Homily from Father Alex McAllister SDS
Second Sunday of Easter
Posted for Arril 12, 2015
In our Gospel text today we are told the story of the
Apostle Thomas who refused to believe that Christ had
risen from the dead. His fellow Apostles tried to convince
him that Jesus had actually risen from the dead but
Thomas replies to them that unless he can put his finger
into the holes the nails have made he will not believe.
Of course we know very well how some time afterwards Jesus makes another appearance and invites Thomas to place his finger into those very holes and of how Thomas replied with the most memorable phrase, ‘My Lord and my God.’
These beautiful words indicating the most profound belief in Christ’s resurrection echo down through the ages in the Church and they are often to be found on the lips of the faithful at the moment of the elevation in the mass.
Seeing the precious elements of the Eucharist changed into the Body and Blood of Christ there could be no words more appropriate to put on our lips than those of Thomas the Apostle, ‘My Lord and my God.’
You will notice in the first part of the reading that Christ introduces himself to the startled Apostles with the words, ‘Peace be with you.’ These words frequently occur in the Gospels whenever the Risen Lord makes an appearance. Sometimes he says, ‘Do not be afraid,’ which amounts to the same thing more or less.
I think that these words are obviously meant to tell the Apostles not to be alarmed at what they are seeing; but surely they also mean much more than this. What is being said is that the gift of the Risen Lord is one of profound peace to all those who believe.
Knowing and believing that Christ has risen from the dead completely changes us. It opens up a whole new avenue of understanding and faith. Believing in the resurrection doesn’t stop with the bare fact of a risen body but leads to a most profound understanding of the salvation that Christ by means of his resurrection has won for us.
Belief that Christ is risen leads directly to belief in heaven, belief in the forgiveness of sins, belief in the communion of saints, belief in the power and efficacy of the Eucharist and numerous other important elements of the Christian Faith.
Accepting the doctrines and beliefs of the Church brings us a profound satisfaction and contentment. Believing all that the Church believes means that our lives are filled with meaning and purpose. It brings us to an understanding of man and his place and role in the world. It means that we appreciate how we are contaminated by sin but also of how we are redeemed through the saving death of Jesus.
Our faith helps us to appreciate the meaning of our journey through this life on Earth and permits us to look forward with great joy and anticipation to the delights of life everlasting in heaven.
Our beliefs help to keep us on the right track in life, enabling us to avoid sin and to establish firm moral principles. They help us to be outward looking, to have a sense of purpose and moral integrity. In short our beliefs help us to become responsible and loving citizens of this Earth; people who are therefore greatly valued by those around us.
These beliefs and doctrines that flow directly from our faith in Christ’s resurrection give us a sense of purpose and a great confidence that we are living our lives in conformity with God’s will. But that does not mean that we are not on occasion troubled by doubt.
Thomas the Apostle could be regarded as the patron saint of doubters. He wants practical proof, he wants to see with his own eyes and touch with his own fingers before he can come to faith in the Risen Lord.
Often enough we find ourselves thinking in the same way. We too want proof, we don’t like everything depending on the strength of our own faith when so often we experience doubts about the beliefs of the Church.
Sometimes these doubts are about the rightness or wrongness of particular moral acts. We might think that the Church is being too strict in some areas or that it is out of touch with modern life. One of these areas that is drawing attention at the moment is the plight of those who are divorced and remarried and the bar on then receiving Holy Communion.
This is one of the things being considered by the Synod on the Family to be held in Rome in October. I wouldn’t expect things to change very much except that there might be steps taken so that those who are divorced can more easily obtain an annulment if it is appropriate.
The Church has to keep things in balance; it has to maintain fidelity to the words of Christ, ‘What God has joined, let no man put asunder,’ and be open to the problems and tensions of people living in the modern world. This is not easy but it is understandable that the Church looks more to the wisdom of Christ rather than to the demands of a secular society.
After all it is Christ who understands the human heart better than anyone else; it is he who knows what is truly good for us. Just because something is difficult that does not mean it is bad; on the contrary it is only by doing things that are difficult that we achieve true greatness.
Doubts can also occur about some other areas of doctrine. Sometimes these doubts are more like temptations such as the temptation to believe that Christ is not the Son of God; that he has no power or that belief in him is useless.
These doubts can be difficult to deal with. They come into our minds at unexpected moments and try to lead us away from Christ and his Church. We should realise that such temptations come from the Evil One and their purpose is to destroy our faith, disrupt our attendance at mass and decrease our devotion to prayer. In such difficult moments it is good to call on the assistance of St Thomas asking him to help strengthen our faith.
We may feel that our faith is very weak and in some situations we find ourselves unable to resist persuasive arguments against it; frequently too we don’t feel strong enough to convince our children of the truths of the Gospel because we cannot find the right answers to their questions.
In these situations we must remember that we are part of a greater whole. We belong to the Church and among its members there are people with varying degrees of faith, some very strong others very weak. But our faith is shared and the weak are strengthened by those with more faith.
We might sit in Church wondering about our own lack of faith but are then inspired by those around us who respond with a strong voice and who clearly believe very firmly. Faith is the common property of the members of the Church, it is shared and we all benefit from our collective beliefs.
The final words of Jesus in today’s text should be a consolation to us all, ‘You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’
http://www.catholicwealdstone.org/wordpress/?p=2078
Digest of Articles from Catholics Blogs and Websites
April 12, 2015
Divine Mercy Sunday, Year B—April 12, 2015
Today’s Gospel records a post-Resurrection appearance of Jesus in which His mercy to sinners begins to flow. Watch out! There is no stopping it.
Gospel (Read Jn 20:19-31)
The celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday usually focuses on the sheer ecstasy of His victory over death. All during Holy Week, we are absorbed with the details of His horrific Passion. When we reach Easter, our hearts nearly burst with joy that Jesus is alive and vindicated as God’s Son. In other words, it’s easy to dwell on the fact of the Resurrection and be so dazzled by it that we do not think much beyond that. The mercy of Divine Mercy Sunday (yes, intended pun) is that now we begin to meditate on the meaning of the Resurrection. Today’s Gospel gets us started.
…more
Second Sunday of Easter: The Battle against Doubts
The Gospel for the Second Sunday of Easter is always from John 20: 19-31, the Gospel of Doubting Thomas. Perhaps, the reason for this is that the second part of this Gospel takes place the Sunday after the Resurrection. But there is more than this. Jesus appeared to just a few people after the Resurrection. There was Mary Magdeline and any others that may have been with her, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and the eleven and anyone with them in the Upper Room, Easter Sunday and the Sunday after Easter, the disciples who saw the Lord on the shore while they were fishing, and finally those who were present at the Lord’s Ascension into heaven. Everyone else is left with an empty tomb.
…more
Practicing the Spiritual Works of Mercy
We are all encouraged by the Lord, especially by reading and meditating on Mt. 25:31-46, to practice the Corporal works of mercy—to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to welcome the foreigner, and to visit both the sick and the imprisoned.
In sum, our Final Judgment will be based largely on love of God but manifested on our love for neighbor. Indeed, using the words of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta: “We must find Jesus present in the distressing disguise of the poor.” St. Vincent de Paul, known for his great love for the poor, actually called the poor “his masters”.
…more
No Other World Religion Has Any Similar Claim: Suffering Becomes Love
Did you wake up on Easter Sunday with all of your sufferings gone like Jesus did? Perhaps on Good Friday you were taking on fasting, and…financial troubles, betrayal by a spouse, a lost job, addictions, contradictions, misunderstandings, family members who left the faith and/or divorce. And, when Easter came, all of your sufferings ended. Right? Of course they didn’t. The loneliness, disease and unforgiveness continued, making it a little bit hard to sing “the strife is o’er, the battle done” with a full-tank. Maybe you got home—thought—yeah, it’s a nice point of faith that Jesus miraculously rose from the dead. Maybe you even believe it. But perhaps you feel like asking: Why is Easter really any different from Lent? (Except for the fact you gorged yourself with candy, beer and meat and had a little less guilt than you did on Lenten Sundays.)
…more
Practicing the Spiritual Works of Mercy
We are all encouraged by the Lord, especially by reading and meditating on Mt. 25:31-46, to practice the Corporal works of mercy—to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to welcome the foreigner, and to visit both the sick and the imprisoned.
In sum, our Final Judgment will be based largely on love of God but manifested on our love for neighbor. Indeed, using the words of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta: “We must find Jesus present in the distressing disguise of the poor.” St. Vincent de Paul, known for his great love for the poor, actually called the poor “his masters”.
…more
Are Catholics the “Resurrection People”?
“We are an Easter people, and ‘Alleluia’ is our song!”
These words are attributed to St. John Paul II. And, indeed, he did deliver them; once, during an address at a black parish in Harlem in 1979, and again before leading the congregation in the Angelus at a Mass in Adelaide, Australia, in 1986. However, the Pope was paraphrasing a quote from St. Augustine of Hippo, some 1,500 years before: “We are a resurrection people, and our song is ‘Alleluia’.”
…more
The Resurrection Appearances “Chronologically” Arranged
Today’s post is a follow-up to yesterday’s blog.
When we encounter the resurrection accounts in the New Testament, we face a challenge in putting all the pieces together in such a way that the sequence of events flows in logical order. This is due to the fact that no one Gospel presents all or even most of the information. Some of the accounts seem to conflict. I have opined before (HERE) that these apparent conflicts are usually not in fact true conflicts. Another difficulty with putting all the facts together in a coherent manner is that the timeline of the events is unclear in some of the accounts. Luke and John are the clearest as to the timing of the events they describe; Matthew and Luke give us very few parameters. Both Acts and Paul also supply accounts in which the timeline is not always clear.
…more
Five Ways to be a True Catholic Rebel
Come on, we know better than the Church, don’t we? After all, this is the 21st Century and times have changed. Modern man is fully capable of deciding what is moral on his own, right? All the really smart people in the media, government and academia who encourage us to embrace abortion, contraception, euthanasia and gay marriage can’t be wrong, can they? After all, everyone knows that new and fresh ideas must clearly trump over two millennia of Church teaching. Right?
Wrong.
…more
Happy are Those
A few years ago, as I had the sung version of the Divine Mercy Chaplet blaring during my shower, I was interrupted by a then-four-year-old wanting to play a guessing game with me. Hearing her sincere belting out of the song, punctuated by “Mom, your turn!,” made me smile.
It also made me think about how Mary must have used prayer in her daily life. I’m pretty sure she had a fair share of stress in her life. Life back in those days was hard in a way few of us can appreciate. She wasn’t rich, and she didn’t have the luxury of sitting down for a few minutes of “Me Time.”
….more
Peace through Mercy
Some of us who are older remember that Sundays were once quiet in downtown; in shopping areas, parking lots were empty. Most businesses were closed and few people had to work on Sundays. Surely there were exceptions, such as medical personnel, emergency workers, and those who ran essential services like power plants. But for most, Sunday was a day off. And although the biblical Sabbath was Saturday, in a largely Christian nation Sunday was the “Sabbath” day of rest.
…more
The Stillness and Silence of the Mass
When Holy Mass is properly celebrated there are moments in which the voices of both priest and faithful become silent. The priest continues to officiate as the rubrics indicate, speaking very softly or refraining from vocal prayer; the congregation follows in watchful, prayerful participation. What do these intervals of quiet signify? What must we do with them? What does stillness really imply?
…more
Choosing Love over Likes
“Do you like it here in the Philippines?” I have been asked this question many times in my missionary experience and my honest response has always been in the affirmative. But I honestly respond with a firm negative when I ask myself, “Do I really like everything here in the Philippines?” There are surely things that l like, i.e. things that are according to my taste, and things that I sure wish were different. Who can honestly claim that he or she likes every single thing about a place or culture or country, even their own native culture? Once we can accept that we cannot like everything about a place or situation, it becomes clear to us that it is not what we like that gives meaning to our lives.