Thank you Thomas for bringing honesty into our faith, for helping to acknowledge at times that there are areas in our life that Jesus is not yet Lord. Thomas didn’t pretend that he was better than he was. He began by wanting proof and ended by being glad of faith. He is the patron saint of transitions and steps in faith. Faith is a journey. The community was the place he found faith, having lost it when he tried to go it alone. Then he came back to the community of faith and went on a journey of life that took him to martyrdom in India. The Bible describes mercy as a gift of God, a gift that is to be given to those who need it. Establishing the abiding faithfulness of God, we the Church of the Holy Spirit are to circulate mercy, to pay it forward irrespective of deservedness, inviting one and all to experience the merciful love of Jesus.
My hunch is that those of us who are gathered today come from all over the spiritual landscape. Each one of us is unique. This is not by accident. It is by God’s design. We need to dispense with the myth that there is one size that fits all for us as Catholic Christians. May there always be considerable diversity in the ways each one of us encounters our loving God. We are a big Church. There is room for everyone.
“He saved his life!” THAT is the thought that raced through my head as I heard my brother share with me his memories of what happened to him on March 24 after getting phone calls that day from my sister that he had collapsed in his front yard, was unresponsive and was headed by ambulance to the hospital. That neighbor, that EMT, that doctor had all helped save his life. Thank God, a neighbor called 911 so quickly and my brother is ok. As I have reflected on this, I could not help but think that phrase is something we can all say as witnesses to the Good Fridays of our lives. “He saved my life.” And that “he” is Jesus. Jesus saved my life on Good Friday. The good thief on the cross can say that. The woman caught in the act of adultery can say that. The lepers that were cured can say that. But can we say that?
This evening we will celebrate the wondrous mystery of the institution of the Holy Eucharist and may choose to experience the washing of the feet, Jesus’ merciful act at the Last Supper. The Last Supper was the most intimate moment in the life of Jesus. At the conclusion of the washing of the feet Jesus says to his humbled and confused followers: “I have given you a model to follow: so that as I have done to you, you should also do.”