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By Theo Nicolakis
Sermon on the Sunday of St. Thomas
(John 20:19-31)
+ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Christ is Risen!
Each
year, various parishes in the Archdiocese from across the country
request that seminarians from Holy Cross School of Theology come and
assist as chanters for Holy Week services. This year, I was called upon
to assist with the Holy Week chanting duties at a parish down South. On
the Friday before Palm Sunday, I was in Washington DC awaiting my
connecting flight. Since I had about 45 minutes before the departure of
my flight, I decided to walk around the airport terminal. As I walked
around the terminal, I noticed a peculiar sight at the newsstand in the
terminal — I saw pictures of Christ everywhere. As I approached the
newsstand, I noticed that these pictures were actually the covers of
some of the nations most popular magazines — Time, Newsweek, and U.S.
News.
The three best known news magazines in the country had all
chosen to make Jesus Christ their feature story (week of April 8,
1996); or perhaps, to put it a bit more accurately, these three
magazines had chosen to make the questions about Jesus Christ their
feature story. The questions which the three magazines raise are
primarily two-fold: First, “Who is Jesus?”, and secondly, “Did he rise
from the dead?”
Oddly enough, the answers to both of these
questions are found in today’s Gospel reading. In the days following
the arrest, crucifixion, and death of Jesus, the disciples had hidden
themselves since they were afraid of any aftermath by the Jewish
authorities. As the gospel tells us, while the disciples were locked
inside a house on Sunday evening, Christ appeared to them. Jesus, whom
the disciples knew to have been crucified and dead, now stood among
them alive. As proof that it was truly He and not some imposter, Christ
showed the disciples the wounds of his crucifixion and the wound on his
side, where the soldier’s lance had pierced Him.
There’s a twist
to the story, however; Thomas, one of the Twelve disciples, was not
present when Christ appeared to the other ten. Thomas was absent and
did not see the risen Christ. Even though all the disciples told Thomas
that they had seen Jesus alive — and that Jesus had appeared to them —
he would not believe. Rather, Thomas said, “Unless I see the mark of
the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails, and
my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
The gospel then tells
us that the following Sunday, the disciples were again locked inside
the house. This time, however, Thomas was with the other ten disciples.
Although the doors were locked, Jesus once again appeared to the
disciples. This time, he called Thomas over to him and told him to
behold the marks of His crucifixion; to put his finger in the marks of
the nails and put his hand in his side. Upon seeing Christ, Thomas
exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!”.
Today, the first Sunday after
Easter, the Church commemorates the disbelief of Thomas and his
subsequent profession of Christ as Lord and God. Today, the church as a
whole responds to these articles in Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News,
which flooded stores, newsstands, and homes across the nation and
answers the questions “Who was Jesus?”, and “Did he truly rise from the
dead?”.
St. Paul stated in his first letter to the Corinthians,
“If Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain
and your faith has been in vain.... if Christ has not been raised, your
faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” Saint Paul again
stated that if Christ has not been raised, then we as Christians are
the sorriest of the sorry; we are to be pitied above all others because
we are fools.
But we as Christians are not fools; we are not to
be pitied, for Christ indeed has been raised. As St. Paul declared,
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of
those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the
resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as
all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.” The disciples
did not merely see Jesus; it was not some figment of their imagination.
Rather, they saw, spoke with, ate with, touched, and proclaimed the
risen Christ. St. John the Evangelist declared this when he wrote in
his first epistle, “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what
we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at
and touched with our hands, concerning the Word or life.” Christ has
truly risen from the dead. Through his resurrection, Christ conquered
the enemy — death itself — so that we, who have faith in Christ, may
also be raised up with Him in newness of life.
Today, our
Christian faith is under attack. Jesus’ life, his miracles, and above
all his resurrection, are being challenged by liberal skeptics. Don't
let any of these empty criticisms about the Christian faith deter you
in your perseverance. These attacks are unfounded and empty. The
Christian faith is precisely that—a faith. It is not based exclusively
on the static historicity of an abstract figure, but in the living
relationship with the living God. In order to be understood, the
Christian faith must be lived and experienced relationally. Each one of
us needs to know in whom we have believed.
If you have any
doubts about the resurrection, put them aside today and take courage,
for Christ has indeed risen from the dead. Through the witness of the
disciples, St. Thomas, who beheld and touched the risen Christ, and
through our own experience of the same risen Christ through our faith,
we can rest assured that Christ has indeed risen from the dead.
By
cultivating a living relationship with Christ, we also can enjoy this
same experience. By allowing the risen Lord to raise us up from the
depths of sin and all its expressions — hatred, jealousy, immorality,
gossip, lying, cheating, and all its expressions — we too can be
resurrected with Christ into a newness of life.
Therefore, from
now until Pentecost, remember that exclamation and greeting and declare
it. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and by his resurrection he has
revealed himself to be fully human and fully divine. Proclaim with
confidence and joy oti CristoV Anesth, that Christ has risen from the
dead! And respond with conviction oti AlhqwV Anesth that “Truly, he has
risen!”
Amen.
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