Reflection on the gospel reading
2nd Sunday of Easter (4/15/12)
John 20:19-31
The gifts of Easter continue…
There were two verses from today’s gospel that stood out to me.
“Peace be with you.”
“Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
God does want us to have a peaceful heart and mind. Jesus greets the apostles twice in this one reading with the words, “Peace be with you.” Think about how you feel when you do God’s work or when you’ve made a decision based on prayer – we tend to be overcome with a sense of peace or even joy. That is what Jesus is offering to us. That is yet another gift He wants to give us, but we have to be open to receiving it. If we insist on seeing the wounds - the lance in His side - or ask for miracles to happen on demand, we are missing out on the amazing beauty of God’s glory that surrounds us every day. Our hearts are shut off from the peace that can be found in a simple still moment.
If we believe without having seen, we can find the peace that Christ offers. That line in the gospel is speaking to all of US. We are the ones who have not seen and have believed. I feel like this message can be applied even beyond belief in Christ. Even though we cannot see the plan that God has laid out for our personal lives, if we believe that He will sustain us and that He knows what will bring us happiness, then God will bless us in our journeys because we have believed. He will bring us joy. Through our belief and trust, we can learn to hand over our worries and allow Christ to sustain us…to fill us with “life in His name.” I’ll be the first to admit that handing over my worries is not an easy task, but it is one worth striving for. I believe that faith and trust go hand in hand. As I work to build my faith, my trust will also grow, allowing me to depend more fully on Christ and His plan.
