Year A Easter II John 20:19-31

The other disciples told Thoms, "We have seen the Lord." But Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in His side, I will not believe."

We hear this story on the first Sunday after Easter every year, in fact, this Sunday is often referred to a “Thomas Sunday”. We hear the story and we always wonder how Thomas could be so untrusting, so skeptical, so – well – doubting. He’d seen Jesus do miracles, but now he won’t take the word of his friends, of the other disciples. What’s wrong with him? But then, on reflection, we realize his skepticism doesn’t sound strange at all.

How often have you been in a group as someone explains in detail some event or experience? Others in the group have also taken part in that event or have had a similar experience, everyone that is, but you. Others nod in understanding as they listen, so when you just can’t seem to “get it”, someone inevitably says – I guess you just had to be there.

Of course, what Thomas was being asked to believe was far more than just your ordinary everyday event. His friends were trying to convince him that they had seen, alive and well, their recently executed Rabbi and friend. On some level, Thomas might well have wondered about their sanity. So, Thomas doubts, and thus, despite his very human and understandable refusal to accept the miraculous, over the centuries Thomas has become known by the unfortunate title of “Doubting” Thomas.

What do we know about him on the days recorded for us in our Gospel reading? We know he must have been shocked and grief stricken. The Person he believed to be the Son of God had been arrested, tortured, and publicly executed as a criminal. Thomas’s faith must have been shattered. He was afraid to hope that Jesus was really alive. It would be too painful to believe it and find out it wasn’t true after all. No matter what anyone said, there was nothing in Thomas’s experience that could convince him that the Good News, the resurrection, was possible. It seems he just had to be there, only on that first day recorded in our Gospel, he wasn’t.

A week later Jesus’ disciples were again in the house and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Jesus said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe."

Fortunately for Thomas, he is one of those people who belatedly has the opportunity to experience what his friends were talking about. Jesus gave Thomas this by inviting him to touch the wounds of the crucifixion. Jesus engaged Thomas’s senses: Thomas heard his Lord’s voice, saw his Lord’s face, and had the opportunity to touch His hands and side. And, it was through that sensory experience that Thomas was the first human to speak the truth that was revealed on the Cross.

Thomas answered Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"

Those are profound words, and they are followed by Jesus’ declaration:

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

And that’s where we are, caught in our concrete world, where we long for explanations and “proof”, yet being called to believe that a man named Jesus, God Incarnate, could rise from the dead, and that He promises so will we.

What is there in our lives that can give us the experience that convinces us to believe with the same powerful conviction of Thomas? How do you touch the resurrection? What gives ordinary people like us the experience a fisherman had so many years ago? Where do we begin?

We can start by recollecting that each of us through our baptism is filled with a mystery known as the Holy Spirit. This Spirit is a Person of the Trinity that is God. We all carry within us that which is Divine, that which can guide us and reveal to us that which our mere humanity does not perceive. How we “look” at things, either stubbornly with human eyes and worldly judgement, or guided by the Holy Spirit, has much to do with whether or not we will realize what has happened when we touch the resurrection.

Ask yourself – how do I look at the world? All around us are opportunities, times when we can reach out to others. Yes, touching the resurrection has everything to do with how we treat each other. Our lives involve coming in contact with other people, some we like, some we dislike, some we love, others who might frighten us – some are happy while others are grieving – and there are some over whom we long ago passed judgment and have dismissed from our lives. What do we see, how do we act, what motivates us in our interactions with others?

Mother Teresa once said, “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.”

Jesus engaged Thomas’s senses: Thomas heard his Lord’s voice, saw his Lord’s face, and had the opportunity to touch His hands and side. How we touch others, their person, their lives, defines whether or not we too can share in that amazing experience.

Of course, we are not Mother Teresa, but it helps to remember that all the holy people we call “saints’ are just human beings like us. They all had their times of darkness and doubt, just like Thomas, just like us. But they reached out and touched Jesus in their daily lives, not just in prayer, but in loving contact with each other.

The more we overcome our own way of seeing and let the Holy spirit guide us, the more we have to give, the more attention, the more kindness, the more love. And then suddenly there will be that flash of recognition when we know without doubt that we have touched Jesus, have ministered to Him, have interacted with Him. We will not always have this experience, but when we allow the Spirit to guide us, we can rest assured that we will also have those moments of glorious revelation when we will know for certain we have encountered the risen Christ, our Lord and our God.

How do you touch the resurrection? With open eyes, and open hands. With open hearts filled with love.

Let us pray:

Dear Jesus, we know that Your Holy Spirit lives in each of us to guide us in the way of peace and Truth, to enable us to see Your goodness and Your glory in every experience we encounter and in every person we meet. Enable us to push aside our own stubborn wills in favour of Your will. Remove our doubt, increase our belief, so the like Thomas we may rejoice in Your Presence, and say with him, “My LORD and my God.” In your Holy Name we pray. Amen.