{"id":604,"date":"2013-03-07T20:20:53","date_gmt":"2013-03-07T20:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/?page_id=604"},"modified":"2013-03-07T20:20:53","modified_gmt":"2013-03-07T20:20:53","slug":"c-second-sunday-of-easter","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/homilies\/cycle-c-2\/c-second-sunday-of-easter\/","title":{"rendered":"C: 2nd Sunday of Easter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seeing the Change in Us<\/h2>\n

April 18, 2004<\/h5>\n

John 20:19-31<\/span><\/h3>\n

We should hesitate before we criticize Thomas.\u00a0 Thomas, of course, is the disciple who has been remembered as the one who doubted.\u00a0 Therefore, it is easy to look down on Thomas and criticize him because at first he did not believe in Jesus\u2019 resurrection.\u00a0 But before we begin that critique, it would be good for us to recognize that Thomas is the disciple who is most like us.\u00a0 You see, the other disciples all believed because they saw the Lord.\u00a0 They saw his risen glory.\u00a0 But Thomas was asked to believe, not because he saw, but only because he heard the testimony of the other disciples.\u00a0 \u201cWe have seen the Lord,\u201d they said to him.\u00a0 That is our situation.\u00a0 We have not seen the risen Lord.\u00a0 Our faith is founded on the witness of others, the testimony that comes from others who also believe.\u00a0 So since we are, as it were, standing in the shoes of Thomas, perhaps we be more sympathetic and ask:\u00a0 What was the problem?\u00a0 Why did he fail to believe?<\/p>\n

Yes, it is true that Thomas did not at first see the risen Lord.\u00a0 He did, however,\u00a0 have the testimony of the other disciples.\u00a0 Why was their word not enough?\u00a0 Why was their testimony insufficient?\u00a0 Thomas doubted because the word of the other apostles did not ring true.\u00a0 They told him what happened.\u00a0 They told him, \u201cWe have seen the Lord.\u00a0 He came and breathed the Holy Spirit on us.\u00a0 He sent us out into the world to forgive sin and to heal the brokenness of others.\u201d\u00a0 They told him all of those things, but their words were not enough and Thomas began to doubt.\u00a0 He doubted because if Jesus had been raised up, if the apostles had been sent out to the world, what were they still doing huddled in that upper room?\u00a0 If Jesus had been raised up, if the apostles had been given a mission to the world, if the Spirit had descended upon them in power, then what were they still doing here?\u00a0 Why hadn\u2019t they left?\u00a0 Why wasn\u2019t there a greater change in their lives?<\/p>\n

You see, Thomas doubted because of the gap that is still present in our own lives and in our world: the gap between the words that we say and the way that we live.\u00a0 We say to our spouse or to a close friend, \u201cI love you.\u201d\u00a0 Perhaps we even remember anniversaries and birthdays.\u00a0 But what are our actions?\u00a0 Do we really listen to others and try to understand the way that they are growing and changing?\u00a0 Do we try to understand their fears and their dreams?\u00a0 Do we at times set aside things that are important for us to make room for them?\u00a0 Unless our actions support our words, the words \u201cI love you\u201d can ring empty and false.<\/p>\n

We say that we are proud of our children, that we would do anything for them.\u00a0 But how do our actions play out?\u00a0 Do we take the time to be involved in our children\u2019s lives?\u00a0 Do we understand what they need?\u00a0 Do we have the courage to say \u201cno\u201d when it\u2019s necessary, but also see the new talents and gifts they are developing. Do we affirm that growth?\u00a0 Unless our actions support our words, the words \u201cI am proud of you\u201d can come across without authority.<\/p>\n

We say we believe in Jesus\u2019 resurrection and that he has saved us from our sins.\u00a0 But how do our lives appear?\u00a0 Are we joyful?\u00a0 Are we generous?\u00a0 Are we thankful?\u00a0 We can proclaim with our mouths that Christ is risen, but if our lives appear glum and greedy and self-absorbed, who will believe us?\u00a0 Who will understand the truth of what we say?<\/p>\n

It is no wonder that Thomas doubted Jesus\u2019 resurrection, because there was so little action to back up the words that the other disciples said to him.\u00a0 We know that in turn Christ appeared to Thomas in person and erased his doubt.\u00a0 But that advantage will not be given to us.\u00a0 If we are to believe in the truth of the resurrection, it depends on the testimony of others and the lives that back that testimony up.\u00a0 So the truth and the joy and the hope of the resurrection is in our hands.\u00a0 Jesus does not appear anymore.\u00a0 The truth of his presence must be seen in the lives that we live.<\/p>\n

The original disciples were moved to faith because of the change that they could see between the dead Jesus on the cross and the risen Christ appearing in their midst.\u00a0 But in our world today people can no longer see the change in Jesus.\u00a0 Let us so live that they can see the change in us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Christ\u2019s Risen Body<\/h2>\n

April 11, 2010<\/h5>\n

John 20:19-31<\/h3>\n

The risen Jesus appears to his disciples in today\u2019s gospel. Perhaps we have heard this gospel so many times that our minds have become dull to the jarring description of Jesus\u2019 risen condition.\u00a0 Even though Jesus is glorified and has left death behind forever, he still bears on his body the marks of the crucifixion.\u00a0 The signs of Jesus\u2019 passion are visible, even though suffering will never touch him again.\u00a0 Now this description of Jesus\u2019 risen and yet wounded body, as all things in the scriptures, has an application to us and is written for our benefit.\u00a0 Jesus bears the wounds of his suffering because he is human like us. Woundedness is a part of the human condition.<\/p>\n

Now perhaps, some of you here today cannot think of any scars that you bear from the years you have lived.\u00a0 But most of us here carry wounds that we can point to.\u00a0 Wounds that came from words that people spoke to us in anger or hatred and still sting. Words that we spoke to others and would give anything to take back.\u00a0 Some of us have been marked by anger or fear or doubt in our childhood or later on in our life, and our bodies still bear the marks of those cuts in certain circumstances and with certain people.\u00a0 Some of us have made mistakes or disastrous choices, and even though we have moved past them, the effects of those choices still follow us and still influence us.\u00a0 There are parents here who wish that they could have done some things differently.\u00a0 There are children here who wish that they could take some things back.\u00a0 There are friends here who wish they could start over, and family members who yearn for another chance.\u00a0 But the truth is, life seldom gives us another chance.\u00a0 Most often we have to move forward with our woundedness and take our scars with us.<\/p>\n

We are like Jesus in our humanity because we bear the marks, the woundedness of life.\u00a0 We are also like Jesus because we bear the glory of God within us.\u00a0 In our faith we know of God\u2019s mercy and forgiveness.\u00a0 In our trust in Jesus we know that we are sons and daughters and called to eternal life.\u00a0 So like the risen Christ, we bear together the woundedness of our humanity and the glory of God\u2019s love.\u00a0 The risen body of Jesus invites us to embrace this strange mixture. \u00a0We would love to be able to erase all of our scars and wounds.\u00a0 But that is seldom possible.\u00a0 Instead the risen body of Jesus invites us to accept those things that we cannot change. It invites us neither to ignore or to fixate on our wounds but instead believe that even though we cannot completely erase them, they will not negate the power of Jesus\u2019 resurrection.\u00a0 We are called then to accept both our woundedness and our glory.<\/p>\n

In fact, our very woundedness can be used to help others.\u00a0 Jesus uses his woundedness to help Thomas.\u00a0 He asks Thomas to touch his wounds and by doing that leads Thomas from doubt to faith.\u00a0 We can, at times, use our woundedness for the sake of others, our brokenness to heal others.\u00a0 There is no better person to comfort someone who has lost a child, than another person who has lost a child.\u00a0 It is only the person who has really messed up, who can understand and assist someone who has failed.\u00a0 It takes an alcoholic to help an alcoholic.\u00a0 If we can allow others to touch our woundedness. That touch can give them hope and life.\u00a0 That is perhaps why God allows our wounds to remain.\u00a0 Not to embarrass us, not to shame us, but to provide a way that we can give life to others.<\/p>\n

We stand in the glory of Christ\u2019s resurrection. It is a glory in which we share, but our wounds remain.\u00a0 The risen body of Christ tells us that that will always be the case.\u00a0 Let us then proclaim the glory with all of our strength, but use our brokenness to heal the brokenness of others.\u00a0 In that way those who are lost may see in our wounds a way forward and discover in our failures the power of God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A New Kind of Joy<\/strong><\/h2>\n
April 7, 2013<\/h5>\n

John 20: 19-31<\/h3>\n

Easter is a season of joy. Alleluia is the Easter song. So we would suppose that the stories of Jesus\u2019 Easter appearances would be consistently positive and joyful. They are in large part that way. In today\u2019s gospel, for example, Jesus appears in glory, the disciples rejoice, he breathes the Holy Spirit upon them, and assists Thomas in overcoming his doubt. All this is positive. But not everything is joyful. There is a shadow in the midst of this joy which prompts us to ask, \u201cWhat are the wounds doing there?\u201d Why does the body of the risen Lord still retain the wounds of his passion? Is not Good Friday over? Is not Easter a new beginning? Why then do the nail marks and the gash in Jesus\u2019 side remain?<\/p>\n

This question seems to pose a problem. But it emerges as a gift. The wounds in the body of the risen Christ, do not indicate that the resurrection is incomplete. In fact, they show its power. The risen Jesus re-defines what joy is.<\/p>\n

Often times, when we think of joy, when we think of being happy, we imagine a perfect situation without trouble or pain. We picture a serene peace, in which no shadow or trouble ever intrudes. But, when we adopt this approach to happiness, it renders joy largely inaccessible to us, because as we live our life, trouble and pain consistently assert themselves: the loss of someone we love, a mistake that has disastrous consequences, a hurt we cannot heal. As these negative events come to us, our immediate reaction is to try to push them away. We want to forget about them. We do not want to look back. We want to look ahead, to move on with life. But as we try to forget, as we try to move forward, these negative troubles follow us. And every time we think of them, they rob us of joy.<\/p>\n

This is why Jesus redefines joy. The wounds in the risen body of Christ tell us that the way to be happy is not to forget our loss, not to deny our mistakes, not to ignore our pain. Instead, when these negative realities come to us, we are called to accept them and then to make them a part of a new body, a new body dedicated to life.<\/p>\n

When we take the negative things in our life and accept them instead of reject them, include them rather than deny them, we gain the power to transform them. When we take the wounds of our life and make them a part of a new body, a body dedicated to generosity, to hope and to love; then the destructive power of those wounds is neutralized because they have now become a part of something that is greater and better.<\/p>\n

There are some wounds we will never erase. We will never forget the loss of someone that we love, or the mistakes we have made. There will always be a certain fear or sadness as a part of our life. But, if we can accept those negative things and make them a part of a new body, they need not paralyze us.<\/p>\n

Like the wounds in Jesus\u2019 risen body, the wounds in our life will not disappear. But they need not rob us of joy. They can become a part of a new kind of happiness. They can be signs of a wounded past whose memory does not mar the power of a resurrected life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seeing the Change in Us April 18, 2004 John 20:19-31 We should hesitate before we criticize Thomas.\u00a0 Thomas, of course, is the disciple who has been remembered as the one who doubted.\u00a0 Therefore, it is easy to look down on Thomas and criticize him because at first he did not believe in Jesus\u2019 resurrection.\u00a0 But … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5879,"featured_media":0,"parent":583,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"template-fullwidth.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/604"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/604\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}