Gospel: John 20:19-31
On the evening of
that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples
were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to
them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and
his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them
again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when
he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy
Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are
retained.”
Thomas, called
Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other
disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I
see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and
put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Now a week later his
disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the
doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then
he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand
and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas
answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you
come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen
and have believed.”
Now Jesus did many
other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are
written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that through this belief you may have life in his name.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Where was Thomas
when Jesus appeared to His disciples in the upper room? We don’t know we can
only surmise that he was doing something that made him miss their meeting. Was his
activity during that night more important than to pray with his fellow disciples?
By missing their
meeting Thomas subsequently miss also the sacred presence of the risen
Christ. He missed being blessed by the
presence Jesus and Thomas missed being imparted the blessing of peace by Jesus. What a missed
opportunity for Thomas. If only he knew beforehand that their Lord and Master
would be making a miraculous appearance in their fellowship he would have not
dared miss it.
Some of us may see
ourselves in Thomas we who oftentimes miss to go to church for Holy Mass. We
who most of the time put our Sunday obligation at the backseat in favor of our
many worldly preoccupations. But where would all our worldly preoccupations
bring us? Could it bring us closer to the Lord and could it strengthen our
relationship with Him? It surely can't but many of us put more importance in
our many worldly activities than God.
What do we miss when
we absent ourselves for Holy Mass? We miss to be in powerful prayer fellowship
with our brothers and sisters in faith! We also miss most especially to be with
Jesus and to receive His blessing of peace which He silently give to us every time we are at Mass.
Thomas learned his
lesson that’s why he made his self available in their second fellowship. We too
should learn our lesson by prioritizing our sacred meeting with the Lord at
Holy Mass.
Do you sometimes miss
Holy Mass in favor of your other worldly activities? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment