them,
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Now a week later his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples
that are not written in this book.
But these are written that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

Reflection on the Gospel

Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God.

In this week’s Gospel, we hear the story of “Doubting Thomas” and the other disciples in the locked room. It is easy to focus on the “doubting ” part of the narrative, but everyone in this story had to see to believe. I have always thought that Thomas gets a bad rap for not believing. He is among the first people confronted with one of the more challenging and vital questions of our faith—to believe in the resurrection without seeing any physical evidence. 2000 years later, we are all in Thomas’ place to make a leap of faith—it is not always so easy, but St. La Salle reminds us that once we make that leap everything will change.

Now it is the second week of Easter! Like the disciples, we have waited in our dark rooms and prepared our hearts for the resurrection of Jesus. Will Jesus find that He is locked out of your heart like the room in the gospel? How much resistance will Christ find?

When, you let go of your resistance your heart is illuminated with the light of faith and you understand everything through God. The resurrection is a paradigm shift. It is a call for us to understand everything in a new way. God became one of us, died, and rose from the dead. How can that not change everything?