Thoughts going in, Sunday April 12th Easter 2

¹⁹When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." ²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." ²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told 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 in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." ²⁶A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." ²⁸Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" ²⁹Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." ³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31)

            "Sundays and Seasons" online states: The Easter season is a week of weeks, seven Sundays when we play in the mystery of Christ's presence, mostly through the Gospel of John. Today we gather with the disciples on the first Easter, and Jesus breathes the Spirit on us. With Thomas we ask for a sign, and Jesus offers us his wounded self in the broken bread. From frightened individuals we are transformed into a community of open doors, peace, forgiveness, and material sharing such that no one among us is in need. Other online commentaries focus on the 'mystagogical' aspects of the season of Easter. One Catholic source says: Traditionally mystagogy extends throughout the Easter season, until the feast of Pentecost. This is a period of accompaniment for new Catholics as they discover what it means to fully participate in the sacramental mysteries of the Church. The newly baptized are called “neophytes,” from the Greek words meaning “new plant,” because the faith has been newly planted in them. Even though their catechetical preparation has been completed, they still have much to learn about what it means to live as Catholic Christians. Things often look different from the inside! Once they find themselves really on the inside, the neophytes often have more questions about living a life of faith. They need the ongoing support of the community so that the faith newly planted in them can grow deep roots.

            Point being, it doesn't matter that we're not Roman Catholic, or that we may not use terms like 'mystagogy' and 'neophite.' It doesn't even really matter too much that we may have had no baptisms on Easter. The lectionary we're on... and the readings chosen for the Sundays of Easter **assume** this mindset. Backing up a step, Lent *assumes preparation for baptism and/or renewal of baptismal vows... and Easter *assumes growth in this baptismal life.

            With that in mind, the Gospel for the 2nd Sunday of Easter has several themes worth exploring. There is the theme of living one's faith in a hostile world: and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews (v19a). There's the theme of experiencing Jesus in community: Jesus came and stood among them (v19b). There's the theme of the office of the keys--the truth that we can audibly HEAR that our sins are forgiven: If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained (v23), and as the catechism says: this is just as valid and certain in heaven as if Christ had spoken these words to us himself. There is the theme of 'doubt'.... which, in reality, is unbelief; the NRSV mistranslates this word. To be clear, Thomas does not doubt. Jesus specifically tells him not to be UNBELIEVING but BELIEVING. Jesus is then quoted as saying something that applies to every disciple from John's original readers to us today: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe (v29). To which, the Gospel writer adds: Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name (vss 30-31). In other words, the WAY a person believes without seeing is through these written things...aka The Word.

            As a whole, the passage sums up the life of faith nicely. It IS FAITH. Unlike those first disciples, we will worship someone that we don't see with our physical eyes. But like them, our faith will have its ups and downs. In down times, we confess and receive forgiveness, knowing that our sins have been forgiven. And we draw our greatest nourishment in the faith from THE WORD.

Cheers,

T.M.