Doubt is a perennial reality of the Christian life and in today’s Gospel we see that it has been so since the very beginning. My grandmother used to say that “a little doubt is good for the soul”.
When we experience doubt, I believe it means that we may well be really engaging in and wrestling with the Christian mystery on a deeper level. And I think this is exactly what Pope Francis was calling us all to do: to think more deeply about our faith and how we lived it out with the people we encountered; how we live the peace of Christ and share it; how we make it real to the wounded and marginalized.
I think that Thomas gets a bit of a bad rap, being remembered as “doubting Thomas” down through the centuries, we may forget that Thomas is one of the very first human beings to ever hear of the resurrection of Christ. Imagine what it must have been like for the first hearers of the resurrection story -- it must have sounded amazing! They must have all held some disbelief and shock that Jesus, whom they had seen die on the cross, was now alive and appearing to the disciples, speaking to them and eating with them.
Imagine what it must have been like for the disciples. They had pinned all their hopes on this man Jesus and then they saw him executed by the Romans. All their hopes hung on that cross and seemed to die with him. Then, in the midst of their trembling and fear, and their deep disappointment, Jesus appears to them and imparts to them “his peace” -- the peace of the Risen Christ!
And then he breaths on them and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit. This gift was to embolden them as he sent them out into the world to proclaim the Good News that death had been defeated, our sins were forgiven and even though our bodies die, we will live forever!
The peace of Christ is at the center of Christian life and at the center of the Easter story. This peace is like no other peace. It is Christ’s peace. It is a transformative peace that flows forth from the Risen One…directly from God to us. And when we accept this peace of Christ into our soul, it has the power to transform us, to make us more peace-filled, more Christ-like.
In this Easter season let us open our hearts and minds to the presence of the Holy Spirit who is calling us and emboldening us to proclaim the peace of Christ to all the world.
As we mourn the loss of our beloved spiritual leader, Pope Francis, let us recall his call to build communities of radical welcoming, of peace and inclusion where love, mercy and forgiveness are the hallmarks of our discipleship of Jesus Christ.
And let us pray, that this “peace of the Risen Christ” may settle upon Ukraine, the Middle East and South Sudan, and all places of war and suffering.
Let us ask ourselves, how can I show forth Christ’s peace in my daily life…and how might I share it with the people around me, especially now, in the midst of all of the chaos and discord in our country?
May the peace of the Risen One be with you always,
Fr. Tim
When we experience doubt, I believe it means that we may well be really engaging in and wrestling with the Christian mystery on a deeper level. And I think this is exactly what Pope Francis was calling us all to do: to think more deeply about our faith and how we lived it out with the people we encountered; how we live the peace of Christ and share it; how we make it real to the wounded and marginalized.
I think that Thomas gets a bit of a bad rap, being remembered as “doubting Thomas” down through the centuries, we may forget that Thomas is one of the very first human beings to ever hear of the resurrection of Christ. Imagine what it must have been like for the first hearers of the resurrection story -- it must have sounded amazing! They must have all held some disbelief and shock that Jesus, whom they had seen die on the cross, was now alive and appearing to the disciples, speaking to them and eating with them.
Imagine what it must have been like for the disciples. They had pinned all their hopes on this man Jesus and then they saw him executed by the Romans. All their hopes hung on that cross and seemed to die with him. Then, in the midst of their trembling and fear, and their deep disappointment, Jesus appears to them and imparts to them “his peace” -- the peace of the Risen Christ!
And then he breaths on them and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit. This gift was to embolden them as he sent them out into the world to proclaim the Good News that death had been defeated, our sins were forgiven and even though our bodies die, we will live forever!
The peace of Christ is at the center of Christian life and at the center of the Easter story. This peace is like no other peace. It is Christ’s peace. It is a transformative peace that flows forth from the Risen One…directly from God to us. And when we accept this peace of Christ into our soul, it has the power to transform us, to make us more peace-filled, more Christ-like.
In this Easter season let us open our hearts and minds to the presence of the Holy Spirit who is calling us and emboldening us to proclaim the peace of Christ to all the world.
As we mourn the loss of our beloved spiritual leader, Pope Francis, let us recall his call to build communities of radical welcoming, of peace and inclusion where love, mercy and forgiveness are the hallmarks of our discipleship of Jesus Christ.
And let us pray, that this “peace of the Risen Christ” may settle upon Ukraine, the Middle East and South Sudan, and all places of war and suffering.
Let us ask ourselves, how can I show forth Christ’s peace in my daily life…and how might I share it with the people around me, especially now, in the midst of all of the chaos and discord in our country?
May the peace of the Risen One be with you always,
Fr. Tim
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