The Game Changer: Shalom!

2nd Sunday of Easter

7:00pm & 10:00am

Cycle B/2018

Acts 4:32-35; Psalm 118; 1John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31

The Game Changer: Shalom!

Divine Mercy Sunday

Have you ever expected something to happen to you – something not all that great and kinda because you feel you deserved it? I think this aptly describes how the apostles were feeling after Jesus died. They were after all locked in a room for fear of the authorities. They clearly feared punishment from the powers that be for following Jesus who was now dead.

The authorities were one group they feared reprisals from. Then –Jesus himself stands before them! In the society the apostles lived in – what do you think they felt other than total shame? They were frightened of vengeance, of some form of retaliation. This is aside from the fact that they were seeing or thought they were seeing someone come back from the dead. That is enough to frighten anyone.

What happens? Let’s walk thought this and we see more than we could expect. The first thing that prepares us for what is going to happen– if we are really trying to listen – is this: “it was evening … the first day of the week …” Why is this so important? St John begins his Gospel “In the beginning was the Word …” and he does this in an intentional way ---- going back to the beginning of Sacred Scripture – Genesis – wherein we are taught “In the beginning …” meaning that God was doing something that we would describe as “new” as “life giving.” In Genesis God actually brought all of Creation into being (that is pretty new – wouldn’t you say) but then with sin damaging God’s Creation God did something even more “new” and that is he sent his only Son “in the beginning was the Word and the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.”

That is even more “new” and amazing. It didn’t stop there though --- on this night “the first day of the week” we are be prompted that God will do something new again. We need to keep listening.

Jesus stands amongst them and he is the one who has to begin – he says Shalom. By the very fact that Jesus walked through the door (which he could do) he invaded their isolation and fear of what they had done and he speaks words of renewal and friendship to them: Peace! It is important that we understand that is word is not the absence of conflict or simply “hey, nice to see you” but a desire for the fullness of God’s blessings to be with you.” The apostles must have been somewhat shocked. Jesus says it again to reassure them: Shalom!

Then Jesus shows them his hands and his side. Jesus shows them his hands and his side – meaning he shows them the consequences of their sin – of everyone’s sin – but he shows them in such a way that God is not seeking revenge but reconciliation, true love with his children. He showed them what God is willing to do to love his own and what sin has done to him. At the very same time he commissions then to go forth and do for others what he has done for them and then he equips them with something that is also “new” – the power of “in the beginning” --- meaning Jesus gives them – delegates to them – God’s very power to regenerate the soul of their brothers and sisters who repent of their sins and seek reconciliation and also (let us be clear about this) the power to withhold forgiveness if a person refuses to repent, if they refuse to even try to amend their life!

What Jesus does – just to back up a bit – for the apostles he does for you and me: he invades our isolation, the isolation that we feel we cannot break out of and by showing them that he took upon himself all the evil that world and the devil could throw at him coupled with the powerful word Shalom – they are rejuvenated, they experience new life … and so it is with you and me … if we let him do this for us. Jesus will invade our isolation and offer us freedom, he will show us the power he has to help us break free and experience something “new!”

Our task is to breathe the same spirit into the world that Jesus breathed into us; Jesus wants us – commissions us – to “breath into” the hearts and lives of people so that they might know Jesus’s desire for peace and reconciliation.

Where are we going to experience this renewed relationship with Jesus? We know he is fully capable to granting it to anyone but Thomas’s experience teaches us we actually shouldn’t despise our skepticism because it may be that very skepticism that paves the way for a genuine moment of grace. The important thing is that we all must be people who are honest, sincere and with integrity.

Thomas is the apostle who makes the greatest act of faith in the whole of the New Testament: My Lod and My God! And where does Thomas receive this gift of extraordinary faith and renewed relationship with Jesus? Thomas receives it in the midst of the Church – with his brother apostles. This is where we too receive the gift of faith and renewed relationship with God --- right with our fellow sinners … in the midst of all of us who are imperfect … all of us who are presumably seeking the same thing: heaven, to be with God forever!

Today – allow, freely allow, Jesus to invade your heart, your defects, your wounds, your dysfunction, your addictions --- whatever it is; let Jesus show you his wounds but wounds that heal not destroy and hear that life giving powerful word – that word that is a true game changer for your life: Shalom!