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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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Niagara Falls is one of the great natural wonders of America. Part of its beauty comes from the sheer force of water that spills over its edges – more than 75,000 gallons per second!

Over the centuries, people have attempted to “conquer” the falls through death-defying stunts like going over the edge locked inside a wheelbarrow.

One person even tried – unsuccessfully – to swim across.

Then there was the daredevil known as the “Great Blondin,” who crossed Niagara Falls on a highwire several times. In one attempt, he planned on pushing a wheelbarrow across while balancing on a wire only a few inches thick.

Before attempting his death-defying stunt, an onlooker shouted out from the crowd, “You’ll never make it across! Goodbye!”

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But the Great Blondin slowly pushed his wheelbarrow from one side of the falls to the other, then came all the way back. Shouting to the skeptic below, he said:

“Now do you believe I can do it?”

The onlooker said, “Yes, a hundred times.”

“Well, if you really believe,” he said, “then get into the wheelbarrow!”

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How many of us would’ve gotten into that wheelbarrow?

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This must’ve been how the Apostle Thomas felt about placing his trust in the Apostles’ account of seeing the Risen Lord.

“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,” Thomas says.

Because of his skepticism, Thomas is often referred to as “Doubting Thomas.”

But that nickname seems a bit unfair to me. It’s not that Thomas is unwilling to believe; he wants to believe. But he reminds us just how hard it can be to accept the mind-blowing truth of the resurrection.

Thomas knew how grim Christ’s death was. He knew Jesus was placed inside a rock-hewn tomb. He knew a giant boulder was rolled across.

Having the disciples tell him that Jesus was somehow alive again sounded like a cruel joke, as if Thomas was supposed to toss out the grief of Good Friday in his heart and instantly replace it with Easter joy. 

Such a startling proposal demanded more proof.

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A week later, Jesus appears to Thomas, but only after he rejoins the Apostolic community, teaching the Apostles an important lesson. If they want to see Jesus, then they must seek him together.

“Wherever two or three are gathered in my name,” he tells them, “there I am in the midst of them.” 

It’s partly why we gather together each week – to encounter the Lord together, to find him in this community and to receive him in this Eucharist.

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We all want to experience the Lord… as if it were always so easy.

But, on occasion, doesn’t “Doubting Thomas” show up within some of us?

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It’s that skeptical, unbelieving voice within that pokes at the soft spots in our faith.

“Thomas” shows up when our children or grandchildren ask us questions about God and we don’t know how to answer them.

“Thomas” shows up when we see the unnecessary suffering in our world, when someone we love is sick, when an important prayer request goes unanswered, or when we stand at the graveside weeping.

This must’ve been why John includes the story of Thomas at the conclusion of his Gospel, immediately after the resurrection appearances – to give us all permission to be Thomas. 

To doubt. To ponder. To question.

It’s also why the Church gives us seven weeks – nearly fifty days – to celebrate the Easter season. What happened to Jesus is real. 

The tomb was empty. It matters!

But the resurrection challenges every fiber of our being, not only to believe it, but also to be changed by it. 

In this Easter season, Jesus invites us to make that giant leap of faith from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, from doubt to faith, a leap we may have to make more than once in life.

You might say, we’re being invited to get into the wheelbarrow. 

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May we do just that – place our hearts into Christ’s hands, trusting that he will lead us safely across the “rushing, sometimes dangerous waters” of life into his eternal kingdom.

For he is Risen! Alleluia! 

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Image credits: (1) The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Caravaggio (2) Look and Learn, stock (3) Saint Thomas, Caravaggio

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Gospel: Luke 24: 35-48

The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way,
and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread.

While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have.”
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.

He said to them,
“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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What is the first word that Jesus says after being raised from the dead?

“Peace.”

In Hebrew, “Shalom.”

“Shalom” means inner stillness; harmony; wholeness; prosperity.

These are the things the Risen Lord offers his disciples in today’s Gospel after appearing to them behind locked doors. 

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You can imagine the disciples hiding fearfully somewhere in Jerusalem. Outside their room, they can hear children running through the alley ways, locals bartering in the streets, people chattering back and forth.

Meanwhile, they must’ve been wondering, “Are those the same voices who shouted ‘Crucify him!’ on Good Friday? If we leave this place, will people recognize us? Will we be crucified next?”

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Thankfully they’re discovered – not by an aggressor, but by the Lord.

“Peace,” he says. Shalom.

The Lord does for the disciples what no one else can; he stills their hearts.

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At times, I’m sure we all feel like the disciples did, not necessarily fearing for our lives, but afraid of one thing or another. 

In those moments, the invitation remains the same: to turn to the Lord, who offers what only he can, peace.

Shalom.

“Do not be afraid,” he says, “I have overcome the world.”

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Image credits: (1) Walking on Water, Joseph Brickey (2) Doubting Thomas, Caravaggio (3) posterlounge

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Gospel: Luke 24: 13-35

That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his Body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the Eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Why are the resurrection appearances always drenched in doubt?

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Yesterday, for example, we encountered Mary Magdalene in the garden, who went to visit the Lord’s tomb. She cried her eyes out – so much so that she couldn’t even recognize the Lord when he was standing right in front of her!

“Doubting” Thomas won’t believe, either. He insists upon driving his finger into the nailmarks of Christ’s hands and sliding his hand into Christ’s side before experiencing a change of heart.

Today we encounter two other disciples leaving Jerusalem who were, “hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel.”

They are heading west towards Emmaus, literally into the sunset – and spiritually into the night. 

Like the others, they’re grief-stricken and disappointed.

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The Lord is patient before revealing himself to them. He allows the disciples to share their sorrows and disappointment before breaking open the scriptures and sharing a meal with them.

When they finally “see” that it is the Lord, what do they do?

They rush back to Jerusalem – back into the light – to share the Good News with others.

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Each of these resurrection accounts remind us that faith is a journey – a series of questions and answers, which sometimes requires re-shaping our expectations or understanding of who God is.

As Emily Dickenson once wrote, “The truth must dazzle gradually, or every man would be blind.”

May the reality of the resurrection continue to dazzle us gradually, lest we go blind… for He IS Risen! Alleluia!

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Image credits: (1) Emmaus Road, The Missional Network (2) Depositphotos (3) The King’s College