Peace

The readings at Mass this weekend include the story of Thomas. Thomas was one of Jesus' followers. When Jesus rose from the dead and went to visit His followers Thomas was not present the first time He appeared. When the other Apostles told Him about the appearance, and that Jesus had risen, Thomas said he would not believe it until he himself could touch the wounds of Jesus' crucifixtion. The second time Jesus comes to them, He calls Thomas out on his doubt, and invites him to touch the wounds. When Thomas realizes that the story of Jesus' rising from the dead was true, he is moved with joy. Jesus responds with the phrase, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

Thats what faith is. I have faith in the Ressurection and I have not seen it. Nor have the countless Christians throughout the world who today celebrate the Risen Lord, and their hope for the afterlife. If you think about it, its not all that crazy to have faith in something you cannot see. After all, how many things in life do we put faith in that is just as absurd? We have faith that our loved ones will never hurt us. We have faith that our lovers will always be faithful, that our employers will always be fair, that our car will start in the morning when we turn the key. If you think about it, almost every aspect of our day to day life is based on faith, because anything could change in an instant.

When Jesus appears to His apostles in the reading He only greets them with the phrase, "Peace be with you." The apostles, scared of being found out by the Roman athourities, and worried they would face the same fate as Jesus had, were comforted by these words. The presence of Jesus in their midst shatters any doubt they had in His message, and settles their fear.

We can relate to this too. We all seek peace in our lives. That's what that feeling is when we wake up in the morning with a smile. When everything is right in our life. We have a job we enjoy, and are successful in. The bills are paid. Our relationships are all the way we want them to be...its "peace". When that peace is disrupted, by some kind of change...we become restless.

The comfort that we feel in our everyday lives can become very casual. Its very easy to take our lives for granted, because at any moment we could loose it all. That faith that we put in what we cannot see can easily fall apart. Maybe once in a while we need to stop and be grateful for those things that we hold as so common place. Our friends, our jobs, our housing, and everything else.

This morning there is a funeral for a gentleman well known in the local Gay community. He died unexpectedly. I personally did not know him, but many of my friends did. His sudden death has shattered the peace that those around him enjoyed. He know enjoys the peace of heaven, but his famly and friends are left to mourn.

Every morning our feet hit the floor is a gift. We never think of it, but once in a while its good to take stock. To be grateful for another day, and for all of the blessings we have in our lives. We will always have parts of our lives that we arent happy with, and I speak to myself when I say this...we need to look past those parts, and find the peace that does exist. In an instant it can all change, it can all be taken away, it can all be shattered.

Peace be with you.