SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER (A)
Jn. 20: 19-31
In the age when faith is becoming more difficult and mystery is on the way out, the church puts before us the deeply moving encounter between Christ and Thomas, his doubting disciple. We make a big mistake if we dismiss Thomas as a man of little faith. Who could really blame him or not accepting the disciples’ story about the risen Christ without a single shred of evidence? After what happened on Good Friday, it was asking too much of his type of personality. Thomas had seen the Lord, whom he loved deeply, die the death of a criminal, crucified between two thieves and a few hours earlier he had witnessed Peter promise fidelity to Jesus and then deny him three times. He was hardhearted in his questioning and unwilling to accept the word of others. The episode paints, in dramatic fashion, the journey of many people from a position of total disbelief to one of absolute faith. Having doubts in our search for truth is nothing to be ashamed of and can actually turn out to be a growing point in the life of faith. Thomas was doubtful about the key issues of whether Jesus had risen from the dead and was actually alive. Therein lies the heart of our whole believing. Thomas with his intelligent questioning and his need for satisfactory answers is a good type of person to have in any community, and acts as a defense against the excesses of pious belief. In many ways he echoes moments of our own uncertainty, when we question the religious values handed down to us.
During life, faith is an on-going struggle and there are moments of crisis when our minds are darkened and our vision of God is blurred by clouds of doubt. There is nothing comfortable about believing as it challenges us to change our lives as a result of our encounter with Jesus. The risen Christ is present in our midst as much as he was with the early Christians and we are called to live our lives in his name. it is through believing that we enter into a relationship with Christ and enjoy the new life which he offers us.
Faith is our meeting with God and there will come moments in life when all else fails and we have nothing to fall back on except our faith: Lord, help us all. ‘I believe, help thou my unbelief.’
Friday, March 28, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
New Life by Dying
Fifth Sunday of Lent (A)
Jn 11: 1-45
Those who have stood at the grave of parents or beloved ones know all too well the pain and hurt Martha and Mary felt at the loss of their brother. Even Martha’s reproach to Jesus for not being present echoes the anger, bitterness and resentment which many of us feel against God on the occasion of an untimely death. The death of those we love brings into sharp focus what is important. Deep mourning and the pain of separation force us to question the goodness of God, the nature of the hereafter and the meaning of life. They make us realize how frail our grasp of this world is. To people who have no faith, life is just a process from birth to dust and death comes along as the ultimate humiliation to make a mockery of their living, their hopes, plans and dreams. However, we must not allow the darkness of its shadow to cloud all our days because death for the Christian is the great moment life. Our faith is rooted in the central truth of Christ’s resurrection.
This gospel speaks to all of us and gives us hope. It tells us that God is stronger than death and he will bring all who are his friends into eternal life. The raising of Lazarus points out that the life we are searching for is not an extension of physical life but eternal life with God. Real death is not physical death but spiritual death which is the destruction of the loving purpose God made us for.
While the iron law of nature dictates that we must all die and go to the grave, the life we share with God is not something which begins after death. It began on the day of our baptism when the seed of God’s life was planted in us for the first time. At that moment we were given the power to start seeing as Jesus sees, to love as he loves and to follow him to the right hand of the Father. Once baptized there should be no going back on that relationship. Unfortunately, many of us fail to hear God’s daily call to intimacy because we are not fully convinced of being worthwhile objects of his love. Part of our trouble may come from being caught up in the ways of the world and so enticed by its passing pleasures that we refuse to come out of our tombs and be free. We hold on to ‘selfishness’ cling to the past grudges and stand on our dignity because pride will not permit us to make up past differences. As a result, the life we receive at baptism weakens and we become dead to the voice of Christ calling us to himself and wanting to make his home in us. The story of Lazarus tells us that in DYING TO SIN we are BORN TO ETERNAL LIFE. These last days of lent are about joining ourselves to the passion and death of Christ by deepening our response to his way of life; prayer, penance, acts of charity and personal conversation are the soil in which this life grows. Joining with Christ in his death is a sure guarantee of sharing in his resurrection. It is only when we experience ‘dying’ to our selfishness, pride, and greed that we could truly experience the resurrection of Jesus working in us!
Jn 11: 1-45
Those who have stood at the grave of parents or beloved ones know all too well the pain and hurt Martha and Mary felt at the loss of their brother. Even Martha’s reproach to Jesus for not being present echoes the anger, bitterness and resentment which many of us feel against God on the occasion of an untimely death. The death of those we love brings into sharp focus what is important. Deep mourning and the pain of separation force us to question the goodness of God, the nature of the hereafter and the meaning of life. They make us realize how frail our grasp of this world is. To people who have no faith, life is just a process from birth to dust and death comes along as the ultimate humiliation to make a mockery of their living, their hopes, plans and dreams. However, we must not allow the darkness of its shadow to cloud all our days because death for the Christian is the great moment life. Our faith is rooted in the central truth of Christ’s resurrection.
This gospel speaks to all of us and gives us hope. It tells us that God is stronger than death and he will bring all who are his friends into eternal life. The raising of Lazarus points out that the life we are searching for is not an extension of physical life but eternal life with God. Real death is not physical death but spiritual death which is the destruction of the loving purpose God made us for.
While the iron law of nature dictates that we must all die and go to the grave, the life we share with God is not something which begins after death. It began on the day of our baptism when the seed of God’s life was planted in us for the first time. At that moment we were given the power to start seeing as Jesus sees, to love as he loves and to follow him to the right hand of the Father. Once baptized there should be no going back on that relationship. Unfortunately, many of us fail to hear God’s daily call to intimacy because we are not fully convinced of being worthwhile objects of his love. Part of our trouble may come from being caught up in the ways of the world and so enticed by its passing pleasures that we refuse to come out of our tombs and be free. We hold on to ‘selfishness’ cling to the past grudges and stand on our dignity because pride will not permit us to make up past differences. As a result, the life we receive at baptism weakens and we become dead to the voice of Christ calling us to himself and wanting to make his home in us. The story of Lazarus tells us that in DYING TO SIN we are BORN TO ETERNAL LIFE. These last days of lent are about joining ourselves to the passion and death of Christ by deepening our response to his way of life; prayer, penance, acts of charity and personal conversation are the soil in which this life grows. Joining with Christ in his death is a sure guarantee of sharing in his resurrection. It is only when we experience ‘dying’ to our selfishness, pride, and greed that we could truly experience the resurrection of Jesus working in us!
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