St. Bartholomew Church

     We are so extraordinarily blessed to have our First Communion Class with us today as they will receive the Eucharist for the very first time in just a few moment.  What an incredible expression of faith for the rest of us.

          And that’s exactly what we all need in our lives.  The Gospel we hear this weekend is one we are all familiar with.  Doubting Thomas.  And I think that one of the reasons we know this story so well, is because we all know doubt so very well.

          We know what it’s like to question God, to wonder if God is there, if God hears us, if God really cares about us as much as we hope he does.

          Scripture tells us that Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  

          And that is exactly what we have this weekend in our First Communion Class.  Today the hope of our children is fulfilled – not because parents finally got them to cooperate and put on those cute little outfits – but because, just like Thomas, they are about to  encounter the risen Jesus here at this altar. 

My brothers and sisters, we all need their faith!

          Because we know, especially as we grow older, that this life can work to crush that faith within us.  It is so easy to have doubt thrust upon us - a faith that once was strong within us, as it is for them, can sometimes be shaken or even extinguished within us – and we become like Thomas, unable to see, unable to believe. 

          But the beauty of our Faith, is that even when we can’t see, even when life is dark and it feels as if we are just hanging out there flopping in the breeze somewhere, Jesus remains with us.  Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet still believe. 

So wherever we are on the journey of faith this second Sunday of Easter – this Divine Mercy Sunday, let us know that even when we don’t feel Him or see Him, even when we question, and especially when we doubt – Jesus is right there with us.  We just need to trust in Him.

And when that seems so difficult if not impossible, let us remember the faith of our children, and let’s be like them.  It really is that simple.  God help us all.