SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
11 APRIL 2021
During
this Octave of Easter, the Gospel of Saint John has given us the story of
people coming to faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We began with Mary Magdalene, who comes to
the tomb not only in the darkness of night, but also in the darkness of her
grief and despair. She sees the empty
tomb and the burial cloths lying on the ground.
She runs to Peter and the Beloved Disciple to complain that someone had
stolen the Lord’s body. She returns to
the tomb to hear confusing sounds from angels.
She mistakes the risen Christ for the gardener and asks where he has put
the body. Finally, she recognizes him when
he calls her by name, and she becomes the apostle to the apostles, proclaiming
the good news of the risen Christ.
Today we see the movement of the
disciples to Easter faith. Even though
Mary Magdalene had announced the good news, the disciples lock themselves in
the upper room out of fear. They fear
that the authorities could come after them.
They also fear. If Christ has
risen from the dead, he will be angry with them for abandoning him in his
darkest hour. But, the risen Christ
breaks through their locked doors. He
gives them his peace. He shows them the signs
of his love – the wounds in his hands and feet.
In breathing on them, he gives them the Holy Spirit, not only forgiving
their sins, but also giving them the authority to forgive the sins of others.
Finally,
Saint John shows us the journey to Easter faith of Thomas. We do not know why Thomas was not with the
rest of the disciples on Easter Sunday.
We can only speculate. He must
have been in incredible grief and despair, like the others. But he had bragged that he would die with
Jesus in returning to Judea to raise Lazarus from the dead. Instead of dying with him, he had run
away. Immersed in guilt and possibly
hatred for those who killed his master, Thomas withdraws from the assembly and
refuses to believe. Jesus breaks through
the locked doors again and repeats his message of peace and forgiveness. He shows Thomas the signs of his love, and
Thomas proclaims the ultimate faith in the risen Christ: “My Lord and my God.”
We can
identify with the characters in John’s Gospel.
Sometimes we are like Mary Magdalene – so caught up in the darkness of life
that we miss the clues of the resurrection.
At other times, we are like the disciples hiding behind locked doors out
of fear. Or maybe we might be like
Thomas, so paralyzed by guilt or hatred that we separate ourselves from the
believing community. In truth, the
experience of this pandemic has amplified all of these reactions.
That is why
we need Easter so desperately. Child
psychologists argue that the best gift parents can give to their children is to
show up for them. When parents show up, they
spend time with their children, gently guide them, and prepare them with their
presence to take their places in an adult and frightening world. That is exactly what the risen Christ does in
every one of these accounts. He shows up
and calms the fears of his disciples. He
reassures them that he is present to them.
He sends them forth to proclaim the incredible truth that has
transformed the world. Easter reminds us
that he continues to “show up.” He shows
up in the Sacramental life of the Church.
He shows up in the clues of his resurrection, including this new season
of spring and the hopeful signs that there is an end to this pandemic.
We live in
a most polarized time, both in terms of the Church and our surrounding
culture. But, if we focus our attention
on the presence of the risen Christ in our midst, then we too can experience
the reality expressed in the Acts of the Apostles. Despite our divisions, we are of one heart
and mind, regarding our possessions as secondary, and bearing witness to the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Thanks for these words Fr. Bill. They spoke to me, in my faith life. I also found them fitting to the faith lives of my dear children, who seem to be lost in their faiths of late.
ReplyDeleteI continue to pray that they find their way.