May 1 Easter Octave

Scripture: Lectionary # 44. Acts 2:42-47. Psalm 118:2-4.13-15.22-24. I
Peter 1:3-9. John 9:19-31:

Thomas, the apostle, challenges us more than any of the other apostles when
it comes to belief that Jesus is really risen from the dead and that the
Jesus whom he knew at Nazareth is the Christ of faith. He places his own
obstacle in our minds and hearts and often we are like he is not really
believing in the bodily resurrection of the Lord. We know that this is not
a belief that is helped by an empty tomb; more is necessary, and it is with
this that the "obstacle' of Thomas confronts us. Now as one rabbi says to
overcome an obstacle one must either go through it, around it, or above it.
What is the Thomas "obstacle"? The fact that he does not believe in the
witness coming from the other apostles and the courageous holy women. He
does not trust them and thinks they are either out of their minds or hoping
against hope with their imaginations leading them down such a path.

Yet, for us, the only true foundation that we have about Jesus' being
raised from the dead is his own words and the testimony of the eleven and
the women. That testimony and his words are contained in the Resurrection
narratives and appearances that we have been meditating upon this past
eight days. The testimony of the Scriptures and the witness of the
believers is what we have for belief in the resurrection as it is taught in
our Catholic Church and in most Christian churches.

The word testimony and witness in the original language of the New
Testament is martys (noun) and martyrein (verb). We get our word "martyr"
from it and that may help us to either go above our obstacle or through it
or around it by realizing these men and women who believed Jesus is truly
risen would give up their lives for their conviction and trust in the Risen
Jesus. We see that the word used for them is attested to in the Old
Testament in II Maccabbees 6-7; in Daniel 3:24-26. which are
deutero-canonical passages about martyrs or witnesses to their faith. Then
in the New Testament Jesus himself witnesses through what he says as a
promise: that he will rise from the dead and finally in the persons who
gave their lives in fidelity to Jesus and his words in an act of witnessing
(martyrein, martys) Jesus' rising from the dead.

Like Thomas who was not present on the resurrection day of Jesus (Easter
Sunday), we too are not there as the women and other apostles were.
Therefore the obstacle of Thomas haunts us and we doubt or are sceptical or
base ourselves only on scientific evidence. Thomas had created for himself
an obstacle and passed it on to us. His was resolved on this Sunday, a week
later than the experiences of the Risen Lord by the others who became
witnesses to it.

The Scriptures for this day can help us pray through, or pray around or
above the obstacle. Here are just a few lines that witness to us: Alleluiah
and Response: "You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me; blessed
those who have not seen me, but still believe. Alleluiah!" Peter in his
letter tells us, "Jesus in his great mercy gave us a new birth; a birth
unto hope which draws its life from the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead;...a birth to salvation which stands ready to be revealed in the
last days."

And one of the best insights from a scholar who wrote extensively about the
Birth of Jesus, the Messiah, and his Death but when asked when is he going
to write the final words on the Resurrection of the Messiah. He paused and
looked at all those gathered in a huge chapel and said, " I will wait to
experience that (the Resurrection). He also had given this great insight
into resolving the "obstacle of Thomas" by this outstanding statement:
"IT IS DISTURBING TO HEAR FROM CATHOLICS THE FACILE CLAIM,'MY FAITH IN THE
RESURRECTION WOULD NOT BE DISTURBED IF CHRIST'S BODY WERE FOUND IN
PALESTINE.' MUCH MORE TO THE POINT IS WHETHER THE FAITH OF THE ELEVEN WOULD
HAVE BEEN SHAKEN BY SUCH A DISCOVERY."

--Father Raymond E. Brown, Commonweal Papers, Jesus 2.