Thursday, April 25, 2019

Sunday Gospel Reflection, April 28, 2019: Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands...


What does it take for us to know in our hearts that Jesus is Lord?

  It may seem astounding:  a full week after Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on them, the erstwhile rejoicing disciples remain behind doors that are locked.  Coming to full faith in Jesus isn’t always an instantaneous experience; it is a process that takes time and an opening of heart.  So, Jesus appears to them again in John's Gospel, this time offering the previously absent Thomas a chance to witness Jesus’ resurrected body for himself:  Put your fingers here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, Jesus says to Thomas. Do not be unbelieving, but believe.  Jesus’ invitation for Thomas to see with his fingers might seem odd, but in fact Jesus is calling Thomas to a different kind of sight, inviting him to know with his heart, to see with his heart – and he does!  Thomas doesn’t even need to touch Jesus’ wounds to proclaim his faith:  My Lord and my God!  Thomas has moved from a desire for proof – Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands – to a profound heart knowledge of Jesus as Lord.

  What’s the next step?  The disciples have to leave that room!  As the Father has sent me, so I send you, Jesus tells them.  So, leave, he tells them… leave so that your heart can give witness to what you know is true.  Let your belief become so much a part of you that your very life is witness to what you now know in your heart.  Eventually, as the Acts of the Apostles tells us, many believers will be added to their numbers in spite of the fear of persecution, because Jesus’ presence is conveyed through the heart knowledge of the men he sent out to teach, preach, and heal the sick and those disturbed by unclean spirits. Jesus remains, in the words of Psalm 118, their cornerstone, rejected by the builders but foundational to the new faith budding in Jerusalem.  John, the author of the Book of Revelation, will tell a similar story:  knowing distress, he nevertheless proclaims God’s word and gives testimony to Jesus. Knowing in his heart who Jesus is gives him the strength to endure.

  To know in our heart that Jesus is Lord, to experience life through the Risen Christ – who himself moved from death to life – calls from us something different, something new, a change so profound that it hits us at our core, a transformation of heart so radical that we are moved to proclaim his good news.  What does it take to know in our heart that Jesus is Lord?  We need to open that heart, for starters.  And, once we do, once we  open to his love in our lives, we too are called, and indeed, sent by Jesus to bring the good news of God’s love to the world.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture Class.
Image source:  www.wordclouds.com

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