Pascha II

The Second Sunday of Easter 2020 – Cycle A Acts 2:452-47; Psalm 118; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31

It is two days since Jesus was crucified and buried.

The disciples are in a house with the doors locked.  They are afraid. Jesus comes and is present among them. He greets them with peace and then shows them the wounds in his hands and side.

A week later, the disciples along with Thomas, are in a house with the doors locked.  They are afraid.  Jesus comes and is present among them.  He greets them with peace and then shows them the wounds in his hands and side.

Two thousand years later, we, the disciples of Jesus are in our houses with the doors, figuratively, locked.  We are afraid.  Jesus comes and is present among us, whether solo or as gathered family.  He greets each one of us with peace and shows us the wounds in his hands and side.

Do you see that our experience is not different from that of the first disciples? Like them, the risen Christ bearing his wounds, is with us.

And we are reminded of his every time we gather for Eucharist and are about to receive Holy Communion.  The priest prays in the name of all of us, Lord Jesus Christ who said to your Apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you,…    Jesus is addressed in the present tense because Jesus is alive and whenever we gather comes into our presence and greets us with peace.   We in turn are invited to greet each other with a Sign of Peace.  But what is the meaning of this Sign of Peace?  Is it simply a handshake, a hug or kiss accompanied by some often mechanical words; “Peace be with you”?

As the prayer unfolds, a much deeper meaning of the greeting is revealed; look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church….  We are asking Jesus not be mindful of our sins but to consider the faith and trust of the entire Church.  Our personal wavering faith and uncertain trust is taken up into the fullness of that faith of the whole Church.  In exchanging a Sign of Peace we are thus called not be mindful of each other’s sins but of the combined faith of the community.

In this we come to experience the peace and unity that is the will of Jesus for us.  Then it makes sense to go to Holy Communion; a holy communion not only with God but also a holy communion among ourselves.

The gift of peace that Jesus offers us is a reconciliation grounded in our trust and faith in God which bears the fruit of unity.  If that cannot dispel our fears that keep us behind locked doors, whether real or figurative, then what can?

Common to these three encounters is the proof of wounds.  It is the only way in which Jesus confirms his true presence; “he showed them his hands and his side”.   Proof of the resurrection is the crucifixion.  The One who is alive is the One who was dead.  But we are the Body of the crucified and risen Christ!  Therefore we each must look into your own physical, emotional and psychological wounds and there we will find the proof of the risen Christ.

Wounds are openings.  And,“[o]ur wounds are often openings to the best and most beautiful parts of us”.*  Like Thomas we are invited to explore the wounds of Christ; our wounds and the wounds of other people.  Wounds are where healing takes place.  That should be proof for us of Christ’s presence.

Locked doors and fear may be able to keep others out, but neither can prevent the crucified and risen Christ from coming to his disciples.

“Peace”, and all that, that entails, “be with you.”

*David Richo, therapist