Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR B SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER Acts 4,32-35; 1 Jn 5,1-6; Jn 20,19-31 Our
Dear Stubborn Tom
The
first 8 days of Easter have
offered liturgies, where the major witnesses of the resurrection tell their
story. On Easter Day, Tuesday and
Friday, we heard the stories in Chapters 20 & 21 of John’s Gospel: the
race to the empty tomb; the endearing ‘My Rabbi’ (Rabbuni) as Mary Magdalen
greets the Risen Lord; the apparition on the shore of Lake Galilee, with
Jesus’ question: ‘do you love me?’. On Monday, we read Matthew 28, 8-15,
where Jesus appears to the women and the guards are bribed. On Wednesday and
Thursday we read Luke’s account of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus and
soon after, the apparition to the Eleven. On Saturday we were given a summary
statement of the Resurrection from Mark’s Gospel (16, 9-15). And finally,
today, 8 days after Easter, we are challenged by the powerful story of Doubting
Thomas who wants to put the finger in (Jn 20, 19-31). Right through the
eight-days, the joyful Easter ‘Alleluia, Alleluia’ is sung, to usher-in the
joy of Easter, Feast of all Feasts. And so: for 8 consecutive days, we have
processed the available evidence, in order to nourish our conviction that Christ
truly died and rose for our salvation. Today we are offered the final
encouraging lesson: ‘You believe Thomas because you have seen; happy are those
who have never seen and have believed’. During Easter time, as we experience
the reassuring presence of our Risen Lord, we are not made to express arrogant
convictions which are typical of people who shout their cry of victory, smash
opposing forces, punish culprits and establish their Law & Order. On the
contrary, we are invited to be full of surprise & wonder, at what the Lord
has done. We are also invited to continue pondering on the Scriptures,
prayerfully discovering ever new insights: beyond our wildest dreams, when all
seemed to have come to a bitter end, the Lord has fulfilled his promise and
accomplished his mission. Thank
you, stubborn Tom! The
authors of our 4 Gospels wrote their material, not so much to publish the life,
death and miracles of Jesus, but especially to inform and form in their fellow
Christians -of their time and of all time, the conviction that the Lord did in
fact die and rise for us & to this we respond. In the early days, Christians
faced untold difficulties: there was open persecution from the Roman Empire
& heated confrontation from fellow Jews. Sadly too, there were uncertainties
for the future & bitter divisions & factions, inner conflicts &
disagreements. The story of Thomas hides the sad realization that in the early
days as in later generations, many people felt and feel like Thomas: concerned,
confused, uncertain, afraid, disappointed... ‘We had hoped’, says Cleopas in
Luke 24, 21. For centuries, doubt & unbelief
has challenged, disturbed and called to attention the faith of millions; and
today the situation is not different. Today people who call themselves
“Un-churched” constitute the largest growing number in our statistics. In the past, as people came to confession and reconciliation, concerns
about sexuality in thought word and deed seemed to loom large in their
consciousness. Today, the dominant concern in our beautiful people is the
feeling that they are loosing their faith; they feel as if their faith is not as
staunch & fulfilling, as simple & obvious as in the past.... More that
ever, we all need: reassuring our waving, hesitant convictions. Today as in the
past, Thomas comes across a believer, able to assist us in our uncertainties:
indeed, no one put more bluntly his position on the table, just as no one
received a more convincing encouragement: Believe & doubt no longer: blessed
are those who do not see & believe.
______________________________________ |
