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2nd Sunday of Easter, · 2020-04-19 · Thomas voices their doubts: They need to see with their own eyes and touch with their own hands. It is not so much a stubborn resistance to
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Transcript
The Gospel we proclaimed on Easter Sun-
day began, “On the first day of the week, while
it was still dark.” (John 20:1) The first day of
the week, for John, is Day One, the day of a
new creation: “In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth…darkness was over
the face of the deep.” (Gen. 1:1-2) Today John quotes the next chap-
ter of Genesis, a second creation account that begins with God creat-
ing not light, but a human being: “then the LORD God formed the
man of
dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life.” (Gen 2:7) Sr. Barbara Reid, reflects on breathing together.
“An ancient way of determining when a person had died was to hold a
glass mirror under the person’s nostrils to detect any trace of moist air indicating there was still some breath of life. Before
modern methods of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a person who had stopped breathing was simply allowed to slip
away. In Sunday’s gospel, the risen Christ reinfuses the breath of life into the constricted lungs of the believing community,
releasing them from the fear that choked their ability to breathe together and to live fully for his mission.
The frightened disciples are gathered behind locked doors “for fear of the Jews.” In the aftermath of Jesus’ execution,
their fear is understandable—will they be next? In the Fourth Gospel, “the Jews” is code language for anyone who does not
believe in and who opposes Jesus, even though Jesus himself and all his first disciples are Jews. The object of their fear is
those who are like them in heritage, yet not like them in terms of belief in Jesus.
Sometimes what we fear most is seeing that which we do not want to face in ourselves reflected in “the other.” Into the
midst of this fearful space Jesus enters, inviting his disciples to accept the peace he desires for them. It is not a peace that
ignores the brutality inflicted on him, as he shows them the still visible wounds. It is a peace that recognizes full well the hor-
ror of what has occurred and results from the willingness to enter into processes of healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation,
rather than retaliatory violence. An ability to see the wounds differently, not as something that needed to be avenged but as
something that Christ was already able to heal with his peace and his spirit, enables the disciples to let their fear give way to
joy.
What results is a rebirth of the community. Just as the Creator brings to life the first human being by breathing into its
nostrils (Gen 2:7), so the risen Christ brings back to life the frightened community of his followers. This is not a painless
process. Recently, a friend suffered a collapsed lung. The intense pain he experienced when the lung was reinflated may be
akin to the difficult process of transformation Jesus’ disciples had to undergo. Before his death, Jesus spoke to them about
this pain as birth pangs that would give way to joy when the new life emerged (John 16:20-22).
For some this rebirth takes place on the first day of the week after the resurrection. But not all are present and not all are
moving to the same rhythm. The next week there are still some who are locked in their fear and who set up what may appear
as impossible conditions before they will come to believe. Thomas voices their doubts: They need to see with their own eyes
and touch with their own hands. It is not so much a stubborn resistance to believe what others have experienced as it is the
necessity for each one to come to faith through a direct, personal encounter with Christ.
There can be no secondhand faith. The testimony of other believers leads one to Jesus, but it does not substitute for the
tangible experience of Christ needed by each one. The gospel also allows that there are different ways people come to faith:
some through seeing, some without. Both are blessed. No matter how one comes to believe, it is with a “conspiratorial” faith
community—people who “breathe together” through the Spirit, who dissolves fear by the use of peace, forgiveness, and rec-
onciliation.” (Barbara Reid, O.P., adapted from Abiding Word)
Fr. Joe
2nd Sunday of Easter,
April 19, 2020
�
Christ the Redeemer
Mass intentions
April 18/19
Jack Walters, Stan Walters,
Ray Garmon and Adeline Alarcon
April 25/26
Sylvia Garland, Clarence & Elaina
Vogel, deceased members of the Woz-
niak and Swanson families, deceased
members of the Kowalski and
Zale families
Christ Caring for
People through People
That’s the motto of Stephen Ministry. The Stephen Minister’s role is to bring
God’s love into the lives of people who are going through a difficult time or ex-
periencing a crisis. What do Stephen Ministers do? They listen, care, support, en-
courage, and pray with and for a person who is hurting. And in the midst of this
confidential, one-to-one, caring relationship, God’s healing love comes pouring
through.
If someone you know is facing a crisis - large or small - and could benefit from
the caring presence of a Stephen Minister, contact Karen Swietlik or Margo Clar-
1776 D W. Clarkston Road, Lake Orion, MI 48362Kenneth J. Matheis Sr, President • [email protected]
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