April 2008
Dear Brothers and Sister in Christ,
Each year during the Easter season (as calculated on the Western calendar), various magazines and newspapers – and not a few television networks- make Jesus Christ their feature story or the topic of their programs. More accurately, they choose to raise questions about Jesus Christ. The questions which are raised are primarily two-fold: first, “Who is Jesus?”, and secondly, “Did he rise from the dead?”
Oddly enough, the answers to both of these questions are found in the Gospel that is read at the Divine Liturgy on the Sunday after Pascha (the second Sunday of Pascha.) As the gospel tells us (John 20:19-31), while the disciples were locked inside a house on Sunday evening, Christ appeared to them. Jesus, whom the disciples knew to have been crucified and dead, was alive and now stood among them. As proof that it was Him, Christ showed the disciples the wounds of his crucifixion and the wound on His side, where the soldier’s lance had pierced Him.
But there’s a twist to the story. Thomas, one of the Twelve disciples, was not present when Christ appeared to the others. Thomas was absent and did not see the Risen Christ. Even though all the disciples told Thomas that they had seen Jesus alive — and that Jesus had appeared to them — he would not believe. Rather, Thomas said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails, and my hand in His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).
The gospel then tells us that the following Sunday, the disciples were again locked inside the house. This time, however, Thomas was present with the other disciples. Although the doors were locked, Jesus once again appeared them. This time, He called Thomas over to him and told him to behold the marks of His crucifixion; to put his finger in the marks of the nails and put his hand in His side. Upon seeing Christ, Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!”
The Second Sunday of Pascha (know popularly known as Thomas Sunday), the Church commemorates the disbelief of Thomas and his subsequent profession of Christ as Lord and God. With Thomas, the whole Church professes its faith in the Risen Christ.
In his First Letter to the Corinthians, the Holy Apostle Paul writes: “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also
empty.... if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:14 & 16). Saint Paul again stated that if Christ has not been raised, then we as Christians are the sorriest of the sorry; we are to be pitied above all others because we are fools.
But we as Christians are not fools; we are not to be pitied, for Christ indeed has been raised. As St. Paul declared, “But Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead; for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22). The disciples did not merely see Jesus; it was not some figment of their imagination. Rather, they saw, spoke with, ate with, touched, and proclaimed the Risen Lord. Just as they had walked and talked with Him during His ministry, they now walked and talked with Him for forty days, until the day of His Ascension into Heaven.
Today, our Christian faith is under attack. Jesus’ life, His miracles, and, above all, His resurrection, are constantly being challenged by liberal skeptics. Don't let any of these empty criticisms about the Christian faith deter you in your perseverance. These attacks are unfounded and empty. The Christian faith is precisely that—a faith. It is not based exclusively on the static historicity of an abstract figure, but in our living relationship with the living God. In order to be understood, the Christian faith must be lived and experienced relationally. Each one of us needs to know in whom we have believed.
Within the next few weeks, we will come to the conclusion of Great Lent and enter into the week we call Great and Holy. During this week, we will walk with the Lord as He celebrates His Last Supper with His disciples, gives them the most excellent example of humility and gifts His Church with the Mystery of His Body and Blood. We will accompany the Lord through the bitterness of His betrayal and the pains of His blessed Passion. We will stand at the foot of the Cross as He sheds His blood for our salvation. We will join His Most Pure Mother and the most faithful of the disciples as they place His Most Pure Body in a borrowed Tomb. And we will wait at the Tomb until the moment He conquers death itself in the power of His Resurrection.
Be assured of my prayers for all of you. May the month ahead be filled with grace and blessings. May all of us – as individuals and as a community- share in the Mystery of the Cross so that we may also share in the glory of the Resurrection.
With love in the Lord, Father David