Worcester, MA | Philadelphia, PA | Chaparral, NM
Acts 5: 12 - 16
Revelation 1: 9 - 11a, 12 - 13, 17 - 19
John 20: 19 -31
My Lord!
After the Passion and Resurrection, John's Gospel leads us from person to person, making us discover their way from doubt to faith. After Mary Magdalen, who only recognizes Jesus when he says her name and then invites her to let go of her desire to possess (John 20: 17), we come to Thomas, whose twin remains without name, and who is a welcome figure for us. Thomas doesnt want just to hear the good news; he wants to see and to touch, to assure himself that the Risen One is clearly identical with the Crucified One. Jesus gives in to his request but also admonishes him: Do not be unbelieving, but believing. The faith to which Jesus calls Thomas goes well beyond that of touching, over which one can have a certain power. Transformed by the encounter with Jesus, he exclaims: My Lord and my God ! . On the lakes shore, Jesus appears again to the disciples who are busy fishing. And this time, the beloved disciple cries out: It is the Lord ! (John 21: 7)
All these accounts are really vocation stories. Not the first call, but a renewed call for those who followed Jesus during his public life, experienced doubt and loss of hope at the time of the Passion and who are now invited by the Risen Christ to have confidence in his loving and transfiguring presence. They are invited to persevere in faith. With Mary, we understand that we must not try to hold Jesus back for ourselves, but, in the power of the Spirit, to enter into a new mode of relationship. This new mode is also a sending on mission.
With Thomas, we are given to understand that it is by death that Christ conquered death, not in being spared. With the beloved disciple, who spontaneously throws himself into the water to be with Jesus, we discover that when we recognize the presence of the Risen Lord, we are called to adoration.
The adventures of these figures is a call to recognize a personal call which has matured throughout Jesus existence, through the time of companionship with the Lord, the passage through death, the experience of absence. Jesus is fully revealed and really understood when the disciples recognize that the Crucified is truly risen. And thus a conversion takes place in each one. With them, let us enter into this dynamic movement of life and hope, of going forward and proclaiming. Let us learn to choose fidelity, to show openness to others, to have a trusting relationship with Christ that is, to live in faith, hope and love !
-- Sr. Sophie Ramond, R.A.