Homily: Second Sunday of Easter: 2007

Brothers and sisters, today's Gospel contains some of the most consoling words we hear in the New Testament: "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." And we should know that though we don't see Him the way the Apostles saw Him, we believe and we are blessed. Saint Teresa of Ávila said we should never be envious of those who saw Christ in the flesh because we have the Blessed Sacrament! And yes, brothers and sisters, this bread and wine after consecration becomes just as much the flesh and blood of the Man of Galilee as the body St. Thomas was invited to touch, and to probe the nail prints and wound in the side! I often ponder this great truth (just before or after receiving Communion). It kind of puts a new meaning to the old song "Put Your Hand in the Hand of the Man Who Stilled the Waters." But we do . . . we see Him, we touch Him, we receive Him. Talk to him, brothers, listen to him, in the silence and stillness of your heart. Reflect on the beautiful readings we have just heard. If you can take a few minutes, think about the "many signs and wonders" that were done in your own life this past week. It's easy if you try. Last week I told you about the great . . . I can't tell you how great . . . kindness done me by some good friends, and how like St. Simon of Cyrene (see how I just canonized him there?) it made me feel. Because the great good burden of responsibility -- both to pay them back, and since I know what kind of people they are, to "pay it forward" to others -- is like the Cross, the blessed Cross. It ain't heavy; it's my cross! Well, this week I found out, sigh, that those folks who helped me out actually did so before they found out that a check they thought was coming in April won't come til June. I hope they gave to me out of their surplus and not out of their want, but I came to the realization that even if this gift "costs" them, I can't afford to fall apart over it, but just appreciate it more! Respect them more; pray for them more. Don't, sisters, don't say "You shouldn't have!" when someone gives you a gift. Say instead, "Thank you!" and try to be worthy of it. That's what children do as they grow up. They accept what is given them in all simplicity, but they try to live up to what their parents expect of them. Not that it's always easy. Fathers . . . "easy to please; hard to satisfy."

Another "sign and wonder" in my life this week was my chance to talk with my oldest son as he and I moved most of our worldly goods from one storage unit to another. My husband is something of a woodworker, so we have these tremendously long wooden beams from all over the country. Some are very dense, very heavy. My son turned to me as we were dragging them, "This is just like when I carried the cross . . . you know, in the [living] Way of the Cross during that retreat. In fact, it's heavier!" I just laughed and said, "Yeah, these are probably more like the real thing!" But it made me proud to think that he had, in fact, carried a life-size cross through the streets of the place where he made his confirmation some years ago. That in itself is a sign. I think a lot of things that are hard and embarrassing -- especially those that are embarrassing -- are times in our lives when we are signs . . . signs for the good.

And what about wonders? Let us not say that the time of miracles and wonders are over now that the time of the first Apostles is over. Yes, stunning miracles were of importance to get the fledgling Church off the ground and established, however tenuously, in all the surrounding regions of the world. Perhaps some of those signs were meant for those times in particular -- praise God -- but still there are miracles. Not just those that my wisest friend calls small "m" miracles -- occasions in which after seeing or experiencing them, your mind immediately flies up to God -- but actual events that defy natural explanation. I'll tell you about one I told my CCD class. A poor woman with kids was broke . . . it was the end of the month and not only hadn't she any money, she hadn't any food. Her next check wouldn't arrive for a week. She looked in the cupboard, and it was totally empty . . . nothing. She wasn't a believer, but she was so desperate and so hungry, she prayed to God for the sake of her kids. Then, despite her better judgment, she looked AGAIN in the cupboard and there, there in the back was a box of macaroni and cheese she swore wasn't there before! Silently thanking God, she made it, and wonder of wonders, there was enough for all. There were even leftovers! And not only for the next day, but the next, and the next, and the next . . . the miraculous macaroni and cheese defied all natural laws to last for an entire week, until she got her check.

And one last word about St. Thomas. Abraham Lincoln, who was not a formal believer in any church, said something like: "I may be fated to go through life in this twilight of doubt, like the apostle Thomas". It is ironic that he chose the apostle Thomas to illustrate his doubt, his searching, his wandering, since Thomas is the one who exclaimed, in a very outburst of faith: "My Lord and my God!" If there is someone in your life who has lost their faith, who is wandering in a twilight so to speak, remember that "doubting Thomas" is in fact the one who proclaimed his faith so eloquently: "My Lord and my God."

Let us now proclaim our faith.