Second Sunday of Easter (C)

Acts 5:12-16
Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
Rv 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19
Jn 20:19-31

"I'll need to see some proof"—how often have you used that expression? Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman with the "Sunday Soundbite" for the Second Sunday of Easter. Most of us are quick to call for proof for anything out of the ordinary. We don't want to be "taken in" by extravagant claims or scams.

So today's Gospel, the story of "Doubting Thomas," has a modern appeal. It sounds natural to us for Thomas to want to have his doubts answered with real proof. But Jesus praises those who believe without any physical proof. He calls such believers "blessed."

This Easter story is specifically directed at us, those who would come to believe in Jesus down through the ages. We welcome the testimony of those who went before us: those who walked with Jesus after his resurrection and went on to witness to him throughout the world. We are part of a community of faith, a living legacy passed on from generation to generation and often given at great cost, with personal sacrifice.

When we hear this Gospel proclaimed in a community of believers this Easter, we can take heart in the Lord's words. And where my faith wavers, I can gain strength from the Holy Spirit at work in the midst of the community of faith.

Scripture:

•Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles. (Acts 5:12)

• I was hard pressed and was falling, but the LORD helped me. (Psalm 118:13)

• I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. (Revelations 1:17b,18)

• Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” (John 20:19).

Reflection:

•When were you “hard pressed and falling,” who helped you?

•Who is “the first and the last?”

…the most pure and absolute Being, which is being without qualification
is the first and the last, it is, therefore, the origin and consummating end of all things.
Because it is eternal and most present, it therefore encompasses and enters all duration
as if it were at one and the same time its center and circumference.
Because it is utterly simple and the greatest, it is, therefore,
totally within all things and totally outside them and thus “is an intelligible sphere
whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.”
Because it is most perfect and immense, it is, therefore,
within all things, but not enclosed; outside all things, but not excluded;
above all things, but not aloof; below all things, but not debased.
Finally, because it is supremely one and all-inclusive
it is, therefore, all in all,
although all things are many and it is itself only one
and this is so because, through its most simple unity,
most serene truth and most sincere goodness,
there is in it all power, all exemplarity and all communicability.
Consequently,
from him, through him and in him are all things
for he is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-good,
and to see him perfectly is to be blessed,
as was said to Moses:
I will show you all good.