The Incredulity of Saint Thomas
(c. 1601-1602) by Caravaggio
DO YOU HAVE ANY SCARS?
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is a question, “Do You Have Any
Scars?”
This Sunday has various subtitles - besides being “The Second
Sunday of Easter”. It’s also called “Doubting Thomas Sunday” - as well as “Low
Sunday” - as well as “Divine Mercy
Sunday”.
Hey, haven’t you noticed that some days can take in various entities: Secretaries
Day, Firefighters Day, and Mother-in-law’s day - and it’s in Poetry Month and
Pet Poodle’s Week?
So you’re move - to go with Mercy, Doubt or this Sunday is lower than Easter Sunday.
I’ll go with today’s gospel and today’s readings and
stress “Healing” - and entitle my homily, “Do You Have Any Scars?”
ACCIDENTAL
TRIGGERS
If we have a car accident, or we burn ourselves with hot
water at a certain stove with a certain pot - or someone in the family likes to
hammer us - well when we get near that spot or that pot or that family member -
negative energy can go “Ooooooooooooooooh” at us.
Certain people and certain topics and certain words can
be Tasers. They zap us.
Accidents can have an aftertaste.
Accidents can have an aftertaste.
Cuts can leave scars - but first they "Ouch!"
Do you have any scars?
Maybe “Scar Sunday” would be a neat title for this Sunday.
Thomas wasn’t there that Easter Sunday night - so did the
other disciples pick and nitpick him all week?
I like that Thomas could be the patron saint not only of doubters - but also of the courageous sceptics - and be like Detective Joe
Friday of Dragnet fame, who would say, “Just the facts. Just the facts.”
TODAY’S GOSPEL
So in today’s gospel
Jesus comes into the Upper Room - with its locked doors - and this time
Thomas is there.
And once more Jesus says, “Peace be with you!”
And seeing Thomas
- called Didymus - the Twin - Jesus asks him to put his finger into the
nail marks on his hand and the wound in his side and believe.
And Jesus praises those who believe but have not seen.
And Thomas says, “My Lord and my God.”
MAKE A LIST
The title of my homily is, “Do You Have Any Scars?”
For homework this week, I would suggest making a list of
the Ten Top Hurts of One’s Life.
A first step would be to jot down all the hurts one can
remember from one's life so far. Just jot them down randomly.
It could be that someone dumped us when we were in the second year of high
school or a father walked out on our family or we were fired from some job without any warning. It could be we were made fun of
for being too fat or too short or having a bad case of acne while being a
teenager and we were called, “Leper” or "Pimples" or "Scab" or what have you.
For some reason we remember the hurts a lot more than the
helps - the curses more than the blessings - the mistakes more than the right
moves.
Negative is normal.
The lector at Mass makes one mistake or one
mispronunciation in a reading and doesn’t remember the 99 words he or she got
right.
I have a scar here on my right trigger finger. I just have to look at it and remember the moment I was walking down the street as a kid and I spotted a Red
Ryder Air Rifle in a garbage can. I go "Wow!" and pull it out. It
has a broken metal thing - but that doesn’t matter. I pump it once and pull the
trigger and some piece of metal slams into my finger. "Oooh!" Cut. Blood. Yell.
Run home and wash it. Vaseline. Band-Aids.
Scar for life. So the gun lobby will never get my dollar.
Next look at your long list of all the hurts of your life that you came up with. Say you have 73. Well, pick the top ten hurts of the 73 mistakes or hurts of a lifetime. This is tough stuff - hard work - a difficult assignment for homework.
Then put 10 of them in order of the hurt they were - # 1 being the worst.
FORGIVENESS
Next comes the mercy - the healing - the forgiveness -
hopefully.
I would suggest putting your finger on the mistake - if
it’s on paper or on the computer screen.
Writing or typing or texting them out - is helpful -
because the really big scars are not so many on our bodies - as those on the
skin of our souls and our memories. We remember hurts.
So the first step is the naming. Then comes the forgiving.
The call today is to forgive oneself or forgive another
person - or forgive God.
Or feel Jesus put his hand on your hurt - and ask for
forgiveness.
Did you notice, did you hear, that revelation in today’s
second reading from the Book of Revelation?
Listen again: “When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, 'Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld. Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards.'”
Listen again: “When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, 'Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld. Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards.'”
Write down those things that are killing you - still hurting you - keeping you underground - and rise to new life - because Jesus has touched you where it hurts.
For various reasons - some dumb - we hold onto the hurts - as if our sad
face, soul, will hurt the other or even ourselves for our own sins and
mistakes.
Some people shut the door on the possibility of forgives
of an ex - or a priest - or God or a parent - or a co-worker - or a family
member.
Isn’t it nice to have those big banners here at St. John
Neumann as well as St. Mary’s - announcing a year of mercy - and forgiveness.
Nice - if it’s on someone else’s wall or building - but
how difficult it is for our own.
Sometimes Jesus knocks on doors - and sometimes we keep
those doors shut. Sometimes Jesus comes through walls and says “Peace”.
Respect Thomas - Doubting Thomas - doubts are normal. We
could have a great healing moment. This Sunday could be Divine Mercy Sunday for
us and we can experience healing and forgiveness - but the old doubts can come
back next week.
Sometimes an adult abortion of another - a parent - can
stay with us for life. Maybe an uncle
abused you. Maybe we stole a lot of money. Maybe we cheated on a spouse. Maybe
we put life on hold for 3 ½ years. Maybe we had a period there of alcoholism.
I still remember being sat on a bench for a whole season
as a kid when I played for the Bay Ridge Robins - except for one out in the
last game of the season. The manager was the older brother of the kid who got
to play every game of the season. I
still feel bad that I didn’t talk enough to my sister Peggy - who was a nun -
much of our life. We didn’t have any disagreements. We just didn’t give each
other enough time with enough phone calls. We were just too busy working. And
then when I had time as she was dying - I kept on getting interrupted by a
health care person giving her oxygen.
And on and on and on.
CONCLUSION
Make your list.
Put your finger on the top 10.
Name # 1 and ask Jesus this Sunday for Divine Mercy -
even if you have doubts that you can ever be forgiven - to touch and heal that
hurt for starters.
Pray:
"Lord, give me scars -
scars - reminders
that here I was hurt
and here you healed me
with your healing hand.
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you. Amen."
