Deacon Rick Lapierre
One day he was struck with a massive heart attack and pronounced dead in the emergency room when suddenly his heart restarted and he eventually recovered. His colleagues were quite anxious to hear the first hand account of a near death experience by one of their own who was such an expert, but the experience left him quite shaken and he retired from his university position without ever explaining his experience.
It was only after his closest friend's prodding that he finally confessed that he had experienced all of the phenomena of the near death experience, including the figure of light sending him back to finish living his life. But the reason he had retired and become so closed off was that he was still convinced that it was all just his brain chemistry.
I wonder if his first name was Thomas.
Let's analyze Thomas the apostle a little bit. We know he was a twin. But that's pretty much it. We never are told who his twin is. Some legends make it that it's one of the other apostles. One legend even proposes that his twin is Mary Magdalene. Another legend has that it's Judas, which would account for his never being mentioned. We also know, that like most of the other apostles, Thomas ran off after Jesus' arrest and hid through the crucifixion.
During that time between the crucifixion and the gospel account of Jesus' appearing, where was he? I kind of picture him hiding out in the really run down section of Jerusalem, spending his days walking with his head covered and not making eye contact with anybody. Aside from Judas, who was so despondent he ended his life, Thomas is the second most pitiable apostle. It's because after his dreams of glory were crushed by Jesus' death, he chose not to participate in the community. The others at least gathered together to share their grief and disappointments, and in doing so Jesus appears to them and gives them the one thing they long for more than anything, the peace of God.
And when Thomas finally touches base with some of them to be told this incredible story of rising from the dead, the peace of God still eludes him. He has no peace. He has no peace because he has not allowed Jesus to give him the peace he craves. He has no peace because his dream is shattered and he doesn't know what he's going to do next.
But the turning point in Thomas is not when Jesus appears to challenge him, but that he has made the choice to come back into the community. It's in the choice to come together and share what is going on in his life that leads Thomas to that fateful encounter with Jesus and to ultimately proclaim those powerful words, "My Lord and my God."
My brothers and sisters, faith is the gift of God, but can only come about when we allow it to enter our lives. Thomas could have stayed away from the Upper Room and never receive God's peace. That was the choice Judas made. That was the choice the despondent professor made in our opening story.
We all have friends who say, "I don't have to go to Church to worship God." I have many of them. But I have to tell them that I come to Church to meet God not only in hearing the Word of God, not only in the breaking of the bread, but to be with all of my brothers and sisters who share these beliefs with me. And even though I say "the Mass is ended, go in peace," when I stand at the door and share greetings with all of you, the Spirit of God continues to be poured forth upon me and the peace of God that Jesus brought to his followers in the Upper Room descends upon me yet again.
There was once a wise old priest (it might have been Father Tim) who was talking with someone when confronted with the "I don't have to go to Church to worship God" line. He simply got up and went to the stove and removed a glowing coal from the fire and placed in on the hearth. The two of them sat there and watched as the glowing coal cooled and went out. He picked up the coal and returned it to the fire, where it once again quickly turned red. The wise old priest than simply said, "that's why we come together as Church."
My brothers and sisters, doubts will continue to plague us. Peace will be hard to hang onto. Illnesses will come. Friends will abandon us. Loves will change. The only unchangeable in the universe is God. I need to believe in Him. I need to hear Him. I need to be hugged by Him and told that things are going to be OK. I need to have my doubts that Jesus is actually here with us be erased. I need to be reassured that the debt I owe to God is really repaid and that I can aspire to eternal life with Him. I need to put my fingers into the holes in Jesus hands and feet and my hand into his side to know this.
This actually happens. It happens when I come together with each one of you and we share life. It happens when we share those events, some very large, but most very small, that make up who we are. It is the definition of Church, of community, the coming together of believers. It is the coming of God among us.
And having once again met Jesus, I can only respond as Thomas does, "my Lord and my God," and once again God's peace becomes part of my being. It is my prayer for all of us today, that we become so much more aware of that awesome, wonderful gift of Jesus to each one of us.
