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Gospel Reflection 20070415

"Forgive people who cause pain" and "deal kindly with people who do thoughtless things."
Traditionally known as two of the Christian "works of mercy"— "forgive injuries" and "bear wrongs patiently"—these two similar works go against what we see (and sometimes cheer for) in life and in the movies. The bad guy does something nasty on-screen in the first half hour, then is hunted down and made to pay.
Forgiving injuries and bearing wrongs does not mean we stand by and allow truly evil things to keep on happening. It means we don't enter into the cycle of revenge and keep hatred breeding by adding our own.

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Divine Mercy Sunday
The Feast of the Divine Mercy or Divine Mercy Sunday falls on the Octave of Easter (the Sunday immediately following Easter). It is dedicated to the devotion to the Divine Mercy promoted by St. Faustina (Faustyna Kowalska), and is based upon an entry in St. Faustina's diary stating that anyone who participates in the Mass and receives the sacraments of confession and Eucharist on this day is assured by Jesus of full remission of sins. On April 30, 2000 (Divine Mercy Sunday of that year), Pope John Paul II canonized St. Faustina and designated the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday in the General Roman Calendar, with effect from the following year. He also decreed a plenary indulgence associated with this devotion.
The Promise.
According to St. Faustina, Our Lord promises to those who go to confession and communion on this day, the remission of the guilt and the punishment of sins.
On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. (Diary of Sr. Faustina, 699)
Many take this to mean that they must go to Confession ON Mercy Sunday. This is not true. To receive the benefits of the Promise one must be in the state of grace. The Lord does not promise the absolution of grave sin on Mercy Sunday, but points us to the Sacrament of Penance. To receive the grace we should be disposed. This is done by a confession near the time of Mercy Sunday. According to the Cardinal of Krakow, the confession which a Catholic makes during Lent in preparation for Easter is sufficient. Priests do not have to provide confession on Mercy Sunday so that Catholics can satisfy this condition. Since it is a Sunday the condition of Communion can be easily satisfied (including at the Saturday Vigil Mass). Our Communion, as our Confession, should be especially devout.
Some refer to this grace as a Plenary Indulgence. While the effect is the same, complete remission of sin and the punishment due to it, it is not granted by the Church but by a promise of the Lord. Also, the conditions are fewer, only Confession and Communion. While the Lord also asks for veneration of His Image on Mercy Sunday, as well as acts of mercy, these do not appear to be essential to the Promise, though they certainly could manifest the disposition, or lack of disposition, of the person seeking it. The receipt of the grace is not magic, but necessarily involves the opening of our hearts to mercy. This is best done by deeds, words and thoughts of mercy towards others. That, too, takes God's grace, but we can surely expect the actual graces to be merciful available to us on Mercy Sunday, if we but trust. The message clearly states the Lord's willingness for the greatest generosity on this day. We do what our circumstances permit us, and trust in God. This is true also of those whose circumstances do not permit them to get to Communion on that day, such as the infirm and the home-bound. God does not ask the impossible.


Second Sunday of Easter

Gospel
Jn 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.




1. Open Wide Your Doors to Christ. The disciples hid in a locked room out of fear, but Christ knows how to knock down any door and remove any obstacle we put in his way.
2. Peace Be with You. We hear these words during each Mass. Christ gives his own inner peace and consolation to all. For his disciples, this greeting was an introduction to the gift and power he was about to give them to absolve sins. God has entrusted to each person his special gifts, meant to bring others to know and love Christ. Do I recognize and cherish the gifts God has given me? Do I use them to bring others to Christ?
3. As the Father Has Sent Me, So I Send You. We are all sent as missionaries into this world. The Catholic Church is a missionary Church. Have I heard and heeded the missionary call from Christ? We cannot put our mission on hold out of doubts like those of Thomas. We are called to believe with the eyes of faith even though we have not physically seen Christ. We are called to be the blessed that believe and put their faith into practice. If we believe we will have life in his name and so bring others to believe through the humble testimony of our lives.


ONE
Have you ever seen children wearing one of those T-shirts that say, "My parents went to the Bahamas and all I got was this crummy T-shirt"? Or, maybe you received a post card from friends who were on vacation that said, "Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here". You would have wanted to have been there but you did not the money to go on some fancy vacation. Now, your friends have a lifetime memory to share and all you have is a post card. And then, when your friends come home, you have to look at their photos and listen to them telling you about how exciting everything was.
It is difficult to really become excited about an experience, even a great experience, that you only know about second hand, isn't it? Oh, you can listen politely and smile at the appropriate times, but the experiences of other people are just that-their experiences. We've all been there, haven't we?
And so it was with St. Thomas, when the other disciples told him that they had seen the risen lord. For whatever reason, Thomas was not with them on Easter Sunday. Who knows why? But, when he heard their news, he was incredulous. He thought that they were pulling his leg and doubted their entire story. Thomas wanted proof. This does not mean that Thomas was a bad person. In fact, perhaps many of us, too, have had doubts about some things that we have been taught about Jesus and his church. And, that does not make us bad people either. The story of Jesus rising from the dead after a horrible crucifixion sounds too good to be true.
It is OK to doubt. After all, by human standards, Christianity does not make sense. By human standards, it does not make sense that God would become a man; that he would die so that we, you and I, might have eternal life; that we can eat his flesh and drink his blood at every Mass; that we can share in his life right now and that we can live in peace, joy and love-forever.
And, with doubt, comes hope. And, Christian hope is not just some sort of wishful thinking like, "I hope that the Cardinals will win the World Series". Christian hope, on the other hand, is clear, precise and unwavering. Christian hope tells us that we can truly trust and expect that God will give us all we need to live like Christ, to die in the peace of Christ and to enjoy God with all of our loved ones-forever. That, my friends, is the hope that Christ gives us. And, it is not just wishful thinking.
Maybe, Thomas wanted to believe the other disciples, but he just could not. And, maybe that is why Jesus appeared to the disciples one week later-this time with Thomas in the room.
Jesus did not want any of his disciples to believe in his resurrection with a second hand faith. You can die from second hand smoke and you can get the flu from a second hand virus but, you cannot be a second hand Christian. True Christianity is not something that you can "catch" from hanging around other Christians or by simply attending a Christinan school. So, how do we get this true faith, since we were not there to actually see and touch Jesus?
Well, to begin, faith does not come from absolute proof or it would not be faith-it would be 'fact'. In addition, faith does not require actual seeing or touching or anything else for evidence. No, faith is the personal choice that we make to completely trust in God. We do have excellent evidence, however, to trust in God. After all, not many people can predict their own death and resurrection 3 days later.
We have to make a choice and the choices are simple-yes or no. There is no middle ground. You cannot hedge your bets. By not making a choice, you have already made a choice and the answer to God is 'no'.
To make this choice reminds me of a man I once sat next to on an airplane trip. The flight attendant came over to him and asked him if he would like to eat dinner. "What are my choices"?, he asked her. She replied, "Yes or no".
Those are our choices too with God. It is one or the other-yes or no. Make the correct one. You eternity depends on it.


TWO

Experience Jesus through Word and Community

My first grandchild, Thomas Patrick, was born in January. I have not met him; I have not been able to put a finger on him or put my hand on his side. Does he really exist? I have second-hand evidence that he does through my wife who visited him for two weeks and from photos and video clips e-mailed by my daughter and son-in-law. I have so much faith that Tommy is alive that I have planned to baptize him in the back of church next weekend after the 10:30 Mass! But, what if I had to wait for many years to see and hear Tommy? I would probably begin to have doubts about him.

The Gospel writer, John, knew that his contemporaries had this same kind of doubt about Jesus near the end of the first century. Most of them had never seen or heard Jesus in the flesh. Most of them had been born after Jesus had died, so the stories they heard came second or third hand.

John’s problem, which is a continuing problem for the church, was how to encourage people in the faith when Jesus was no longer around to be seen or touched. The story about Thomas gave him a way to do that. By detailing that reluctant disciple’s doubt, John took the words right out of our mouths and put them in Thomas’ instead, so that each of us has the opportunity to think about how we do (or do not) come to believe.

So where are we 20 centuries later, so far removed from being able to see or hear Jesus in the flesh? Our doubts have to be greater than that of Thomas. One way we experience Jesus is through the Scriptures provided to us by our ancestors who wanted us to experience Jesus in the word. Our Church teaches us that “[Christ] is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in church.” (GIRM 29)

Christians sometimes seek their own experience of God, not being content to take the word of others. However, the story of Thomas shows both the patient understanding of Christ and the humble acknowledgment of error on the part of Thomas. It also shows that it was actually in the midst of the community, the place Thomas least expected to meet the Lord, that the personal experience occurred.

Any one of us can be invited into a deep personal encounter when we least expect it, in the most unlikely places, with effects that overwhelm us. In fact, the risen Christ is always just around the next corner, eager to enter our lives with the transforming power of the resurrection.

Some people say that they experience Jesus in the quiet of the golf course, or walking a long a beach, or gazing at a beautiful sunset. I experience him more powerfully through his word read in church and through others in community inside and outside of church. When we work together in community, we see and hear the risen Christ in our neighbor. We are the body of Christ!

Blessed are you who have not seen and yet have come to believe.


THREE

MORE ON DEVINE MERCY SUNDAY
Pope John Paul II was shot by Mehmet Ali Agca on 5/13/81. While still in intensive care, the Pope said, "I pray for the brother who shot me, and I pardon him sincerely." On 12/27/83, he visited the assassin in jail, spoke with him and embraced him. The Pope was following the teachings of mercy and forgiveness taught by Jesus. Pope John Paul II forgave and prayed for his assailant from his heart. He had complete trust in Jesus. Ten years ago, two young sisters were raped and forced to jump to their deaths off the Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis. A month ago, their mother asked the governor to commute the execution of one of those involved since he was only sixteen years old and of border-line intelligence when the murders took place. She said, "It was the Christian thing to do." She, like the Pope, believed and trusted in the teachings of mercy and forgiveness of Jesus. Real trust is acting on what we believe.
The apostles were fearful after Jesus was crucified. Their faith probably was shaken until Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit, if you forgive men's sins, they are forgiven them; if you hold them bound, they are held bound." These words from Jesus established the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation, the great sacrament of mercy.
The 20th century has been more sinful than any before. Too many people in the Western World think that with their discoveries, they can preempt God. Too many deny the existence of God. The result is a "culture of death". Divine Mercy offers a "culture of life." Jesus revealed to Sister Maria Faustina that His mercy is available to the greatest sinner, even to those in despair. The depth of Divine Mercy is shown in the complete forgiveness of punishment. This is awesome. Jesus will pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of His Divine Mercy. No sin is beyond forgiveness. The graces of Divine Mercy are dependent upon trust in Jesus.
Jesus offers us either His Divine Mercy or His just judgment for the reparation of our sins. It is a slam dunk choice to take His divine mercy.
However, Divine Mercy is more than just another devotion. It's a way of life to gain the fruit of peace that comes from unity and love of God and our neighbor. Jesus offers us marvelous graces in His Divine Mercy but He also demands of us deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Him.
Let's be more concrete. Have any of the young people here ever been angry with your parents? Occasionally they don't understand you? Well, if you stop and think about it, they've probably treated you very well. You have great meals but never pay the super market bills; a comfortable home but you never pay the mortgage. You also probably are receiving a fine education but you never pay tuition or the taxes that pay for that education. When you feel your parents don't understand you, stop, think ...... think of the times they have forgiven you and don't be afraid to say to your them, "Mom, Dad I just want you to know I really appreciate all you've done for me." That's an act of mercy ... that requires a decision on your part.
Marriage is another area in which forgiveness and mercy are very important. Husbands and wives, do you ever get aggravated with your spouse? Do you carry a grudge? Maybe you're not speaking. God's grace comes to those who, at that time, have the courage to say, "Honey, I'm sorry" and for the other partner to say, "Thanks dear but I was probably a bit at fault myself
Mercy and forgiveness usually require action. Jesus had mercy on the entire human race. His action? He died on the cross and He showed His mercy and His love just as a married couple or a child can show their love for one another by following His example. We are to show mercy to our neighbors always and everywhere. Mercy is a profound manifestation of love, and love is the very essence of God. In forgiving, we participate in an act of divinity. Jesus, on the cross, prayed for forgiveness for His persecutors, "Forgive them, they know not what they do." This was Mercy-love that came from His heart. Pope John Paul II forgave and prayed for his assailant from his heart. He had complete trust in Jesus. So did the woman whose daughters were murdered. Real trust is acting on what Jesus lived and taught. The graces of Divine Mercy are dependent upon real trust in Jesus. Let us pray daily, "Jesus, I Trust in You."


FOUR
Like Thomas, each of us is asked to make a decision today. Do we believe that Jesus Christ is God? Our immediate answer might be, “Of course I believe. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.” Well, there may be more to it than that. If we believe Jesus was God and that He rose from the dead then, like the apostles, we agree to follow Him and keep His commandments and that’s a decision that’s difficult to embrace.
Recently, this same question was asked by Peter Jennings, the news anchorman for ABC television. He hosted a documentary that explored the topic, “Was Jesus Christ God?” He interviewed a number of so-called experts and they all gave opinions. Some rather famous experts on this topic weren’t invited. The Pope wasn’t there. No one mentioned any of the comments made by Mother Teresa while she was alive. Finally, while many agreed Jesus was a holy man and a fine individual, they decided He was not God. The conclusions arrived at by Jennings panel are not unique. Consider the society in which we live. A large percentage of the population in our country could be called “doubting Thomas’s”. They do not believe. Some are our friends and they can have a strong influence on our belief that Jesus is God.
Thomas needed conclusive proof before believing that Jesus had risen. Do we have doubts ... are we looking for conclusive proof or, like the others assembled in the upper room, do we have the true faith in our God? That’s a decision we must all make. It doesn’t matter if we are in our teens, are young adults, middle aged or senior citizens. The answer we give will have a definite effect on our present lives and our future ... even our everlasting future.
The apostles had advantages we do not have. They knew Jesus, they witnessed His miracles and they heard His teachings. Still, Thomas did not believe He had risen until he saw Him with his own eyes. Only then did he say, “My Lord and my God.”
Listen again to what Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” He’s talking about those of us in this church this morning. We have not seen ... and yet we are here.... we believe. Since that belief can be influenced by the many others in our society who are like Thomas, we should use the examples of the other apostles as the cornerstone of our faith.
Because of their faith they devoted their lives to spreading the word about the Messiah and His saving message. That’s what will happen in our lives if we, too, develop the depth of faith practiced by the apostles. It will also give us the strength to ignore the temptations of our modern society and emulate the apostles.
Listen to what resulted from their deep faith.

Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles. The sick and those disturbed by evil spirits (were brought to them) and they were all cured. All of them were cured!!

Because of their faith in Jesus, they were able to work miracles. Our faith in Jesus may not equip us to cure the sick and drive out evil spirits but it will give us the strength to be strong in our belief as we live in a society that does not allow the name of God to be mentioned in our public schools, that bombards us with inappropriate things in television shows, in movies and with the music to which we are subjected.
That’s why the lesson we learn from Thomas is so important, particularly to the young people here this morning. You are the targets of those who would attempt to woo you away from your faith in the risen Lord. It’s true, you have not seen Jesus but you have seen the example of others and you do know what is right and what is wrong. You are living 2000 years after the miracles of Jesus were so awesome that the apostles and hundreds of thousands of others were convinced of His divinity. Through the ages billions of people have believed. But, it’s because of our “doubting” nature that we need proof to bolster our faith.
That proof comes from the apostles, themselves. Everyone needs role models when shaping their personal lifestyles. We have many false role models today. Many in the movie industry have won Academy Awards, have wealth and fame but they cannot find happiness in their marriages. They seek love but do not give love. The parents here today are richer, by far, than many of those famous individuals. Your families prove that God’s plan works.

We have also observed what has happened to powerful politicians who have seen the luster of their terms in office fade because their beliefs were centered on self rather than on God.
On the other hand, those men who were with Jesus, including Thomas, spread throughout the world to bring to everyone the message of Jesus Christ. They knew the truth, they had lived with Jesus and had seen His miracles. Tradition tells us that many of the apostles eventually suffered martyrdom ... they died for their beliefs. Some, possibly including Peter Jennings, would say they were foolish. However, even when faced with death because of their belief in Jesus, they would not deny Him. Actually, they could not deny Him ... they were there ... they know the truth. ..... they knew the answer to the question: “Is Jesus Christ God?” .
The apostles answered with a resounding “YES!!!” They are true role models. We must have the same faith. As our Lord gave Thomas the opportunity to fully appreciate His divinity He also gives us the grace to defy the temptations that our society puts in front of us. And so, as we come to communion, today, let our minds and hearts drift back 2000 years to the scene of a repentant Thomas, kneeling before his God and let us say, in our hearts:
“Alleluia, Christ IS the Risen God.”

FIVE

When Jesus was nailed to the Cross and pierced with the lance, Thomas was most likely absent also then. Nor is there any mention of him “hanging around” the tomb of Jesus, either at His burial or after His Resurrection. So, he probably had seen neither the marks the nails made, nor the wound of the lance, in the mortal body of Jesus. Yet, from what he himself affirms, he obviously had believed those who had told him about it all. It is thus not totally inappropriate to say that, after the Resurrection, he is being somewhat “inconsistent” when he says that he refuses to believe those who told him they had seen the Lord. He demands to put his finger in the wounds which he did not have the loyalty or the courage to see being inflicted. Thomas does not detect his own inconsistency, probably because, as for us all, it is strangely easier to accept the truth of suffering and death than that of the Resurrection. Everyone knows about death; it is part of our mortal experience, however much we would deny it. So total and definitive does death seem to us, that Resurrection sounds like a cruel hoax or a mad man’s hallucination. Indeed, when St. Paul spoke of the Resurrection of Jesus to the Athenians, they laughed at him. Thomas did not laugh, but voiced our natural skepticism in the face of something so incredible: where is the proof?
Just as Thomas was absent when Jesus first appeared to the rest of the Eleven, so Jesus was absent when Thomas rejoined them… or was He? When Jesus reappears, he addresses Thomas directly in order to respond to his doubts. But how did Jesus know the exact terms of Thomas’s doubt? The most likely answer is that, although seeming to be absent from the Apostles, the Risen Jesus was actually always present among them. That is one significant aspect of the reference to the “eighth day” in our Gospel text, the eternal Day, the omnipresence of the Risen Christ. His departure in death was only for the “little while”, of which St. John’s Gospel also speaks a few times. Jesus knew He would return, not in some mythical “reincarnation”, but in the ultimate reality of the Resurrection. To reassure the Apostles, however, that He was indeed the same Jesus, the first thing He did when appearing to them was to show them His hands and His side. In other words, He was saying, “I am the same Jesus who was crucified, who died and was buried.” Now, having risen, the tomb remains empty, and all tombs shall be, and shall remain, emptied. He will depart no more; and we shall depart no more, from Him or from one another. He remains for ever present with His community, found in seed form in the Apostles. They need doubt no longer, but only believe. By showing His wounds to them, Jesus witnesses before the Apostles to the destruction of death and to the carnal reality of the Resurrection. He then commissions them to go forth as the community that will carry that witness to the ends of the earth. The witness of the Apostles is thus not only the witness to Jesus (“He is risen”), but the witness of Jesus (“I am risen”). They are not just telling us about what they have seen and heard, as if recounting some interesting personal experience. They are, in fact, telling, actually communicating to us the very presence and life of the Risen Lord, so that we might be in living communion with Him and with them. The Word of the Apostles is the Word of Christ Himself: it gives life, it gives Christ to those who believe and obey it. They proclaim the Word of Life, the Word who is Life, the Word who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
But what is that apostolic community if not the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church? The mission of the Church, in the midst of any doubt, is therefore to live in the power of the presence of the Risen Lord and to proclaim His victory over death to all creation. It is a mission entrusted by Christ first of all to the Apostles and, in equal degree and manner, to those who succeed the Apostles, those we call bishops: on them has been conferred by Christ the power and the authority to bind and to loose, to lead, to teach and to sanctify. Yet, to all who likewise believe in Christ and remain in communion with Him through the Apostles, there is also given a share in the grace and in the command to transmit the life of the Risen Lord. This, all the baptized do in their witness of word and deed, and especially in their witness of worship in the Mass and the sacraments, and in remaining faithful to the fullness of Truth as it is given to us in the apostolic Church, built on the faith of Peter.
In its essence, the Church’s message is not therefore a human philosophy, not even a Christian philosophy. It is not in the first place a philosophy at all, or a system of thought or a vision of reality. All of this is good, useful and, at times, even necessary. In fact, however, the message of the Church is not firstly a mere message! It is the transmission of a life, of the life of the Risen Son of God, the eternal life of the Resurrection.
Herein lies something of the lesson of Thomas. The transmission of the life of the Risen Jesus is not achieved by seeing with the eyes of the body, nor even those of the mind. The Gospel cannot satisfy the limited demands of science or of the arts, no matter how unlimited they consider themselves to be. It is neither an objet d’art nor an objet de curiosité. Philosophers may come to the Gospel through reason, scientists through science, artists through art. But they can only do so when, in the intimacy of their souls, they walk stark naked through the door of faith into the Heart of the Risen Christ. Christ cannot be reached in His life-giving truth, except by the unveiled eyes of the human soul, i.e. by faith. Science, art and philosophy can lead us to the river-bank of faith, but that river cannot be crossed unless the soul cries out to the living God: “My Lord and my God! Save me, bring me to yourself, O Lord of all mysteries and truth, of all beauty and life!” True bliss is inner vision, namely the believing soul: and that bliss is not a concept, however vivid, nor a feeling, however strong – it is the infusion by grace, and the inner acceptance by faith, of the life of the Risen Christ. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe!
When Christ breathes upon His apostles, He signifies the coming of the Holy Spirit, which will take place fully at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is the breath of the life of God. The Risen Jesus imparts that life, breathes that breath, but He has chosen to do so only in and through His apostolic Church. That is His disposition; it has nothing to do with the Apostles; it is neither their choice nor merit, but Christ’s will. Let’s face it: the Apostles were a sorry lot of quivering cowards - Peter’s betrayals, Thomas’s arrogance, the presumptuousness of James and John, and so forth. We certainly would not have voted for them! But Christ chose them: are we really going to say to the Lord: “Couldn’t You have done it better”? When it comes to us human beings, was there, is there or will there really ever be, a better or best, yea even just a good, choice? Christ does not call on the basis of our merit, but of His mercy, a mercy both for the one called and, though they may not perceive it, for the ones to whom the called is sent. The Apostles are the foundation of the Church of Christ, but their strength is Christ alone, their raison d’être is Christ alone, their mission is Christ’s mission, their destiny is Christ’s Kingdom. All they have that is truly their own is their personal misery, and by the mercy of God, that too will eventually be transformed into Christ’s love.
Today, perhaps more than ever, we all need to have a living faith in the presence of the Risen Lord in His Church. Realities within the Church as well as in society and in the world weaken our hopes and increase our fears. There is doubt in everyone’s heart about where humanity is heading. Understandably, many have reason to doubt even where the Church is heading; one hears people say of the Church, “there is no leadership, no clarity, no courage, no vision, too much compromise, too much unhealthy concern for worldly affairs, etc..”
These are surely challenging times to believe, to hope and to love as Christ wills. But we must cut to the quick. Either Christ is still with us, or He is not. If He is not, then He is not the Christ in whom we have believed. Indeed, if He is not, then He never was, and we really are collectively living a lengthy, elaborate and cruel hoax. St. Paul puts it this way: If Christ is not risen, our faith is vain. .. if our hope in Christ is for this life only, we are the most wretched of people. Alternatively, Christ is still with us, He sees our doubts as He saw those of Thomas, He marks our hesitations and our discouragements, and He feels them deeply with us. Yet it is to us, locked in the upper room with fear and doubt, that He comes and says: “Peace be with you!” He shows us His hands and His side. He breathes His Spirit of life and forgiveness upon us. He sends us forth to give life and forgiveness. His life is still our life. He is still transmitting it to us, to you. Why else would a sinner like me dare to stand before you at His bidding to tell you unapologetically and unhesitatingly: Christ is Risen as He said, alleluia! Yes, happy are you who have not seen and yet believe! As the blood blinded Him in the midst of His own agony, Christ had more reason than we will ever have to doubt, to feel crushed, forsaken and desperate. He did not see, but He trusted. His victory over death is the basis of our certainty that our present woes will also one day vanish. Cardinal McCarrick, in the midst of the worst days of the clerical sex abuse crisis a couple of years ago, wrote to you a Pastoral Letter called, “The Passion of the Church”, and I encourage you to read it. Evil makes no exceptions for the Church; as we have seen all too tragically, it is precisely because She is the Mystical Body of Christ that evil seeks to make Her suffer, to doubt, to question God and His faithfulness. Is it then evil to doubt? Only if you do not heed Christ’s call to turn to your faith and let it strengthen you, and be itself further strengthened in you, in the face of that trial. Evil would have you believe that Christ has abandoned the Church, abandoned you. But evil is a liar and a bad counselor in the midst of distress. When you feel the waves of doubt and desolation pull you down-stream, you must flex the muscles of faith, resolutely renounce Satan once again, and swim up-stream with the rest of the Body of the Church to the consolation of the Risen One. Sensing His direction, remain firm, cry out and He will give you strength to reach calm waters and to rise onto His bank of the river.
Do net let your hearts be afraid or troubled. Trust in God, trust in Christ, remain faithful to His beloved Church. Be of good courage, for with Christ death itself has lost its victory. Therefore, of whom, or of what shall we be afraid?

posted by Mike Young @ 12:24 PM