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EASTER ENCOUNTERS 2008

The Sunday Gospel with daily meditations on the Gospel theme

-- encounters that define and illuminate our journey of faith

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The Second Week of Easter  -  March 30 - April 5, 2008

I KNOW . . .BEYOND DOUBT

THE SUNDAY GOSPEL:  Saint John 20:19-31 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”      A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my

hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

DAILY ENCOUNTERS - I KNOW...BEYOND DOUBT

MONDAY OF THE WEEK OF EASTER 2 – MARCH 31

It is great to have assurance of faith, but perhaps you do not belong to those who can always take this for granted. However, the Master is also able to use the Thomas type. Such people have a place in His group of disciples. And let me tell you that when the time is at hand, Jesus himself will come and bring an end to your uncertainty and your timid spirit. You will understand that it is not what you fail to understand that matters. Let not the devil fool you into thinking that unless you understand these things, you cannot be a disciple of Christ.                                                                                                                  Kaj Munk

TUESDAY OF THE WEEK OF EASTER 2 – APRIL 1

For neither life nor death can separate us from the love of Christ. I do not know when and how the fulfillment will come. I do not know when all things will be consummated in Christ. I know nothing about the “whens” and “hows.” But I know that in Christ this great Passage, the Pascha of the world has begun, that the light of the “world to come” comes to us in the joy and peace of the Holy Spirit, for Christ is risen and Life reigneth.                                                                                                             Alexander Schmemann

WEDNESDAY OF THE WEEK OF EASTER 2 – APRIL 2

Have you seen the wonderful victory? Have you seen the splendid deeds of the Cross? Shall I tell you something still more marvelous? Learn in what way the victory was gained, and you will be even more astonished. For by the very means by which the devil had conquered, by these Christ conquered him; and taking up the weapons with which he had fought, he defeated him.                             John Chrysostom

THURSDAY OF THE WEEK OF EASTER 2 – APRIL 3

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. For we know that is the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.                                                                                                             2 Corinthians 4:16-5:1

FRIDAY OF THE WEEK OF EASTER 2 – APRIL 4

Why do you hesitate? Thanks to our faith, the wave of rebirth has already begotten you. It is bringing you forth through the sacraments. Hasten with all speed to the center of your desire. …A new thing, that each one is born spiritually. Run, then forward to the mother who experiences no pains of labor although she cannot count the number of those to whom she gives birth. … Happily you are going to drink the new milk together.                                                                                                    Zeno of Verona, 4th century

SATURDAY OF THE WEEK OF EASTER 2- APRIL 5

Faith is the proof of what cannot be seen. What is seen gives knowledge, not faith. When Thomas saw and touched, why was he told: You have believed because you have seen me? Because what he saw and what he believed were different things. God cannot be seen by mortal man. Thomas saw a human being, whom he acknowledged to be God, and said: My Lord and my God. Seeing, he believed; looking at one who was true man, he cried out that this was God, the God he could not see.

                                                                                                             Gregory the Great, 6th century