{"id":7599,"date":"2015-04-24T20:35:20","date_gmt":"2015-04-24T19:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=7599"},"modified":"2015-04-24T20:36:08","modified_gmt":"2015-04-24T19:36:08","slug":"7599","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=7599","title":{"rendered":"2nd Sunday of Easter (12.04.15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

2nd Sunday of Easter (12.04.15)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Faith<\/strong> is a delicate thing.\u00a0\u00a0 It is exposed to harsh winds of doubt, cynicism and despair which frequently blow through the modern world.\u00a0 It is like a candle burning in an exposed place.\u00a0When we gather each week to celebrate the memory of Jesus, we help each other by our very presence at Mass.\u00a0Turning up is an act of Faith.\u00a0 Our faith gives us a sense of belonging to a large community.\u00a0 When we believe, we belong.But the community of faith can never substitute for individual faith.\u00a0 Nobody can do our believing for us.
\nMore about this later.Perhaps we could dwell today on the healing power of touch<\/strong> \u2013 taking our cue from the passage in the Gospel where we hear how Thomas\u2019 doubt is turned into belief by touching the wounds of the risen Jesus.Touching plays a very important role in human life.\u00a0\u00a0 Children get their first taste of life from the way they are touched.\u00a0 If they are handled gently they begin to feel that they are worthwhile and that the world is a friendly place.\u00a0If they are handled roughly they begin to feel bad about themselves and about the world.\u00a0When someone has succeeded, or passed an exam, we want to clap him\/her on the back to show that we share their happiness.\u00a0When someone has suffered a bereavement or has received some distressing news we instinctively clasp his\/her hand to show our solidarity.\u00a0When we love someone, we want to touch him\/her to let them know how we feel.When we are feeling good, we are quite happy to let others come near us or touch us, but when we are in pain the opposite happens. We want to hide away \u2013 cut ourselves off from others, cover up our wound and just be left alone.\u00a0We are hurting so much,\u00a0 we have difficulty looking at it ourselves let alone let others touch us. This is understandable but a mistake.\u00a0\u00a0 How can healing happen if we do not allow our wounds to be seen and touched.The disciple at the centre of today\u2019s Gospel \u2013 Doubting Thomas \u2013 was a deeply wounded man.\u00a0 He was wounded by grief, loneliness, unbelief and despair, because Christ, his Master and Friend was\u00a0 put to a cruel and unmerited death.\u00a0In his pain, Thomas wanted to be alone, so he fled from the company of the other apostles, and consequently missed the first appearance of the risen Lord.For Thomas honesty is more important than loyalty.\u00a0 So he refused to be part of this company of believers, for it is not enough for him to shelter in a faith that he cannot credit for himself.\u00a0 For Thomas, to say he believed would be play-acting, make-belief.\u00a0 It would be to make religion out of role-playing, agreeing to act out a part that was expected of him but against his convictions.\u00a0He comes to believe in the same way as did the other disciples \u2013 when he sees the risen Lord for himself.Note how Christ dealt with him.\u00a0 He showed him His wounds \u2013\u2013 the mortal wounds of the Good Shepherd, suffered in defending His flock.\u00a0 Why should He hide them – the proof of His love for His disciples!\u00a0Then he invited Thomas to touch them.\u00a0 So, by touching and being touched was Thomas healed of his unbelief.<\/p>\n

Let us pray with Thomas:\u00a0 \u201cLord, increase my faith.\u00a0 I do believe. Help my unbelief.\u201d<\/p>\n

Likewise in our case, it is by touching and being touched that we are also healed of our infirmities, and sinfulness.\u00a0This can happen only if Christ is seen to be alive and dwell in His followers.\u00a0 Without the Church (Christians) the risen Christ would remain invisible, faceless, untouchable.\u00a0\u00a0 What a responsible mission is ours \u2013 to be there for one another, if only in prayer!<\/p>\n

God, our Father, You give strength to the weary and new courage to those who have lost heart.\u00a0Hear the prayers of all who call on you in any kind of trouble, that they may find joy in receiving your help in their need.\u00a0 We ask this through Christ our Lord.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n

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2nd Sunday of Easter (12.04.15) Faith is a delicate thing.\u00a0\u00a0 It is exposed to harsh winds of doubt, cynicism and despair which frequently blow through the modern world.\u00a0 It is like a candle burning in an exposed place.\u00a0When we gather … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archdiocese-of-liverpool"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7599"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7601,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7599\/revisions\/7601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}