And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have."
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
Seeing the Risen Lord, the disciples doubted their own senses. Perhaps they anticipated Descartes' cogito and supposed everything is an illusion. But the truth is intrusive, and often rudely tramples over doubts, hesitation, and disbelief. The truth insists that it is here. It is very real, not an illusion, and will not go away!
The Lord pushed aside their astonishment and said, "Look at my hands and my feet.... Touch me and see!"
They saw and believed. But perhaps it is better said: "We saw and believed!" because the Church that saw the Risen Lord that Sunday evening is the same Church that has met every Sunday ever since. The eyewitnesses were not destined to live forever on this earth, but witnesses are. Baptized into the Body, we tell everyone of our experience; and people join us even in the twenty-first century.
We are the same people who gather and find his risen Body among us. That is the work of the Holy Spirit and despite scandals from within and persecution from without, we have never lost the living memory of his being here with us.
We have the testimony of the Holy Spirit and the credibility of heroic men and women; we have never needed or asked for this world's facts to know that God does not and never will abandon his people.
Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.Take to heart these words which I command you today.Keep repeating them to your children. Recite them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.
Many Christians today worry that their children are not accepting the testimony of their elders. They not only ignore the false rugs; they drink the Kool-Ade of disbelief. Their parents need not worry. The tomb of Jesus has become the Church's womb of faith. Waters of rebirth burst out of the baptismal font and usher a new generation of faith into the world. These newborn want to remember what their unfaithful parents tried to forget. The Holy Spirit sparks their curiosity, fans their desire, and leads them to the altar of the Eucharist.
We have only to see and believe!
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.