Dear Friend,
Jesus Christ has risen as He told His disciples He would on the third day! Some disciples still doubted. Some still failed to understand why this should happen to their Messiah.
Let us see how Jesus regrouped and rallied His scattered Flock. Read the Gospel of this Sunday (John 20:19-31) to your family and experience that joyful reunion.
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The disciples were behind closed doors for fear of the Jews and they just saw Jesus in their
midst – He went through the closed door or walls. His body was not the same physically, as they
knew Him. Some even failed to recognize Him.
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Jesus said to them twice, "Peace be with you." Jesus was comforting them and showed them
His scars of suffering.
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The disciples rejoiced in being with their Messiah. They now know that in following Jesus to carry their own crosses and die to themselves, they would resurrect to a new life.
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He commanded them, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." Jesus felt that the disciples were no longer mere disciples, they are now His apostles (meaning, "those sent").
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He then breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." The apostles were commissioned to the priesthood of His Church.
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Thomas was not with the apostles when all these happened and he doubted. He believed only
when he met Jesus and saw His scars.
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Jesus said to Thomas, "Have you come to believe because you have seen? Blessed are those
who have not seen and have believed."
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The above episode was one of many signs that Jesus showed His apostles leaving no doubt that
Jesus is truly the Messiah.
Meditation ~
The disciples learned from Jesus and became His apostles.
I still have a lot to learn from Jesus to become a disciple.
This will not stop me from becoming a witness to my own family.
To my own family, I am being sent – we are being sent to each other to help each other.
Each one of us in the family must be fully aware of this task.
Contemplation ~
Imagine yourself inside the closed room with the disciples when suddenly Jesus was there in your
midst. Hear Jesus speak to you and breathe the Holy Spirit on you. Let His words, "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed," ring true in you.
Joe & Charito
THE CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF MANILA'S
ONLINE RESOURCE FOR FAMILY MINISTRIES
www.simbahayan.org
servants@simbahayan.org
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