PSA 15 April 2012 Second Sunday of Easter

Ken Howcroft “My Lord and my God!”. Today is a time to reflect on the significance of the great events we celebrated last Sunday. Is it easier for us to cope with the events of that first Easter than it was for those first disciples or more difficult? They must have been overwhelmed by what was happening and incredibly confused. Thomas is our link to them. He was not physically there when Jesus first appeared to the others, but he arrives at the deepest understanding of what is happening in the resurrection and of who Jesus is. John’s Gospel has Jesus speaking to Thomas but it is as if he is looking over Thomas’s head at you and me and saying “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” That is you and me. We did not physically see him before he was crucified. The resurrection appearances as recounted in the gospels came to an end with Pentecost. We meet him now but not in the same way. Blessed are you who have not seen him like Peter and Mary and the others, and yet have believed – and have started to act on that belief, sharing his self-giving love in the world. A sermon for the second Sunday of Easter. The readings were Acts 4:32-35 and John 20:19-31.