Today is the Second Sunday of Easter, often known in the Church as Low Sunday. Low because attendance is significantly smaller than the large crowds of Easter Sunday. Low because we feel a certain letdown after the glorious celebration of the Resurrection. Each year on this Sunday, we hear the account of two of Jesus’ post-Resurrection appearances to his followers. First, he appears to a group of them, but one of them (Thomas) is not there. In the second account, Thomas is present. Told by the others that they have seen Jesus, Thomas refuses to believe that Jesus is real unless he can see and touch him. People often refer to this Gospel passage as the story of “doubting Thomas.”
I have a certain sympathy for Thomas. I am not sure that “doubting” is an appropriate label for him. Instead, I understand Thomas as someone who struggles to believe. To comprehend the impossible. Jesus has died. Now, Thomas is told, Jesus is alive. People have seen him. It is too much. Thomas cannot expand the limits of his understanding to take in this new reality—at least at first. Then, Jesus appears and invites Thomas to reach out and touch him. In that moment, Thomas recognizes Jesus and declares, in a dramatic affirmation of belief, “My Lord and my God!”
In this Easter season, let us remember Thomas. Let us recognize Thomas in ourselves. In our own struggle to stretch the limits of our own understanding. To take in the reality of the Resurrection: Jesus alive in us, in our lives.
Peace,
Deacon Sue Nebel+
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