Dear Friends,

Christ is risen, Alleluia!

On this octave of Easter, the Gospel reveals to us a saving encounter.  Peter and John have seen the empty tomb.  Mary Magdalene has seen the Lord, and runs to tell the good news to the other disciples.  You would think they would be out celebrating.  But they are not.  Afraid of the same authorities who had put their Lord and Teacher to death, they are in lockdown: hiding behind locked doors, afraid to let anyone in. 

But then, the same Jesus who broke through the prison of death breaks through their fear, their isolation, their disbelief.  He defies locked doors, locked hearts, locked visions. All of a sudden, they are aware of His risen presence.  His message is simple yet powerful: “Peace be with you.”  Then he shares with them the gift of the Holy Spirit: the power to heal, to forgive, to reconcile. Their fear is displaced by love, by joy, by the peace which is the gift of the risen Christ.  Unfortunately, one of the inner circle – Thomas – happens to be absent from this great reunion. He refuses to believe until he has the most physical of proofs: plunging his hands into the open wounds of Jesus.

Most of us can relate to Thomas.  We keep hearing that Jesus is risen, present to us, at work in our lives – but we have a hard time really feeling that presence, believing in it not just as a theory, but as a lived reality. Thomas helps us understand that doubts and questions and fears are part of our experience of faith.  In the midst of our struggles, Jesus keeps on appearing to us, unlocking the barriers between doubt and faith, sin and forgiveness, death and life, fear and joy.   The risen Christ sends the Spirit into our lives so that our wounds may be healed, our fears overcome, our doubts transformed into a deeper and more solid faith. Then we will be able to cry out, like Thomas, “My Lord and my God!”

Want to hear more?  To join with your fellow pilgrims on this journey from doubt to faith, struggle to consolation?  To pray and to enter into a deeper spiritual communion with the Lord, and with our faith community? 

Please join us at Sunday Mass, “live from St. Monica’s” this Sunday (and for the foreseeable future, every Sunday!) at 10 A.M.  Just visit our website and click on the link for Sunday Mass!

All are welcome! I look forward to connecting with you all.  Please feel free to share this message with others, however you feel comfortable, so that many more who need a word of hope may join us.  Special thanks to all of you who, over the past few Sundays, have contributed to the mission: with gifts of time, talent, and treasure. For those of you in the position to financially support the parish at this time, there’s a “donate” button on the website, but in any event, your prayers and your witness to your faith in these difficult times make a real difference.  May God continue to bless you all and keep you safe.

Yours in the Risen Christ,

Fr. Raymond