APRIL72024

Doubting Thomas actually had the right idea. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” The only Risen Christ worth believing in is one who is wounded. The Son of God came to share human life in all of its fullness. The Easter experience, therefore, was not something alien to human life but consistent with it, the fulfillment of it. So Thomas was right in assuming that the only way to recognize Jesus after death was to see and touch his wounds for they are part of his story as one of us. As for him, so for us. If we are to recognize Jesus in our midst we must be willing to touch the wounded body of Christ as well. We “do unto him” whenever we put our finger into the lives of those who are hurting — the sick and the sinner, the hungry and hopeless, the lost and confused, the migrant and the miserable, the grieving and the depressed.