In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit, glory to Jesus Christ. Glory
to God. Today's the second Sunday after Pascha.
We call it Thomas Sunday. If you look up at the
top of the North Peak, you see the scene that
was described in the Gospel today. Beautiful,
beautiful fresco. And this day has an important
message for us. Wonderful message for us. Again,
once again, the good news, the gospel, that the
resurrected Lord, the Lord is true. He is resurrected.
All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth,
he says. We believe that. All power over everything.
And he is on the throne. next to the Father,
ruling all things, putting all the enemies, the
spiritual enemies, under his feet until such
time that he deems it proper to appear in glory,
and we will be raised. We will be judged. We
will be raised. The resurrected Lord is real,
always, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Eight days after his rising, which is what? we
had on Pascha, what's today, eight days after
Pascha, St. John tells us that St. Thomas was
with the disciples when Jesus appeared and said,
peace be unto you. Those words, peace be unto
you, they're not merely words conveying hope
for a good state of mind. His peace, Christ's
peace, the peace of God, it's the peace that
dispels All fear in our hearts, even though we're
worried and troubled about many things. It's
the peace that dispels all doubts and all anxieties.
Why? It's the peace that strengthens us. Why?
Because his peace is his presence in our midst.
His peace is his presence. And we, says St. John,
have life in his name. Today's gospel is completing
the reading today that completes the reading
we had on Pascha, the encounter with the living
Lord that we began Pascha afternoon. You recall,
perhaps, that that reading ended with the statement,
and perhaps it seems strange to us on Pascha,
it ended with the statement by St. Thomas, unless
I see, I will not believe. That's Pascha Day.
That's what we're left with in the middle of
the afternoon. And that's good. Because like
Thomas, we need to go deeper into our heart.
Because Christ is not going to appear the way
he appeared to Thomas to us. The way we see is
a different faculty than our eyeballs and our
hands. And Jesus says, blessed are those that
see that way. We end in that strange way. Unless
I see you, I will not believe. That's Pascha,
and we come to terms with it. The death has been
abolished. The death is over. Can we believe
it? That statement. Can we live according to
that statement? Here's how St. John Chrysostom,
the writer of this liturgy, says. He says, it's
true. We still die as before. But we do not remain
in death. Because Christ is there. And this is
not to die. And the very power and very harshness
of death is that a dead person has no possibility
of returning to life. But if after death he is
to be bodily quickened and moreover to be given
a better bodily life without death, then this
is no longer death. This is a falling asleep.
Comfortable belief. Just saying, Christ is risen
from the dead, trampling death by death, and
we're very happy. Just saying that, it's fairly
easy. It requires very little of us. Seeing the
Lord as we did on Thursday night, Friday. Treated
so brutally in his crucifixion by the authorities.
Handed over by his own people. The apostles probably
thought they were next. They're hiding in this
upper room when Christ comes to them on that
first day of the week. I can't imagine their
fear, their uncertainty. We thought it was him
that would redeem Israel, they said. And they
were disappointed. No matter what they heard
through the teaching of Jesus Christ, no one
rises from the dead. This is not something they
would expect at all. But since that day and since
Thomas Sunday, all the saints, whether ancient
martyrs, or the new martyrs, or the Turkish martyrs,
or people in Uganda or Nigeria that are being
killed systematically, Christians that are being
killed, they don't believe that they are afraid.
They have gone through the furnace of doubt already.
They have gone and carried that cross which has
transformed them to make them like gold. That's
our goal. Not to be comfortable Christians. No,
our goal is to carry that cross, to encounter
that furnace of doubt in our heart, and to let
the Lord inside our deep heart, where we say
to him, Thou art my Lord and my God. How could
I not see that? We hear the words of St. Thomas
proclaiming with... that phrase with complete
faith, that Jesus is my Lord and my God, not
just the Lord and the God. The scriptures tell
us that the Lord appeared to his mother, to Mary
Magdalene, to the mother of James and John, to
all of the apostles, to 500 people at once. We
trust those witnesses. because of the way they
conducted their life. We trust their words because
we see how they lived, were transformed, were
no longer hiding behind closed doors. St. Luke
records in the book of Acts, which you heard
today, that through the hands of the apostles,
who had been changed after Pentecost, absolutely,
fundamentally, essentially changed. They were
now bearers of the Spirit of God, as we are.
That through them, many signs and wonders were
done among the people, and believers were increasingly
added to the Lord. Yes, believe the witness,
the ancient witness. Believe the new witnesses,
our saints. Believe them, but also seek for yourself,
not as an ideology, but the person of Christ.
Touch him, not physically. But in your deep heart,
the church, Lent, the services, the holy mysteries,
worship, all the hymns, the fasting, the prayer,
the prostrations, this is spiritual heart surgery
acting upon our heart. It can be painful when
we see what's in there. And by the grace of the
Holy Spirit, as we allow him, as we carry our
own cross and our sorrows and our difficulties,
that deep heart is being made a throne. But we
have to offer ourself. It's comfortable not to.
Because doubts come and resistance comes. When
resistance comes, you have to ask, why now? What's
that about? Because that's... That's from the
evil one. God will not bring something to fruition
in us, in our heart, without our having had a
hand in cultivating the grace that is going to
be there. We will get from him joy, contrition,
wisdom, understanding, more joy, more contrition.
A conviction, whatever our heart has prepared
itself to receive and what we are capable of
receiving with faith, that is what we will receive.
We are filled, says one elder, to the degree
that we are empty. That we have made room within
ourselves for that faithfulness, that life of
faith and the love for God. The love for God.
That's primary. This is something that is for
me, acquiring Christ as my own, here in the midst
of the congregation, to no longer be in a prison
of my self -will and my sins and fear of death.
Let me give you a few practical suggestions as
I conclude. If you are struggling with being
faithful, I won't say in belief, I would say
faithfulness. Coming to church. Praying. Loving
God. Forgiving. All of those things. If you are
struggling with being faithful, the first thing,
this is very important. Do not stop praying.
Any way you can. God is so humble, he will receive
that prayer. But do it. And remember, remember
this. Like in any endeavor in our life, and I've
told you this many times. There is no quality
without quantity. You cannot become a good musician
without a lot of practice. You can't become a
good athlete without a lot of practice. You can't
become adept at prayer without delving into it
and waiting around and sometimes drowning in
your own thoughts. But the quality will be there
because it will be a gift of God. Pray. Secondly,
learn about the faith. If you have a Sunday school
education only, your faith will not survive.
But here, the riches we have, the books, the
teaching, the people, let your faith be strengthened.
Talk to other people who love their faith. Try
to emulate them. Learn from them. Understand
why they believe. Follow them as apostles. And
third, most important, experience. Participate.
This helps our faith to grow, to mature within
us. Participate. Come to church. If Thomas had
not come back on the eighth day, But on that
first day, when Jesus had come to the apostles
and said, peace be unto all, and he had to say
it twice, they were so shocked. If Thomas had
not come back the next week, he would have been
left with, unless they see, I will not believe,
and that would be the end. We should not miss
any liturgy on a Sunday. No, we should not. Because
every liturgy is an immense gift from God to
each one of us. Particular, exact what we need.
You and me, the exact gift that God has to give
us, which will give you the peace to say, My
Lord and my God, I thank thee, O Lord, for all
that you have done for me. Let's show up. This
is how we strengthen one another. Let's be open
to these things. Let's not be faithless, but
believing. Christ is risen.