Sunday Gospel Reflection

April 28th – John 20: 19-31

Eight days later, Jesus came again and stood among them

In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.

‘As the Father sent me,

so am I sending you.’

After saying this he breathed on them and said:

‘Receive the Holy Spirit.

For those whose sins you forgive,

they are forgiven;

for those whose sins you retain,

they are retained.’

Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:

‘You believe because you can see me.

Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’

There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.

Take a moment & reflect

– with Monsignor Robert Draper

We do not need to doubt that Luke is giving us an idealized picture of the first Christian community – but that doesn’t detract from its importance. What Luke shows us is a picture of a community that reflects the Lord – the “signs and wonders” are described in a way that recalls precisely the way that Jesus exercised his ministry. It is a deliberate way of showing continuity. In the power of the Spirit the church of the Acts of the Apostles continues Jesus’ work – and for us we would add, continues to do so in our day. That means of course that we should expect there to be clear reflections of Jesus’ ministry in the working of the church today. That is the great challenge to this and every generation of the faithful.