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Deacon Greg's Homily 4-28-19

Let us begin with a prayer... Lord Jesus, we trust in you, as you are our giver of mercy and our font of life. Loving Lord, continue to be our healer, our teacher, our Savior and our friend... Lord Jesus, we trust in you. May all that we are remain in your hands! AMEN*

Easter Sunday Morning…
Greeting: Mary saw the risen Lord and told the Apostles
God’s Action: RESURRECTION!
Mary Magdeline: Tell the Apostles the Good News
Reaction: Disbelief - Peter and a few ran to the Tomb to SEE

Later That Same Day…
Greeting: The Doors Were Locked: Jesus Came and Stood in Their Midst (Peace Be With You!)
God’s Action: Jesus Breathed on Them (Receive the Holy Spirit - Christ’s Divine Mercy instituting the Sacrament of Reconciliation)
Reaction: “We’ve seen the Lord!”
Thomas: “Unless I See… I Will Not Believe!”

A Week Later…
Greeting: The Doors Were Locked: Jesus Came and Stood in Their Midst (Peace Be With You!)
Jesus' Action: Touch & Believe
Thomas' Reaction: My Lord and My God

Thomas…
He speaks to the “elephant in the room” for all of us!
Quite frankly, we all seem to crave proof.

Let’s be fair… 
Doubt is a very real concept that we all struggle with on a minute by minute basis. The Apostles doubted Mary Magdalene, and had to see the empty tomb for themselves. Thomas doubted the appearance and had to see for himself. We doubt the weather forecast, and we doubt whether we can find that old file that lies dormant on the old computer. We doubt the reality of wild theories that predict our demise in the distant future. We doubt ourselves. We doubt our intentions. We doubt our community. We doubt their intentions. We doubt credibility, and we doubt qualifications… especially our own. And finally, YES, we even doubt our faith, and many of its real promises. Quite frankly, I think we can agree that we are far more doubting at times than even “The Doubting Thomas,” and yet, IN SPITE OF THE LOCKED DOORS, the Lord comes into our midst, every day at every moment of our lives! AND BEST OF ALL, THE LORD DOESN’T MIND!

The Psalm: God’s mercy endures forever...
In spite of locked doors or any obstacle
Jesus comes and stands in your midst

Encounter Christ...
Trust in the Spirit, and be willing to dive in!
Ask your questions, and probe “The Truth!”

Today, in the midst of whatever doubts that we might share, here is our Risen Lord, greeting us with PEACE! As in the Gospel, we are welcomed by our Lord in three ways:

Peace Be With You… 
REJOICE in Jesus Christ as we gather here together!

Peace Be With You… 
RECEIVE the power of the Holy Spirit!

Peace Be With You… 
RESPOND like Thomas (My Lord and my God) as we accept his Body and Blood in our midst!

Our Mission is Mercy as the time between the first and second coming of the Lord is the time of missionary activity… for the Gospel must be preached to everyone before the Lord comes (again.). Be a people open to receiving mercy and being merciful to others, for God’s mercy endures forever!

Be a people of reconciliation… As St. Paul tells us in his second letter to the Corinthians, “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5: 17-20)

Divine Mercy Sunday...
Let us open ourselves to God’s love and mercy!

Let us Rejoice as Christ’s love gushes forth to save you!
Let us Receive his unconditional love and generous mercy!
Let us Respond in our love and support of one another by sharing that mercy!

*Inspired by the song "Jesus, I Trust in You" (Sara Hart)

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