Second Sunday after Pascha. Thomas Sunday; the Holy Apostles Herodion, Agabus, Rufus, Asyncretus, Phlegontus and Hermes
Read
Acts 5:12-20; John 20:19-31
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
I remember the first time I saw a picture of UN peace-keepers in a National Geographic Magazine when I was a kid and being so confused. “Why do they have guns?” I remember asking my Uncle. I didn’t understand that peace needed to be protected.
The Disciples this Sunday are behind locked doors fearing for their lives when Our Lord appears in their midst and offers them customary greeting of “Shalom”- Peace be with you. Other cultures often wish peace upon each other as a typical greeting because they know the cost and worth of this word much better than we do here in North America. But in this case, it is not simply the customary greeting that the Lord is giving His terrified Disciples, but His peace that the world can’t give. This will become for them the foundation of their strength and courage in proclaiming His saving gospel unto the ends of the world.
The Lord’s peace in your life is worth guarding. Don’t allow worldly anxieties, commitments (even legitimate ones!), or fears take the Lord’s hard-won peace from you. Remain firm in your commitment to greeting and ending every day in prayer, reading the Scriptures regularly, and most importantly, honestly and sincerely examine your conscience as you prepare to meet the Lord anew in receiving the Most Holy Eucharist. Allow the Prince of Peace to reign in your heart and so have the courage to turn to Him as Thomas did recognizing Him as “our Lord and our God.”