Psalm 118:2-4,13-15,22-24. Rev. 1:9-11a, 17-18. John 20:19-31.
Thomas, the Apostle, is featured only in the Gospel of John and in some
apocryphal writings from the second century. He is called a Philosopher and
most people, unjustly, call him a "Doubting Thomas." He asks questions of
Jesus and is a searcher who wants to verify what he believes in. Jesus, of
course, is the person in whom he believes. We see his highpoint in the
saying that affirms who Jesus is, "My Lord and my God!" Only the faith
proclamation of Martha comes near to what he says about Jesus in this
Resurrection account. Both are characters surrounding Jesus in the Fourth
Gospel.
We can easily identify with an apostle like Thomas who has some of our
questions and some of our struggles with faith. As we follow his very
minimal story-line in this Gospel we discover how great is his confession
of who Jesus is and many of us use this at the Eucharistic celebrations to
bring home to our minds and hearts what is really being enacted at the
Mass.
He was not present when the first appearance of Jesus to the apostles
occurred. They too all had their questions and doubts about whether Jesus
is risen. Only his presence can convince them otherwise. Thomas is no
different from them, but his proclamation surpasses what they say and we
are the beneficiaries of his deep faith in the fact that Jesus is both
really man and truly God. Once convinced that Jesus has risen he becomes
a formidable withness to the Resurrection.
Our first reading fits in with the celebration of the first day in the
Jewish calendar which is our Sunday. John of Patmos was yearning to be
with congregations in the seven cities of Turkey but is exiled on the
island of Patmos. It is on the Lord's Day, a Sunday that his great vision
(s) take place while he is united in spirit with the seven churches.
(Rev.1:10). We are prompted by this verse to dedicate time on a Sunday to
prayer and to observing the rule of non-servile work.
Thomas learned how to believe with is questioning mind and now he adds the
sentiments and feelings of his heart. Sr. Carmen Dalton, IBVM, says, "The
Easter season calls us to a journey of the heart--to a life free from fear
that boxes us in, closes our minds and hearts toward others, and leaves us
suspicious." We Easter people have or should have "faith of the heart" in
order to make this journey with Jesus through life to the life of the
Resurrection. Amen.
April 12, Scripture: Lectionary #267. Acts 4:23-31. Psalm 21:3,4-7a., 7b-9.
John 3:1-8:
How do we come to Jesus? Is it at night like Nicodemus? or is it in the
brightness of the noonday sun like the Samaritan woman? Or is it like the
man who is at the pool waiting to be healed. Jesus comes to him! Does
Jesus come to us when we least expect him? Remember those powerful words
of the Book of Revelation given to the church that is farthest from him,
"See where I stand at the door knocking; if anyone listens to my voice and
opens the door, I will come in to visit him, and take my supper with him,
and he shall sup with me." (Rev. 3:20).
Nicodemus had to come to Jesus at night for he was a leader and a Pharisee
who upheld the laws of the Torah. He comes at night to protect his
reputation; yet he is curious to find out what makes Jesus capable of
healing people with his words and his hands. He risks entering into a
dialogue with someone who has captured the people because he interprets the
Torah in the spirit in which it was written. He learns that being born
from above is quite different from his concept of a birth--limited to only
here below. Jesus leads him with careful wisdom into slowly understanding
the mystery of the kingdom of God. The God who so loved the world that he
sent his only son Jesus ot live among us. Nicodemus starts to realize that
his faith and trust in Jesus has much to be desired; he will later work on
this and become a believer. He will help with the burial of Jesus and
still hope against hope about what this being born from above means.
It is only in the Gospel of John that we find Nicodemus. He fits well into
this Gospel of faith in Jesus and love with Jesus and his friends. He will
move from being a crypto-believer to one who openly believes. Later in the
tradtion a gospel will bear his name (the apocryphal gospel of Nicodemus).
There more will be imagined about who he is.
As we move through this second week of Easter we will be reading and
listening to the excerpts from the Book of Signs in John's Gospel. This is
the first part of the Fourth Gospel that leads us to deepen and increase
our faith in the very person of Jesus. We learn of the purpose only at the
end of the Gospel in John 20:30-31 and John 21:34-35.
Finally, these words from a great Johannine scholar, Fr. George Mac Rae,
S.J., help us: "True faith comes from seeing God's revelation in Jesus,
and though that can be seen in the signs if they are understood properly,
it comes primarily from Jesus' healing word. Thus the ambiguity of
Nicodemus. He comes to Jesus secretly with a faith, or a curiosity, based
on signs alone, but he does not seem able to accept the revealing word with
which Jesus challenges him." It wil take the whole Gospel for him to
accept the challenge, and he does. Amen.
posted by Fr. Bert SM at 10:57 AM
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