Church of St. Mary at Clinton Heights

            I  have been reflecting a lot the last few weeks on this very familiar Gospel.  One thing that keeps striking me is that they didn’t recognize Jesus.  Neither did Mary of Magdala in John’s Gospel.  Neither did the apostles in last weeks account and neither did Thomas.  I cant help but keep asking myself; would I?  I know what I would look for and I have an idea in my head what Jesus should act like; but is that really him?  Often, we do try to keep Jesus in a safe box with well defined parameters so we keep control over him (or at least the illusion of control).  The reality is that as hard as we try to “tame” Jesus; we can’t.

            So what do we do?  Like the two on the road to Emmaus, we open our hearts to hear him and become a disciple or as the dictionary says:”to be a learner”.  Jesus is the one who will open our ears to the Scripture and to his presence in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. There is another element that can be over looked.  Once our hearts begin to recognize him, we need to ask him into our lives.  The two on the road asked him to remain with them in the inn.  Being a disciple is to ask Jesus to remain in our hearts and our lives every single day.  This is the fundamental meaning of prayer.  It is not as much about asking for something; it is an invitation to God to come into our hearts and teach us how to live.  Prayer is falling in love with God and opening our hearts to him.

            Just like any relationship, we need to get to know each other.  For God, this is easy: we are made in his likeness.  We do not always know God, like the apostles.  The best way is to learn how to pray with the Sacred Scripture and let God teach us who he is. We pray with the Scriptures when we take a passage and just ask God to teach us by it.  It is always good to start with the Gospels and let Jesus teach us how to be his disciples and friends.  This is takes a life time.  Just like any student, we have to conquer our own stubbornness and resistance and open up our minds and hearts to God.  There is no magic formula or “correct” way to pray; it takes a lifetime to let God love us in prayer.

            As I look forward to who we can be after things open up, my prayer is that we grow in this way.  If we allow God to be the foundation of our lives, then even when things like this happen again, we wont need to be afraid.  We will know God is with us.  We maybe walking on the road to Emmaus right now and being forced to find God in the Sacred Scriptures and asking Jesus to come into your hearts with a spiritual communion. My hope is that these days will lead us into a deeper appreciation of the gift of the Mass and the Eucharist.   It is my prayer that by opening our hearts to Christ now, we will recognize him in the “breaking of the bread”.  These are things that can lead us into service and mission, but our service and mission can lead us into them too.  There is no “correct way”.    

            May this week be the week that we ask Jesus for the gift to recognize him in prayer, the Word, the Sacrament of the Eucharist and in our service.  May our hearts burn within us with God’s love.

 

 

            Thomas is us today.  People are wondering where God is and if he is really here. Even in the church, we have our doubts and fears. Did God send this to us?   When we will be able to gather here in church?  Will our world go back to “normal’ or what will our world even look like?  Thomas was there the night of the Last Supper, and then ran away with the rest of them.  No one knows where he was when Jesus appeared to the rest, but it is possible that he was off somewhere trying to make some sense out of everything that had just happened in a very short period of time.  No one can fault Thomas for his lack of faith.   Why?  Because we have all been there.

            Each person has had doubts and fears.  We all struggle with jumping in with both feet to live with Jesus.  I think the largest obstacle today is that  faith cannot be measured or quantified.    Thomas could touch the Risen Christ and believe; what helps us to believe?  Some want faith to be a happy feeling with no risk or responsibility.  This is not faith.  Some want faith to be God acting in a way we think God should act or God should give us exactly what we ask for.  For others, God has become a construct or idea that is read about but it has no real bearing in our lives.

            Faith is a gift; but, yet a commitment to a way of life no matter the struggle, no matter the doubts, no matter the feelings we may have.  Faith is commitment to a way of life and the trust that the power of the Risen Lord will sustain us no matter what.  Faith also must be put into action.  Thomas reaches out to touch the wounded Body of Christ.  So must we!  We cannot have faith without works that arise from our faith.  Thomas, filled with fear and awe, touched the wounded and Risen Lord.  So must we.  The wounded Body of Christ is all around us..today, more than ever in our lives.  All those in the medical world literally touch the wounded Body. But, our prayers for them, our small acts of charity, our doing without puts us in solidarity with the Body of Christ that has known shortages and lack of freedom for years, and our fear puts us in union with those who live in fear everyday.

            Thomas is our model and guide in these days of fear and struggle when we like the 11 are locked behind closed doors.   We are reminded that Jesus is in our homes right now.  We can touch HIs wounded Body in our wounds and struggle today.  May we be the blessed that Jesus talked about; believing and having faith and having trust not dependent on anything but Christ.