Second Sunday of Easter Scripture Readings These few verses, encompassing two appearances of the risen Jesus to his disciples, were meant to be the conclusion of John’s Gospel and a parallel to the Prologue that began it. As the Gospel began with the eternal Word of God’s presence within the creation of all things, so it ends with the Word’s presence in and through the new creation, Christ’s Church, in which he is all in all. The same Spirit that breathed upon the waters of chaos to bring forth God’s creation now is breathed upon the disciples as Jesus sends them out to heal the soul-sickness of the world. The disciples are given a mission, namely, to continue the work of creation, bringing light out of darkness, order out of chaos, life out of death, and they’re given power to accomplish this mission—the power of the Holy and creative Spirit of God himself. As always, John isn’t concerned with how many times the risen Jesus appeared, over what length of time, or to how many people. John wants us to experience the results of the Resurrection not just for Jesus but, more particularly, for us. For John, the entirety of Jesus’s Resurrection and Glorification happens in one day—the day of Resurrection, Easter. In his first appearance that morning, Jesus warned Mary Magdalene not to cling to him, because he had not yet ascended to his Heavenly Father. Yet now, in the evening of the same day, he’s there in his wounded body, bestowing the gift of the Holy Spirit—a gift he told them they could not receive until after he had returned to the Father. In other words, for John, the Resurrection, Ascension, and bestowal of the Holy Spirit were all accomplished on that same day. Here’s where we can encounter the true depth of the mystery expressed in the Gospel. Jesus appears to his followers in his human body, but transformed. It has all the features of a human body but taken to a higher level, unconstrained by the limitations we struggle with: energy and matter, space and time. Still, it appears ordinary…even more than ordinary…it appears damaged, wounded. Yet, it’s capable of exercising and bestowing on others the healing and creative power of the Spirit of God himself. If we can appreciate what John is telling us in this appearance of Jesus at the end of the day, we can see Jesus giving the Church its mission to bring to the world the healing power of God. The Church is sent to heal, but in human form: disfigured, wounded, broken, but raised up. The second appearance John describes is equally as significant as the first. We know the Apostle Thomas now as “Doubting Thomas,” but we’d do well to look at him differently. From the other evangelists, we know that Thomas wasn’t alone. Many of the disciples were skeptical of the news of the Resurrection. It was only their personal encounters with Jesus that convinced them. Is skepticism such a bad thing? Isn’t it true that, when skeptics are convinced, they become the fiercest of proponents? So it is with Thomas. His encounter with the wounded, risen Jesus leads him to the strongest profession of faith in all of the gospels: “My Lord and my God.” All our Scriptures speak of the Lord God, in Greek Κυριος Θεος (Kyrios Theos), in Hebrew יהוה אלהים (Yahweh Elohim). As long as our minds are open and as long as we haven’t contempt before investigation, a healthy skepticism can lead to a still more profound faith. In this secondאלוהיםappearance, we see the full progression of faith, only, as it were, in reverse. Jesus has been called “the sacrament of the encounter with God” because whoever encounters Jesus encounters the Father, as Thomas did. Yet, in reply, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” It is in his wounded body, the Church, the repository of God’s Holy Spirit breathed into it by Jesus himself, that we encounter him. It’s hard to see the image of the Father in the wounded Jesus—even the wounded Jesus raised from the dead. How much harder to see that image in the Church? We bring the full force of our skepticism to bear when we look for Jesus there. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in [its] hands and put my fingers into the nailmarks and put my hand into [it]s side, I will not believe.” How then can we see the Father in the wounded Body of Christ, the Church? John says to us, “But these [signs] are written that you may [be believing] that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.” In other words, it’s in the encounter with the Gospel—the Good News—that we come to see its source, the Body of Christ, the Church, as what it truly is, since the gospels are the expression of the presence of the Holy Spirit of God in the Church. And it’s through faith that the Church is, indeed, the risen Body of Christ, despite all the evidence to the contrary. It’s there that we encounter the wounded and risen Jesus and put our fingers in his nailmarks and our hand into his side. It’s in that faith, that trust that Jesus is the glorious image of the Father and the conduit of the Spirit of life and of love where we find the deathless love of the Father for us. There is the sure hope of our resurrection, not just from physical death, but from all our faults, failings, fears, and sufferings. It’s through the gospels that we come to see the image of the risen Jesus in the Church and the image of the Father in Jesus glorified, and we come to believe. That’s the metanoia Jesus spoke about, the change of mind and heart that comes from belief in the Good News: Christ […]
Sixth Sunday of Easter (First Reading)Sixth Sunday of Easter (Second and Gospel Readings) This morning, we have in our gospel reading the second half of a prayer offered by Jesus himself as quoted by John.… Read more: The Unity Prayer
“I give you a new commandment: love one another.”
“My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
“So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord.’”
Easter Sunday Scripture Readings The tomb is empty. What do you do now? What do you do after life mocked your life-long hopes and dreams and condemned them to a slow and painful death? What… Read more: What Do You Do Now?
“It is finished.”
“I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!”
“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
“But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”
“Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
“Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my chosen Son; listen to him.`”
“Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil.”
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them”
“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.”
“…love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
“And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.’”
“A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing”
“They have no wine.”
“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
“They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother.”
“And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”
“The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.”
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
“John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
“John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
“And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
“Jesus answered, ‘You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth.'”
“And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory.”
“For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had.”
“Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is Lord alone.”
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”
“Jesus said to him in reply, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man replied to him, ‘Master, I want to see.’”
“For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
“Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
“He embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.”
“Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.”
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me.”
Twenty-Fourth Sunday Scripture Readings In today’s gospel reading, Jesus teaches his disciples a valuable lesson and, in doing so, teaches us one as well. If we pay close attention to what’s being said in this… Read more: What Are Your Expectations?
“‘Ephphatha!’—that is, ‘Be opened!’”
“Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”
Twentieth Sunday Scripture Readings When meditating on the gospels that form the bedrock of our understanding of God and the universe, I think it’s important that we dig deeply into the gospel texts. Only in… Read more: Transforming the Flesh
“I am the living bread come down from heaven.”
“I am the bread of life.”