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

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

Sunday Gospel Reflection, April 3, 2016: These are written so that you may come to believe...

These are written that you may come to believe…

How did the Good News spread?

Our first Gospel after Easter is a familiar one:  John tells the story of Jesus’ first appearances to the disciples in a locked upper room where they are hiding out of fear for their lives.  Peace be with you, he says, not once but twice.  Peace – the Peace of God, Peace they will need to be ready for their mission.  The following week, although the greeting is the same – Peace be with you – Thomas wants further proof, and simply seeing Jesus’ wounds is enough to cause him to offer a profound testimony of absolute faith:  My Lord and my God. But Jesus knows there will be many to come who will not have this opportunity to see him:  Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.  We might count ourselves among that number… so how do we come to believe?

The Word of God first came to us in the body of Jesus; it was carried forth by the disciples in the form of healings done in Jesus’ name, the signs and wonders done among the people at the hands of the apostles as described in Acts.  Their profound faith in the power of Jesus’ name, the power of God among them, allows the apostles to manifest all that they believe, and through them, God’s power is made manifest – even in the very ephemeral nature of a shadow – such that great numbers of men and women were added to them.  It was the faith of these individuals, living in the peace of God, who gave testimony, both in words and in deeds, that caused the Church to grow, and that caused the people of their time to say, echoing Psalm118,  His mercy endures forever – a call to praise that becomes their own testimony, meant to light the fires of belief in others as well. 

The Word of God remains with us, among other ways, in written form. The Book of Revelation gives further testimony to Jesus in the writings of John, whose visions inspired faith and offered consolation, encouragement, and peace to a church under persecution.  Like Thomas, Peter, and John, we too are called to give testimony to the power of God’s love at work in our lives, and to sing the praise of God whose work (and Word) is wonderful in our eyes… May your Easter season be filled with peace and inspire you to just such testimony, so that all may be glad and rejoice, and so that the entire world may come to believe!

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.

Image source:  Wordle

Sunday Gospel Reflection, November 22, 2015: My kingdom does not belong to this world...

   My kingdom does not belong to this world…   

  Whose kingdom are we shooting for, anyway?  

  Are you the King of the Jews?  When, in John's Gospel, Pilate asks Jesus this question, he is concerned that Jesus represents a dual threat:  not only would such a messianic title be seen as blasphemous (to Pilate, the only king is Caesar, of course), but Jesus might be positioning himself as a politically motivated savior of his people, come to upend Roman rule.  However, Jesus is dedicated to something greater than any human, political truth; Jesus has come to testify to the truth, and that truth is God's love… God's love, which is ultimately true because it is unwavering, eternal, and without limitations.  And accepting God's love means accepting God's authority to rule our hearts. 

  That authority is, as the Book of Daniel proclaims, permanent:  His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away or destroyed.  Psalm 93 echoes this statement:  God's kingdom is from of old, and will last for length of days.  Jesus, one like a Son of Man, comes to earth in the semblance of weak humanity, but truly divine, he comes on the clouds of heaven.  In the Book of Revelation death crowns him the faithful witness, one who has made us into a kingdom, and whose reign is eternal; Jesus is the one who is and who was and who is to come… forever.

  God's love is a power that will last where human power will not.  The Feast of Christ the King reminds us that we, too, must be dedicated to something greater than an earthly kingdom, dedicated to a love that moves us, a love that is strong, holy, and trustworthy.  A love, in short, that no earthly king can destroy, a love that only Jesus, Christ the King, he who loves us, can give.

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.

Image source 1:  Wordle
Image source 2:  Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Mill Valley