[media presentation below] GospelThink Sunday, April 16, Second Sunday of Easter (Sunday of Divine Mercy) JOHN 20:19-31 I was disappointed in Thomas who wouldn’t believe what I had taught. But he did change. Prayerthoughts a. The Lord wishes his disciples “peace.” Do I always bring peace to the situations that I am in or am I more argumentative?   b. Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to his disciples. I have also received the Holy Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation. Has the Spirit made me a person of love toward all? c. Thomas initially says “I will not believe.”  Are there some parts of my faith that I struggle with? Perhaps I can list them and look up the topics in the Catechism. d. Jesus speaks directly to Thomas, telling him to do exactly what Thomas wanted. Often the graces of God allow me to do exactly what I want. Am I sufficiently grateful to God. (This is the task of the meditation.) e. The Lord blesses us when he says that blessed are those who have not seen, yet have believed. Perhaps we should write an extended prayer of faith. f. What virtues do you think Jesus showed in his life that are not recorded? g. (Divine Mercy Sunday reflection: In my daily life, do I show mercy toward everyone I meet?) h. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will list the things that I am most grateful for in my life so far. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy THE THOMAS EXPERIENCE           Spiritual story-teller Anthony de Mello tells this rather flippant story: A young man was about to jump off the bridge when a policeman rushed up to him. “No,” he cried, “please don’t do it. You haven’t even lived yet: why would you even think of jumping into the water?” “Because life is empty,” the young man said. “Now, listen to me, please,” the policeman said, “If you jump into the river, I’ll have to go in after you to save you. Right? Well, the water is freezing cold and I’ve only recovered from a bout of double pneumonia. Do you know what that means? I will die. I have a wife and four kids. Would you want to die with a thing like that on your conscience? No, of course not.” “But,” the young man said, “life is empty.” “I know life is empty,” the policeman said. “But it is empty at your home too. So, do me a favor—for my sake: go home, and in the privacy and quiet of your own home, hang yourself.”           It is a story that is a little different, but it is a true statement about life. Often life is empty, and too often the reason for suicide, something that we should not joke about. We all experience emptiness at some time in our lives and we look for something to help us take care of the emptiness. We often look for it in things like power, pleasure, drugs, money, alcohol, sex, the good life, whatever. But we remain empty because those material things will never satisfy, no matter how much of them we have.           Our world is ready for what might be called the “Thomas Experience,” that is the time to find the way to overcome the emptiness of life. John closes his Gospel today telling us the way to overcome the emptiness in life:           These things are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name. That is, our belief in Jesus can take care of our empty lives. For Thomas, it meant hands-on proof. He did not believe; he had to see it with his own eyes. But once he saw it, after the hands-on proof, life was no longer empty.           For us, too, there must be some sort of hands-on proof so that after it, life will not be empty. It is what makes up the modern “Thomas Experience.” We do not have the hands on proof that Thomas had because ours is based on faith. As Jesus comments: “Blessed are those who have not seen….”—us. So, our hands-on proof is to make ourselves aware that God really is active in our lives. Even with the problems we have, there are solutions. They may not look like solutions, and they may not be the solutions that we want, but God is there—in the death of a friend or tragedy of a family or the like, even, in the evident evil of some situation.            And the way we do that?  Again, John tells us at the end of his Gospel—to honestly believe that Jesus and his teaching in his book and all the books of the Gospels is the answer to emptiness. It is the answer only if we bring ourselves to study what is happening—and there is the key—take the time to honestly think about how God is working. God really is alive and well in our every situation, if we are open to understand it.            Thomas the Apostle was able to finally understand. If we take the time to recognize God’s presence in our world, it can be all we need to address the emptiness that we have.

MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “The Passion of the Christ” — final session JESUS’S PASSION III

The Gospel MARK 15:22-47 They brought Jesus to the place of Golgotha. They gave him wine drugged with myrrh, but he did not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” With him they crucified two revolutionaries, one on his right and one on his left. Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross.” Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, mocked him among themselves and said, “He saved others, he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.     At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, …”My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”…Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” There were also women looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome….     When it was already evening, since it was the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a distinguished member of the council, who was himself awaiting the kingdom of God, came and courageously went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus….Having brought a linen cloth, he took him down, wrapped him in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus watched where he was laid. Gospelthink: Jesus dies for me and all on the cross. I should take the time to offer a prayer of thanksgiving for what the Lord has done for us.

The final session of the movie “The Passion of the Christ” continues to portray the horrible cruelty of Jesus’ captors, together with the pain that Jesus suffered and the mental torture that his mother Mary felt. Throughout the movie, in the background, a symbol all dressed in black, and in one scene pictured with a strange looking child, has been watching Jesus at his most critical moments. Probably symbolizing the devil or evil, it is present when it seems as though darkness has taken over. Only at the end do we see it defeated.

Director Mel Gibson in making “The Passion of the Christ” did not intend the film to entertain. It is his personal message, attempting to re-create events of personal urgency to Gibson. The filmmaker has put his artistry at the service of his conviction and belief. It is a film about an idea. The idea is that it is necessary to fully comprehend the passion and death of Jesus if Christianity is to make sense. Gibson has communicated his idea with an expertise that will probably never be matched, even though it offends people because of its graphic description of what could have happened. As one critic commented (Roger Ebert) “I can respond to the power of belief whether I agree or not, and when I find it in a film, I must respect it.”

THOUGHT How would you define the religion we call “Christianity”? PRAYER Good and gracious God, your Son Jesus suffered and died for us, giving us the chance to have eternal life with you. Help us understand the message Jesus gave so that we can follow him more completely. Be with us, we pray.