Second Sunday of Easter
Cycle A
April 19, 2020
“I’ll need to see some proof.” “How can you be certain?” Have you used one of those expressions today? Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman with the Sunday Soundbite for the Second Sunday of Easter. Most of us are used to a scientific approach to the world around us. We need proof for anything out of the ordinary or beyond our experience. We don’t want to be “taken in” by extravagant claims or wild speculations.
So today’s Gospel–the story of “Doubting Thomas”–has a modern appeal. Thomas wants proof of the resurrection. Scripture scholar Father Raymond Brown says that in John’s Gospel the resurrection stories link faith in the Risen Jesus to something concrete: the Beloved Disciple sees Christ’s burial cloths; Mary Magdalene hears his voice; the gathered disciples see the Risen Lord in the upper room. So it’s natural for Thomas in turn to look for concrete evidence.
But Father Brown says that the Gospel’s author–and Jesus–are looking for a different reaction. What about those who believe without any physical proof? They are to make an act of faith, for Jesus calls such believers “blessed.”
When we hear this Gospel proclaimed in our local parish this weekend, let’s look around and take heart from our fellow believers, who “have not seen, and yet believe.” When my faith wavers I gain strength from our shared faith, present in the community of faith–the Church.
