Reflection by Deacon Russ for 2nd Sunday of Easter

Do you ever wonder what your response would have been to the Gospel message had you been living 2000 years ago? Think for a moment. If you were alive back then, and some people starting telling you that they knew a person who knew a person who knew a person who said that a man named Jesus was crucified – and then rose from the dead – would you have believed them? I think about that from time to time. I think it’s easier for us today, with 2000 years of Christianity behind us, to accept these beliefs. Back then, I would have probably thought that it was all a bunch of nonsense.

Now let’s jump to today. Have you ever had doubt creep into your faith? Have you ever wondered, is there really a God? A God who can care about all people in all time? Was Jesus really the Son of God, conceived immaculately? And did he really rise from the dead 2000 years ago? Is there really a life after death or are we just part of a long natural cycle? Have those questions ever been raised in your life? I know there have been times in my life when I really wondered if what we say we believe is really true. And I imagine the same can be said for many of you. Those can be scary times. We have believed all our lives and then suddenly we start to doubt. We would like to be certain that there really is a God and that, in the end, everything will be alright. But we don’t have that certainty. For some, such a crisis of faith can lead them to stop coming to Church, to stop praying. For others, they journey onward, juggling their doubt with their continuing efforts to live with God in their lives. Some spiritual writers have even said that doubt is essential for the growth of faith.

It was easy for the disciples to believe in the Lord when they felt the power of his words and witnessed his miracles. It was much harder for them to believe after he had been taken away and killed. It was harder for them to believe when they realized that they also could be killed for being his followers. And so what happened? They ran and hid; they started to wonder; full of fear, they locked themselves in a room. Was what he said really true? Was he really who he said he was? And then Jesus is there, alive in their midst. They must have been both thrilled and confused.

And then there is Thomas. He missed out. He was not with the community. Sometimes we miss out – and our doubts tell us, why bother. When Jesus appears again, Thomas is there and he needs to know for sure. He needs to touch his wounds. And like Thomas, we would really like to know for sure; we would like to be free of doubts. And wouldn’t that affect how we live? If we knew for sure, would we pray more? Would we receive the sacraments more? Would we change some of the things we do or don’t do? Like Thomas, we must remain in or return to our faith community, and we, too, must cry out “My Lord and my God,” even when that’s more of a question than a statement.

The Resurrection is the foundation of our faith. Without it our faith would not stand. What does Jesus rising from the dead mean for me, for you, for our lives. It means hope. By raising Jesus to new life, God has given us hope, hope that this same God who turned the tragedy of Good Friday into the victory of Easter Sunday will take our Good Fridays – those trials and troubles we all suffer through – and change them into Easter mornings.

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, a day when we especially remember Jesus’ mercy towards us and his wish that we share that mercy with others. For some of us, there may be times that we feel like there is no sin in our life. Sometimes we feel like we don’t do anything wrong. Sometimes we feel like we really don’t need God in our life. But then there are other times when we feel empty, when we know there is something missing, when we feel alone. The divine mercy of Jesus is not concerned with setting people straight by ranting and raving, but rather it seeks to show the truth of goodness and compassion. This divine mercy is not concerned with making sure that punishment is given for the wrong we have inflicted on God. This divine mercy is not about making sure that God rubs our noses in the past, but about guiding us to the future of hope and possibility.

If you have a brief faith reflection on today’s reading that you would like to share, please send it to me at deaconruss@holyspiritunoh.org.