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Sunday Reflection with Father Terry Tastard - 1 May 2011


Doubting Thomas -  Caravaggio

Doubting Thomas - Caravaggio

In the resurrection appearances of Jesus there was a movement in and a movement out. Take the gospel today (John 20.1-31). The movement inwards is Christ himself. He comes into a locked room. He comes, we are meant to understand, into their hearts as well, for we read that the disciples were filled with joy when they realised that he was among them. It makes me wonder whether our hearts are not sometimes locked rooms. So many things can make us put up the shutters. We can draw into ourselves for many reasons such as past hurts, present anxieties, illness, or bereavement - and in the case of the disciples, grief accompanied by disappointed hopes and a sense of failure. Sometimes well-meaning people can tell us to snap out it. But in situations of grief or sadness this is not possible.

What we have to recover, first, is a sense of Christ's presence with us. His gentle touch, his reassurance, his word of peace spoken to us as he spoke there and then - these things can turn around a situation and give us new hope and new confidence.

In the gospel today there is also a movement out of the disciples. After the greeting of peace, Jesus tells them that just as he was sent by the Father, so he is sending them out into the world, to continue his mission. To do what? To bring the message of God's love. And the sign of this is the assurance that through the forgiveness of sins the Church can help many to find spiritual refreshment, encouragement and peace. Will help, them, in fact, to begin again. It does not sound very revolutionary. The assurance that God forgives those who come in faith and ask for forgiveness may not impress a world where many have little or no sense of sin. But there is the nub of the issue. To seek forgiveness means that you are accepting responsibility for your life and seeking a fresh start.

It would be a very different world if more people could do exactly that. Troubled marriages would be healed. Addictions would be overcome. Those who rob or cheat or oppress others would find better ways to live. It would be a more honest world, more open about human frailty and yet more able to come to terms with it through God's healing grace.

But what about that locked room? What about the fears and hurts of the disciples? There is a wonderful balance in the story, because immediately we go on to hear about the cynicism of Thomas. Or perhaps not cynicism, just honesty. He cannot believe, and says so. The doors of his heart are locked. What helps him is that he continues to meet with the others for the breaking of the bread and the prayers, and through this he too meets Christ. We need to encourage people who are hurt in life to continue in fellowship with others in the eucharist. Perhaps celebrating the eucharist in smaller groups would help here.

That little company of disciples was not perfect. The story of Thomas shows that hurts can run deep, but through their meeting together they found strength. Through the eucharist the mystery of Christ entered deeper into their hearts. And above all, they knew that Christ himself was among them. This gave them the confidence to carry Christ with them into the world - some of them by preaching, all of them by example. If we persevere in the Church, if we come to the bread from heaven, then we too till meet the risen Christ, and find, to our astonishment, that we too are sent out into the world.

Fr Terry is Parish Priest at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Brook Green, west London. His latest book: Ronald Knox and English Catholicism is published by Gracewing at £12.99 and is available on Amazon, on ICN's front page. To read Sr Gemma Simmonds' review on ICN see: www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=16114

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