Word to the Wise
Sunday, April 12, 2015 - 2nd Sunday of Easter - B
[Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31]Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have sen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." [John]
Thomas' profession of faith is profound, but as Jesus pointed out, Thomas had the benefit of the personal encounter with the wounded and risen Lord. He had to see Jesus before he could "see and believe." Jesus blesses those "who have not seen and have believed."
How is it that any of us came to "see and believe" in Jesus? We don't have the experience of Thomas or the other apostles. What we do have is the faith of those who have taught us and preached to us about Jesus. The concluding lines of today's gospel scripture tell us of this process. The evangelist indicates that much more could have been written, "But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name." We do have the scriptures written by people of faith: apostles, evangelists, St. Paul - all those whose writings the early community recognized as faithful to the message of Jesus and the mission of the Spirit.
Notice the "you" in those lines. We are addressed directly in our own time by the gospel. By baptism we are called to speak about Jesus Christ. How else will others come to know and believe? The task of passing on the faith has occurred even when there was no official church organization in existence or the priest did not come except once or twice a year. It is because we speak of Jesus as "my Lord and my God" that others will come to know him. AMEN
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