Second Sunday of Easter A
Acts 2:42-47; 1 Ptr 1:3-9; Jn 20:19-31
April 19, 2020 

 

Today’s Gospel has been used continuously in the Church from its earliest days. The passage was chosen for the benefit of the newly baptized catechumens who had been received into the Church at the Easter Vigil, because it described Jesus’ appearance to his disciples after his Resurrection, and their coming to full belief in him. Jesus’ final words to Thomas: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed,” were meant especially for these new Christians.  

Jesus’ invitation to have faith in him, and the process of coming to full belief is a favorite theme in John’s Gospel. When Jesus came to the disciples through the locked doors, they rejoiced when they saw him and came to faith. But Thomas, since he was not present, refused to believe because he was not willing to accept the testimony (evidence) of others. Yet, on seeing the Risen Jesus, he comes to full faith and worships him. The story of Thomas’ journey to faith in the Risen Jesus puts that issue before us today.

We may be thinking, “We already have the faith, so what need is there to reflect further in this issue?” From a superficial point of view, it may be true that we already have the faith. But we shouldn’t rush to take for granted the quality of our faith, or how deep it might be. Keep in mind the background in today’s gospel story – the disciples, after spending up to three years in Jesus’ company, had run away when he was arrested, one of them had betrayed him, and one of them had denied him three times.

Would we dare to say that we have been more steadfast in our faith than the disciples?  

Certainly a moment’s reflection on how much more deeply rooted our values are in our local culture, rather than in the gospel, would lead us to recognize some denials and betrayals in our own lives. The journey towards a deeper faith is a journey to which we are all invited. Let us take a few minutes to reflect on where we might be in our personal spiritual journey . 

From the earliest times spiritual writers have emphasized that there can be no spiritual growth without self-knowledge . Am I in touch with myself – with my beliefs, my values, with what I am actually thinking and feeling? Too often, we are not in touch with these things because we don’t like to take time to reflect, or we hide what we are really feeling. We hide the truth about ourselves, and we present a false image (self) to others. Often we are too busy to look at who we really are. Growing spiritually means that we must know what our heart is saying to us. By “heart” I mean the point within us where God is trying to touch us. We only get there through self-knowledge. 

Another indicator (Another marker) on our spiritual journey is self-acceptance . That means accepting our good self, and also our not-so-good self; our loving self and our selfish, destructive self. All of us have a darker side, and, if we don’t recognize and accept the darker side of ourselves, it will get control over us and we will continue to act it out. We can come to recognize and accept our selfish and destructive self when we are convinced of God’s absolute and total love for us.

In knowing that we are loved just as we are, we become more open to God’s love, and then we are no longer slaves to our darker side, and we can grow. 

Our spiritual journey is marked (Another marker is) by the process of integration. Integration has to do with wholeness and balance. Physically, when our bodies are well balanced, it’s easy for us to move forward or backward. The same principle applies in the spiritual world. 

If there is always something pulling us out of balance – whether it’s jealousy, greed, ambition, anger, prejudice, a refusal to forgive, lust, or other forms of self-indulgence – these things will gradually come to dominate us (rule us), and we won’t be able to move forward spiritually. 

Our spiritual growth must always be confirmed by our community life . We can easily fool ourselves into thinking that we are spiritually alive because of certain religious practices, such as reciting memorized prayers frequently throughout the day, by praying novenas, or participating in other pious practices that make us feel good or appear holy, but it is the spirit of generous service to the community, such as helping in a soup kitchen, assisting with the elderly, visiting nursing homes and the ill, or assisting in the religious education of parish children, that confirms ( validates) whether or not we have truly grown in our spiritual life and in the life of the Christian community. In the Letter to James, we read, “What good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works? “If someone comes to you and says they have nothing to wear, and has no food for the day, and you say, Goodbye and good luck, keep warm and well fed, what good is it ? It is the same with faith itself, if it does not have works, it is dead.” We live out the faith we profess by how we treat our fellow human beings. 

All of us face the challenges of spiritual growth. We need to constantly examine ourselves about our degree of self-knowledge, our acceptance or denial of our darker side, whether or not we have an inner balance, or rather, are being pulled out of balance by something; or, we may find, like Thomas, that, although we have taken the course, we are not yet ready to pass the test.

- Fr. Stephen Lattner, O.S.B