GROW AS A DISCIPLE
Can you imagine being Thomas and finding out that while you were gone from the Upper Room, the resurrected Jesus appeared to the other disciples? And then, according to the evangelist John, it was a full week later when Jesus returns to that room. If I were Thomas, I would probably be consumed with thoughts about how unfair the situation was – that I was being asked to believe without seeing while the other disciples were able to see the glorified Christ. And, of course, we don’t know how Thomas reacted, except that he demanded to see and touch the wounds of Christ. We do know that when Christ returns, he does not admonish Thomas but offers his hands and his side to his disciple to touch. Christ responded to Thomas with mercy – inviting him into an encounter in a way that will draw him into deeper faith. And Christ also comes to us again and again and again, mercifully inviting us into relationship with him regardless of what we demand or how often we fall away.
GO EVANGELIZE
We do not have a right to God’s mercy. Humanity willingly and intentionally turned away from God in the Garden of Eden, and we continue to do so today when we choose to sin and turn away from God. But God extends mercy to us as an undeserved gift, and he calls us to be merciful to others. The reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us that the first Christians devoted themselves to the love of God and others, and they forged an avenue for mercy to be made present as they cared for one another by dividing their material goods “according to each one’s need.” We, too, are called to be merciful. We are called to look beyond what someone should be able to do on their own and be open to responding to their need in love. And as we show mercy to others, we remind one another of our dignity and worth. As with Thomas, Jesus does not focus on what we lack, but instead generously offers what is needed to draw us into relationship.
RECEIVE
It can be just as hard to receive mercy as it is to extend it. In receiving mercy, we must admit that we are not capable of healing ourselves of all that keeps us from full communion with Christ. This week, pray for the grace to fully receive the mercy that God so lovingly offers, trusting that he desires to meet us where we are and draw us closer to himself.
By the Faithful Disciple
