SCRIPTURE FOR EVERYDAY LIFE
                            Second Sunday of Easter

FIRST READING: ACTS 5: 12-16
     In today's first reading, we get a bird's eye view at the growing early Christian community in Jerusalem.  In spite of formidable obstacles on the part of Jewish leaders who refused to believe, the apostles attracted "great numbers of men and women," and worked, "many signs and wonders."  It was as if Jesus was once again walking the road to Galilee, curing the sick.  So many people were being healed by the apostles.  People in the neighboring towns brought their sick loved ones, hoping that the apostles would cure them.  Some believers did not think it necessary for Peter to even touch their afflicted ones, believing that his shadows falling upon them powerful enough to heal.
     Since the new Christian community had no building as yet in which to meet, they met in small various houses or in the Temple area under a covered corridor called Soloman's portico.  News of their healing power spread quickly to surrounding towns and villages.  After the resurrection, the apostles finally recognized that Jesus truly was the Son of God.  After Pentecost, Peter and the apostles went about spreading the Good News, bringing healing and reconciliation wherever they went.  That is also our mission- to be carriers of the message of hope, forgiveness and reconciliation to a hurting world.  We are called to be the light of Christ to all who sit in darkness.  The hungry, the lonely, and the hurting are awaiting a message of hope.  To whom will you bring the light of Christ today?

SECOND READING: REV. 1:9-13: 17-19
     The Book of Revelation is the last book presented in the New Testament.  Tradition says the author was St. John the Evangelist.  Revelation uses a lot of symbolic language and imagery, which should not be interpreted literally.  John was imprisoned on the island of Patmos for having preached the Christian faith.  The seven gold lampstands stand for the seven churches in Asia, and the Son of Man is clearly the risen Christ.
     On the Lord's Day, John had a vision in which he saw Christ in human form.  Christ was dressed in a long robe with a sash across his chest, like a high priest.  Filled with fear and awe, John falls at his feet.  Christ removes John's fear and tells John that he, Christ, is the beginning and the end of all things- the cause and the purpose of all creation.  Christ proclaims that he dies for all men and that death could not hold him.  Now he lives forever.  He has mastered death for all mankind.  St. Paul would say, "Oh, death where is your victory..."Oh, death where is your sting?"  Christ will come again, and that is the hope to which we must cling.  He endured the Cross for the sake of the joy that lay ahead.  Jesus has destroyed death's hold on us and we need to remain focused on what lies ahead for us- eternal life!- as we continue our journey of faith.  Fear not!

GOSPEL: JOHN 20:1-31
     Today's Gospel celebration contains a story within a story: The appearance of Jesus to bring peace and encouragement to the frightened disciples and a resolution of Thomas' doubts.  This Sunday's well-known Gospel story stresses a coming to belief.  One could not have found a more frightened group of men in Jerusalem that night.  In the first half of the story, John tells us that the disciples had locked the doors of the place where they were staying "...for fear of the Jews (v.19)."  Only the resurrected Jesus would overcome their fears.
     In the second half of this story within a story, it is the presence of the Risen Lord once again that leads the doubtful Thomas to profess: "My Lord and My God."  Jesus constantly challenged his hearers to follow him and heed his message.  To accept the message of Jesus is no easy matter.  It's demands are unrelenting.  We, as believers, are asked to live in the Spirit of Christ so that our impact on our community can be felt.  As St. Francis of Assisi instructed his friars when he sent them out: "Preach the Gospel...and when necessary, use words."
     When Jesus stood in the midst of his disciples, he calmed their fears; when he had breathed on them, he infused the Holy Spirit.  He brought them new life.  He gave them the power to forgive sins and continue his work.  The message is clear:  New Life in the Holy Spirit brings peace and reconciliation.  Our faith response is not bound up in tangible proof such as 'touch' and 'see,' which is what Thomas needed.  Our response is belief in new life through the power of the Holy Spirit.  We are enabled to believe without seeing.  That is called faith.
     In our Creed, we continually repeat the words, "We believe in one holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting."  May the resurrected Christ help us overcome our fears, and may we live our lives as people who truly believe what we recite.