After his Resurrection, Jesus greets his disciples with the words “Peace be with you.” As followers of Christ, raised from the dead, only God’s peace can conquer all our fears. 

On this second Sunday of Easter, Jesus continues to make his presence known to his disciples. He wanted them and us to know that he is always with us. The grave cannot keep us away from God’s love which comes to us in Jesus who rose from the dead. He appeared to the disciples, in their moments of fear, even though they had locked the door. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus greets his disciples with the gift of peace. His first words to his fearful disciples are “peace be with you!” This is an affirmation that where Jesus is truly present to us, there is peace. Even with his wounds, Jesus is not ashamed to offer us healing and peace. His peace helps to soothe our fears but it still requires faith.

The readings point to the fact that these first disciples were living in fear. Fear is described by some as “False Evidence Appearing Real.” This idea should point us to the importance of our encounters with the resurrected Jesus. We must not let those things that try to keep us in the grave of anger, frustration, doubt, and unbelief stop us from trusting in God’s plan for us. We’ve come this far by faith! We have been leaning on the Lord who has never failed us! 

The same Jesus who died on the Cross comes to us at our deepest moments of need and tells us “arise!” He is our light! This is the self-same Jesus who was crucified and died on the cross. He has risen! He is not a Ghost.
 
Thomas represents the early Church and the first disciples of Jesus who must believe without seeing. Like Thomas, we may doubt the news that Jesus, who was crucified and buried, appeared to his disciples. Our human nature seeks hard evidence that the Jesus who appeared to his disciples after his death is indeed the same Jesus who was crucified. Thomas is allowed to be our representative in obtaining this evidence. He gives witness to us that Jesus who was raised from the dead is the same Jesus who died. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are among those who are blessed, for we have not seen and yet believe.

No matter what you are experiencing right now in your life, God wants us to believe that even when we fear, God’s way is better than our own. God is in control. When has your faith in the living Christ helped you overcome fear?  When we recognize that God looks beyond our faults and sees what we need, we will know MERCY. ALLELUIA !!!