April 7, 2013 –– Second Sunday of Easter (Sunday of Divine Mercy)
Acts 5: 12-16; Ps 118: 2-4, 13-15, 22-24; Rev 1: 9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; Jn 20: 19-31
The real stewardship message for this, the Second Sunday of Easter, is found in the Gospel of John. It is a story with which almost all of us are familiar — the story of “Doubting Thomas.” This loyal Apostle to the Lord was the first of the Apostles to actually say that he would die for Jesus. Thomas followed Jesus for three years, only to see Him crucified and buried, is disheartened, just as we sometimes are.
Why is Thomas not in the room with the other Apostles? Perhaps he, just as each of us can be, is deeply discouraged, profoundly disappointed, and he is off wandering, trying to reconcile what has happened, what he has witnessed. When he returns and hears the accounts of Jesus’ appearance, even from Peter, Thomas is skeptical.
At the heart of a stewardship way of life is trust in the Lord. Like Thomas, we sometimes want to see proof for ourselves; experience personally that the hope promised by Christ is real. Living a stewardship way of life is a way of achieving that. Even though, like Thomas, we may have moments of doubt, if we truly pursue service and sacrifice, we, like Thomas, are proclaiming, “My Lord and my God.” And we, like Thomas, will hear those wonderful words, “Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.”
